Worst NFL Teams That Can Become a Good Bet in 2018

We’re about five weeks away from the start of the NFL’s regular season, when Atlanta visits Philadelphia on Thursday, September 6 on national television. As training camps are moving into full speed, it’s time to think about some teams who are somewhat down the table as far as odds to win the Super Bowl go, but every year we get surprises. A lot of people thought that Carson Wentz would be good in Philadelphia, but the number of people who thought that the Eagles would hoist the Lombardi Trophy at the end of the Super Bowl was fairly low. And who thought that Jacksonville would make it all the way to the AFC Championship? We’ve picked a couple of teams that are down the NFL odds list for you to consider — and a team for you to avoid.

Worst NFL Teams That Can Become a Good Bet in 2018

“Our fans are awesome, they showed out today.” QB1 joined @wyche89 on @NFLNetwork to recap day 1 of #49ersCamp. pic.twitter.com/4gM1uJiWuL

— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) July 27, 2018

Which of the Worst NFL Teams Could Turn out to Be a Good Bet This Season?

San Francisco is a team that played well down the stretch, and they are projected by a lot of prognosticators to win 8 or 9 games this year and give the Rams a push in the NFC West. The top reason for people to fall in line behind the 49ers is their new quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who came over from New England via trade in the middle of the season and promptly started winning as soon as he was allowed to take the field, turning the Bay Area into a raucous mess with a five-game winning streak. In the offseason, you can be sure that opposing defensive coordinators have viewed lots of film on Garoppolo and have some ideas how to game plan against him. Luckily, the 49ers didn’t just stand pat with him. They added running back Jerrick McKinnon to replace Carlos Hyde, and McKinnon’s aggressive running style will add some punctuation and balance to the San Francisco attack. The Niners also added Richard Sherman on defense. It’s hard to know just how much Sherman has left in the tank after those years in the Legion of Boom, but the leadership and attitude he will provide on defense will transfer to other members of the unit. It would not surprise me at all to see San Francisco get 9 or 10 wins and take one of the wild cards. Cleveland has won exactly one game in the last two seasons combined. But this isn’t a team pretending that Kevin Hogan and Cody Kessler can start at quarterback. They have Tyrod Taylor (who led Buffalo to the postseason after a 19-year drought last year) caretaking the position while Baker Mayfield gets ready to take the reins. They brought in wideout Jarvis Landry via trade and then dumped a big contract on him, and they added Carlos Hyde to a backfield that had Duke Johnson and Nick Chubb — and if Josh Gordon can come back mentally strong from counseling, and if the team actually signs Dez Bryant, this is a team that gets interesting in a hurry. On the defensive side of the ball, they added Denzel Ward to a unit that was already aggressive and filled with young talent. This could be a year when Cleveland surprises everyone. Cincinnati is down, and Baltimore is down as well. If you watched the AFC divisional playoff last year, you know that Pittsburgh has some big holes on defense. If there is a year for someone to pull off a big surprise in the AFC North, this is it. Now, for a team that’s a little down the odds sheet for you to avoid. Dallas head coach Jason Garrett came out a couple days ago and said that the team will have a “tight end by committee” approach this year and give chances to a few young players. They also haven’t signed or found a marquee receiver to replace the departed Dez Bryant. On defense, they added a couple of interesting pieces, but their secondary is still young and untested, without a shutdown corner, and their defensive line will once again open a season with David Irving on the suspended list for substance abuse violations. So yes, there’s a solid offensive line, and Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott are healthy and ready on offense, but beyond that, Dallas is mostly question marks.