Super Bowl 53 Favorites, Smart Picks and Dark Horses

It’s never too early to start thinking about one of the most interesting futures wagers in NFL betting — the winner of the next Super Bowl. We’ve already seen New England lose defensive coordinator Matt Patricia to the Detroit Lions, as their new head coach — but we’ve also seen offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels decide he’d rather work another year with Bill Belichick than take over the Indianapolis Colts’ reins. Will Rob Gronkowski retire? Will Carson Wentz’s knee heal (and does it matter, with Nick Foles on the roster?)? Will Dallas or Pittsburgh decide to take defense seriously? Will Seattle retool their Legion of Boom? All these questions are part of deciding which team to back in next year’s Super Bowl 53 betting wagers.

Super Bowl 53 Favorites, Smart Picks and Dark Horses

1️⃣ year from today…@SuperBowl LIII will be in the Heart of Atlanta!#MBStadium #ATLSB53 pic.twitter.com/8ztLLIsRpV

— MercedesBenzStadium (@MBStadium) February 3, 2018

The Favorites

• New England (+500)
• Philadelphia (+700)
• Green Bay (+800)
• Pittsburgh (+1000)
• Minnesota (+1200)

For the Patriots, Tom Brady will be 41 next year. The stats for 41-year-old quarterbacks aren’t very good — but no one has taken care of themselves like Brady has. He might lose Gronk to retirement after that awful concussion he took in the AFC Championship — and Gisele might pressure Brady into retirement himself. And what about the drama in the Patriots’ locker room that is bubbling out after the benching of Malcolm Butler? There’s a reason why repeating is so hard. For Philadelphia, yes, that defense was solid all year long, but it didn’t do that much to New England until that strip-sack late in the fourth quarter. If Wentz’s knee isn’t ready to go in Week 1 next year, will Foles still be able to work wonders, or will he regress as he has in the past? For Green Bay, yes, Aaron Rodgers’ collarbone will be healed. But will he have an offensive line? Will the Packers have decent pass coverage? You could ask the same questions about the Steelers, and another year on Ben Roethlisberger’s knees will eventually take its toll. In Minnesota, the team has three starting quarterbacks and needs to choose one.

The Smart Picks

• L.A. Rams (+1750)
• Houston (+1850)
• Atlanta (+2000)
• Carolina (+2500)

Jared Goff had an amazing sophomore season in Los Angeles, and the team’s defense was rock solid as well. A lack of postseason experience led to their nerves in the wild card round — but they should be even better next season. Houston looked like they were cruising to an AFC South title until Deshaun Watson blew out his ACL and the team had to rely on Tom Savage and T.J. Yates to lead the offense. With a healthy Watson, this team can push deep into the postseason. Atlanta will still have tons of talent, and hopefully they’ll have their heads on straight after a year of Super Bowl hangover. And what about Carolina? Cam Newton led his team to the postseason once again, but we saw that the Panthers need more consistent defense around Luke Kuechly to advance.

The Dark Horses

• San Francisco (+1800)
• Dallas (+2000)
• Oakland (+2100)
• Seattle (+2500)

Kirk Cousins’ Next Home

Jimmy Garoppolo looks like the real deal in San Francisco. If he can lead his team past the Rams once (or even twice), look out for this team in the NFC. Dallas still has a great running back in Ezekiel Elliott and a good quarterback in Dak Prescott, but they need to retool the offensive line and stop using the Wal-Mart approach to build their defense on the cheap. Oakland took a big step back in 2017, but Jon Gruden’s return should bring improvement to the Bay. Seattle has an aging secondary and may be headed for a rebuild, but we’ll see what they add in the off season. And now that Washington has Alex Smith at quarterback, Kirk Cousins will either be the biggest free agent quarterback signing since Drew Brees, or he’ll head somewhere in a trade. Denver? Arizona? The Jets? The Giants? Wherever he ends up will have a major jolt on offense.