Seahawks open as 2016 Super Bowl favorites despite crushing loss
The New England Patriots successfully kept the Seattle Seahawks from repeating as Super Bowl champions on Sunday with a 28-24 victory, ensuring they will be the last team to complete that feat for at least another couple years. The Seahawks will now try to keep the Patriots from their second repeat in a little more than a decade next season, with Seattle opening as the 5/1 favorites on the 2016 Super Bowl odds.
Seattle may have finished only one yard shy of winning its second consecutive Super Bowl due to some questionable play calling at the end of the game in Glendale, but the team remains young and could definitely win its third straight NFC title. The biggest competition for the Seahawks in the conference will likely come from the Green Bay Packers, who are 8/1 to win Super Bowl 50. Reigning NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers was not healthy at the end of this past season for the Packers, and home-field advantage might have been the difference in this year’s NFC Championship Game.
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Meanwhile, New England is still the class of the AFC and sit at 7/1 to win back-to-back Super Bowl titles. The Patriots will be going for their fifth Super Bowl title in the era of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, which would be a new record for a quarterback and head coach combo. They are currently tied with Terry Bradshaw and Chuck Noll of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and Brady is looking to become the first QB to win five rings.
The Denver Broncos are at 10/1 odds to win Super Bowl 50 but are still awaiting a decision on whether or not QB Peyton Manning will return for his 18th season. The Broncos have a new head coach in Gary Kubiak, who was their offensive coordinator the last time they won a Super Bowl with then-QB and current GM John Elway leading them to two straight titles after the 1997 and 1998 seasons. Elway retired as a player after winning his second Super Bowl.
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The Dallas Cowboys and Indianapolis Colts are both at 14/1 odds to win Super Bowl 50 after each took the next step in the playoffs this year. The Cowboys won a playoff game for the just the second time in the career of QB Tony Romo before suffering a tough loss to the Packers in the Divisional Round. The Colts have made the postseason in each of the first three seasons QB Andrew Luck has been in the league, advancing to the AFC Championship Game against the Patriots this year before losing to the champs.
