Where the Dolphins Stand in the Super Bowl LIX Odds
Because that's the way it goes, it wasn't long after the Kansas City Chiefs repeated as Super Bowl champions that oddsmakers turned their attention to next season.
And as it stands the day after Kansas City's thrilling 25-22 overtime victory against the San Francisco 49ers, the Miami Dolphins are considered a top 10 team when it comes to the favorites to win Super Bowl LIX, scheduled for next February at the Superdome in New Orleans.
Among six different sports books — the SI Sportsbook, Fan Duel, DraftKings, Bovada, BetOnline and Caesars — the Dolphins come in anywhere from seventh-biggest favorites (Bovada and DraftKings) to ninth or tied for ninth.
Even though the Chiefs defeated the 49ers, it's San Francisco which reigns as the almost consensus favorite, likely because Kansas City will have a much tougher path to another Super Bowl appearance playing in the AFC.
The Baltimore Ravens, owners of the best regular season record in 2023, and the Buffalo Bills, four-time AFC East champions, also are consensus top five teams among the sportsbook.
THE DOLPHINS HEADING INTO 2024
Along with Kansas City, Baltimore and Buffalo, there's a fourth AFC team that's listed ahead of the Dolphins among the favorites, and that's the Cincinnati Bengals.
That, of course, would be out of respect for quarterback Joe Burrow, who led the Bengals to the Super Bowl in 2021 and another AFC Championship Game in 2022 before he missed the second half of this past season with a wrist injury.
With Burrow out, the Bengals missed the playoffs in 2023, though they did finish with a 9-8 record.
The fourth team left standing in the AFC playoffs were the upstart Houston Texans, who won the AFC South title behind rookie head coach DeMeco Ryans and rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud.
The Texans are tied for ninth with the Dolphins in the SI Sportsbook odds, but behind Miami in all the others.
At this time last year, the Dolphins were the 13th overall team in terms of early Super Bowl favorites, according to BetOnline, including 10th in the AFC.
So this clearly is an improvement, but fifth in the AFC would leave them out of the divisional round, which would mean no playoffs or another first-round playoff exit.
So the Dolphins, in other words, have to put the odds next year to get that elusive playoff win.
