The Buffalo Bills are at the top of the Super Bowl odds market across U.S. sportsbooks.
The Josh Allen-led squad moved ahead of the Detroit Lions after the Bills beat the former favorite in Week 15. Moving to +375 to win the NFL championship at ESPN BET marked the first time this season that the online sports betting operator made Buffalo the favorite, according to a company spokesperson.
DraftKings also lists the Bills as a +425 favorite to win it all while BetMGM has Buffalo tied at the top of its odds list with the Lions at +425. The Bills were +600 before last Sunday’s big win.
FanDuel lists the Bills first at +450 with the Philadelphia Eagles second at +480. The Lions have moved down to a third-place tie with the Kansas City Chiefs at +500.
The Lions are still BetMGM’s biggest liability as Detroit holds the most tickets (16%) and handles the most money (17.9%). With 7% of the bets and 9% of the money, the Bills are fourth behind the Baltimore Ravens and Chiefs at BetMGM and DraftKings.
The Eagles, listed with the next-shortest odds behind the Bills and Lions at +475, are getting 6.2% of the tickets and 6.4% of the money at BetMGM. Since Sunday at ESPN BET, the Eagles have received 15.2% of the bets and 16.5% of the handle, behind only the Bills at 29.5% of the tickets and 35.3% of the money.
Making the playoffs
With three weeks left in the NFL’s regular season, there isn’t a ton of drama surrounding the playoff picture. Six AFC teams have already been eliminated from playoff contention, leaving just three teams outside the current seven to fight for a spot.
In the NFC, 13 of the 16 teams still contending for a playoff seed, but five of them are at .500 or worse and likely need to win their division to clinch a spot.
The 7-7 Atlanta Falcons are one of those teams. The Falcons' odds of making the playoffs fell from +150 to +240, the biggest decrease this week at BetMGM. The Falcons also benched starting quarterback Kirk Cousins for the rest of the year and replaced him with rookie Michael Penix Jr.
The Broncos launched themselves toward a playoff berth and saw their odds shoot from -275 to -1,200 after Week 15. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers also moved to -1,200 as they have a leg up on winning the NFC South.
The 6-8 Miami Dolphins aren’t mathematically eliminated heading into a Week 16 matchup with the San Francisco 49ers, but the AFC North squad went from +400 to +1,100 to earn a playoff spot at BetMGM.
TNF insights
The 9-5 Broncos won’t catch the 13-1 Chiefs for the AFC West winner’s automatic playoff spot, but they get a chance to enhance their odds and decrease those of the Los Angeles Chargers in Thursday night’s showdown.
Denver is getting 62.7% of the bets and 59.5% of the handle as a 2.5-point underdog at L.A., which is also currently holding down a playoff spot. At DraftKings, more tickets (55%) are on the Broncos while 57% of the money is on the Chargers.
Bettors at DraftKings are leaning toward a high-scoring affair with the point total as 68% of the money is on the over 44.
