Despite falling to the Seattle Seahawks, the New England Patriots are still the favorites to win the AFC East, the AFC, and the Super Bowl, according to Bovada.
But I think they are giving far too much credit to the Miami Dolphins.
The Patriots odds of winning the AFC East fell from 1/200 to 1/50; in other words you had to pay $200 to have a chance of winning $1- now you just have to pay $50. The Dolphins odds of winning the AFC East are 14/1.
To put this in context, Vegas is giving the Dolphins better odds of winning the division than they are giving the Broncos (16/1), Chiefs (16/1), Falcons (18/1), or Raiders (18/1) of winning the Super Bowl. Now I don’t think any of those four teams should be considered the favorite to win the Super Bowl, but I absolutely think the Chiefs and Raiders have a better shot of winning the championship than the Dolphins do of winning the AFC East.
The Patriots remain the favorite in the AFC with 11/10 odds of representing the conference in the Super Bowl. The Chiefs (15/2) are second, followed by the Broncos (8/1) and Steelers (8/1). The Raiders (10/1), Ravens (12/1), Texans (18/1), and Colts (18/1) make up the field.
Bovada gives the Patriots 9/4 odds of winning the Super Bowl, ahead of the Cowboys (11/2) and Seahawks (6/1). All the other contenders have worse odds of winning the Super Bowl than the Dolphins have of winning the AFC East.
Patriots QB Tom Brady has fallen out of first place in the MVP race, with Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott taking the top slot with 5/2 odds. Brady is second with 11/4 odds, slightly ahead of Falcons QB Matt Ryan (5/1). Seahawks QB Russell Wilson (9/1) made a big jump into fourth. Raiders QB Derek Carr (10/1), Cowboys QB Dak Prescott (10/1), and Lions QB Matthew Stafford (16/1) make up the field.
Brady will have a good opportunity to reassert his dominance with a strong outing against a weak 49ers team.