While the New England Patriots will be without starting QB Tom Brady for the first quarter of the season, the team is still the favorite to win the Super Bowl, according to Bovada.
The betting agency still gives the Patriots 6/1 odds to win the Super Bowl, ahead of the Packers 17/2 odds and the Seahawks 9/1 odds. The Cardinals, Panthers, and Steelers are tied with 12/1 odds.
“Even though Tom Brady will be suspended for the first four games of the season it has not really affected the Patriots Super Bowl odds for a variety of reasons,” Bovada Sportsbook manager Kevin Bradley said. “First, they have a fairly easy first four matchups with the exception of playing on the road in Arizona, which would have been a tough game even if Brady was playing.
“Also, considering how weak their division is they are still -200 favorites to win it as there is no obvious threat. Lastly, when we went through this situation last year we raised the Patriots odds with the suspension news to around 10-1 and saw a ton of money on them even though people assumed Brady was not going to be playing the first four games, so we will not make that same mistake again.”
Essentially, the sportsbook changed the Patriots odds last year with the assumption that Brady would be suspended and everyone continued to put their money on the Patriots winning the Super Bowl. Bovada has no financial reason for changing the odds this year.
Additionally, the AFC East looks pretty weak this year since the Jets don’t have a quarterback (although they could sign Ryan Fitzpatrick in the coming weeks), the Dolphins have a new head coach, and the Bills have the longest playoff drought in American sports at 16 seasons and counting.
Look for Brady to return from his suspension and for the Patriots to fight their way through the AFC for a chance at another Super Bowl title.