There isn’t any actual game activity from the National Football League until September — a distant three months away. But with the NFL becoming a league that operates 365 days a year with the regular season, postseason, free agency, trades, etc., sports gamblers have taken advantage. And that’s where I come in.
As the betting community waits for the NFL regular season opener with the Week 1 Green Bay Packers at Chicago Bears, we already have a number of prop bets to place to keep us entertained until the beginning of the season.
One set of odds that have been released by the NFL betting sites are for who will make the playoffs in the NFL next season, and who will miss the postseason. The only team in the league that isn’t listed in this set is the Arizona Cardinals.
Let’s take a look at some of the bubble teams that could easily be in or out this season.
A big reason why the Pittsburgh Steelers are one of the top bubble teams is because of their performance last season. Dominating the AFC North for quite some time now, last year would not be one of those years. They would still have a winning record, but the 9-6-1 showing would have them out of the postseason.
Entering 2019, their bubble will be put to even more of a test with the official loss of Le’Veon Bell to the New York Jets through free agency and they’ll also be forced to trade away Antonio Brown to the Oakland Raiders. With those moves, ‘The Burgh’ sits at +100 to make the playoffs, and are favored at -130 to miss the postseason. I’ll have to concur with the odds-makers on this one, though expect the still talent-rich Steelers to be competitive next season, per usual.
The Dallas Cowboys have very similar numbers to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the odds — they sit at -130 to miss the playoffs, which is the favorite, and their labeled +110 to make the playoffs.
With the 2018 Cowboys having a winning 10-6 record and the NFC East getting weaker over the offseason with the Washington Redskins and New York Giants, the Cowboys’ chances of grabbing a wild-card spot look pretty good to me, which is why I am a bit surprised with their odds.
The past few seasons have been tough for the Green Bay Packers and their fans, but things seem to be getting back on track for the historic franchise. Matt LaFleur, who was the offensive coordinator under now-Super Bowl champion Sean McVay in 2017 with the Los Angeles Rams, was brought in to be the head coach of the Packers. And not just that, but general manager Brian Gutekunst has retooled the defense via free agency and the NFL Draft, and things are looking great right now for Green Bay entering the 2019 campaign.
As a result, the Packers are sitting with favorable -130 odds to return to the playoffs, and are at +110 to miss the postseason for a third straight season. If I were you, I’d bet on former MVP Aaron Rodgers and company to make the playoffs, and possibly return to a Super Bowl. I’m sure the Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans Saints have something to say about that.
Let’s go over the rest of the league to see where they stand.
Coming off of a 7-9 season that saw them miss the playoffs, the Atlanta Falcons will come into their fifth season under head coach Dan Quinn, and still with a potent offense at that. The Falcons would massively improve their offensive line, selecting two first-round offensive linemen in Chris Lindstrom (Boston College) and Kaleb McGary (Washington) — they would gain McGary through a trade with the Los Angeles Rams. They would also try and improve that area through free agency as well, including signing three guards: Adam Gettis, James Carpenter, and Jamon Brown. With a ratcheted up offensive line, expect Atlanta to move the ball even better than last year, but I still see major problems with their defense — and that’s exactly why their a favorite at -200 to miss the postseason.
The Baltimore Ravens would finish their 2018 campaign with a winning 10-6 record that would see them in the playoffs, but in the odds right now, they’re currently favored at -215 to miss the 2019 postseason. The uncertainty coming from the odds-makers is understandable though. This will be the first season since 2007 that Baltimore hasn’t had Flacco as their quarterback, he was traded to the Denver Broncos over the offseason. It’ll also be the first season since 2002 that Terrell Suggs won’t be with the team — he signed with the Arizona Cardinals. I would consider the Baltimore Ravens to be another bubble team, don’t count them out completely. At the end of the day, Lamar Jackson can play some football.
2019 will be a big year for the Buffalo Bills, it will be their 50th anniversary as a franchise in the National Football League. Unfortunately for the Bills, however, they’re coming off of a dismal losing 6-10 season and are heavy favorites to miss the playoffs once again. To their credit, the Bills would improve their defensive line quite a bit in the draft selecting Houston’s Ed Oliver with the No. 9 overall pick, and they’d also make a swirl of moves in free agency. They’d improve their depth adding talent such as Cole Beasley and Frank Gore. Obviously, there’s a lot more that needs to be done for the Bills to be a postseason team — expect 2019 to be business as usual for Buffalo.
The Carolina Panthers and their 2019 campaign will be somewhat special as well, as it will be their first time partaking in the NFL International Series — they’ll play in London, England, United Kingdom against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in what will be considered an away game for the Panthers. Unfortunately for Carolina, the odds-makers have them missing the playoffs in 2019, and this is after coming off of a losing 7-9 year that would see them with no postseason action. The Panthers would improve their defense a bit after selecting Florida State’s Brian Burns in the first round of the draft, but it could be a battle for Carolina this year. Still, expect a Cam Newton-led Carolina Panthers team to be in the playoff mix at the end of the season.
2019 will be a very monumental year for a very historic franchise, as the Chicago Bears will be celebrating their 100th anniversary in the National Football League this season. The way the numbers line up, it could be a year full of celebration as well. Coming off of a near-elite 12-4 season that would see them in the postseason, the Bears are currently at -140 to make the playoffs for the second consecutive year. I’d say all lights are in the green for that to happen. Despite losing defensive coordinator Vic Fangio to a head coaching job to the Denver Broncos, Chicago would turn around and hire former Indianapolis head coach Chuck Pagano for the job — he would have the Baltimore Ravens’ defense in the No. 3 ranking as their coordinator in 2011. As long as their defense is elite, like it is now, the Bears are good to go as far as a playoff appearance is concerned.
The Cincinnati Bengals will also be partaking in an anniversary year in the 2019 campaign, celebrating their 50th season in the National Football League. After finally parting ways with long-time head coach Marvin Lewis after a losing 6-10 season, the Bengals will see if they can get some winning success going under new head coach Zac Taylor. After the hire of Taylor, the Bengals would then go under another slew of coaching changes. After making some moves in free agency, Cincinnati would then draft Jonah Williams from Alabama to improve their offensive line. I say the Bengals may be slightly better than last season entering 2019, but I still have them out of the playoffs — no doubt about that.
After a solid 7-8-1 season that nearly saw them in the postseason, the Cleveland Browns now come into 2019 under first year head coach Freddie Kitchens and will try to make the playoffs for the first time in 16 years. With the exception of the head coaching position, the Browns would also make moves at each of the coordinator spots. Cleveland would also revamp their roster: After already having a roster rich with talent, the Browns would go out and grab Odell Beckham Jr., Kareem Hunt, Olivier Vernon, and a bundle of other players. When the free agency period was over, Cleveland would then go out and have a pretty solid draft, though they wouldn’t get themselves a first-round pick — the free agency makes up for that. With talent all around him and Baker Mayfield only getting better at the quarterback position, I’m going to go ahead and take the Cleveland Browns to break the drought. It’s going to be a good year for Cleveland, Ohio and the rest of their fan base.
We sure do have a lot of anniversaries being celebrated this season, and the Denver Broncos join the club with the 2019 campaign being their 50th in the National Football League. 2019 will also be monumental for a few other reasons: It’ll be Denver’s first season under new head coach Vic Fangio, and the Broncos will also be under new ownership since 1984 — Pat Bowlen died on June 13, 2019. Denver will be looking to recover for their losing 6-10 record last year and make the playoffs for the first time since 2015, the year that they won the Super Bowl. After the hiring of Fangio, the Broncos would then have a whole set of coaching changes themselves. Denver would also bring in Joe Flacco to run things as the quarterback. Flacco is a pretty solid move, but the Broncos still have a lot more work to do if they want to return to the playoffs. Count on Denver to miss the postseason.
The Detroit Lions had a, well, Detroit Lions-kinda year last season, and are a heavy favorite once again to miss the playoffs — I would certainly bet on that. Under second-year head coach Matt Patricia, the Detroit Lions have made a ton of coaching changes over the offseason to help them with improvement in the 2019 season. They’d also add talent such as Danny Amendola, C.J. Anderson, Amani Oruwariye and Jermaine Kearse to improve their depth, and also add a solid tight end in Iowa’s T.J. Hockenson with the No. 8 overall pick. I say the Detroit Lions have had a solid offseason for a slight improvement, but don’t expect much. At the end of the day, this is the Lions that we’re talking about. Bet on Detroit to be out when everything is said and done.
They might be under new ownership, but it’ll be business as usual for the Houston Texans under sixth-year head coach Bill O’Brien as they try to return back to the playoffs after their 2018 winning 11-5 record. With the exception of honoring the late Bob McNair, the Texans will play in London for the first time, so it’ll be a pretty special year for them. However, it’ll be interesting to see where the organization goes after the firing of general manager Brian Gaine. Over the offseason, the Houston Texas would try to drastically improve their offensive linemen, selecting OT Tytus Howard (Alabama State), OT Max Scharping (Northern Illinois), TE Kahale Warring (San Diego State) and FB Cullen Gillaspia. (Texas A&M) Despite the moves, however, the Texans are actually favored in the odds to miss the playoffs. This is most likely due to their slow 0-3 start in 2018, where they would then go on a tear winning nine in a row — that stretch would eventually put them in the postseason. I have to agree with the odds-makers, I’m not seeing the same kind of fortune for Houston, but I still them being competitive.
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