Patriots Widen Super Bowl Odds Gap With Win in Pittsburgh

Patriots Widen Super Bowl Odds Gap With Win in Pittsburgh

What we learned from the Patriots’ come-from-behind victory on Sunday in Pittsburgh:

1. A receiver must maintain control of the ball until after his initial contact with the ground.
2. The Patriots are, once again, clear Super Bowl favorites.

All right, maybe we already knew the first one from having it pounded into our heads on a weekly basis by Mike Pereira. As for the second, take a look at the latest Super Bowl odds at Westgate.

New England jumped up to +150 following the win in a game that could’ve easily ended otherwise. With the Steelers up by a score in the 4th, Pittsburgh actually surpassed New England’s odds for a brief period. The Steelers were listed +200 to the Pats’ +225 in Super Bowl futures at Westgate.

Of course, things changed a bit, and the Patriots returned to Super Bowl favorites in a matter of minutes. In fact, New England now has the best Super Bowl odds at this point in the season since the 2011 Packers (SportsOddsHistory.com).

Pittsburgh, on the other hand, fell back to +450 for the first time since October 24th. While still the second team listed, the Steelers no longer control the top spot in the AFC, so unless the Bills or Jets can pull out a victory in Foxborough, the Pats will be playing their postseason games at home once again this year.

Seattle had the biggest odds drop of the week. After being blown out at home by the Rams, the Hawks fell from 18/1 to 60/1 , an implied probability change of 5.3% to 1.6%.

Elsewhere in the NFC, the Vikings enjoyed a blowout win of their own, and improved to a conference-best 6/1. Should Minnesota make it, the Super Bowl would be in front of a home crowd for the first time ever.