The defending Super Bowl champions just got even scarier.
After a long and tumultuous offseason with the Oakland Raiders, 7-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Antonio Brown was let go before even putting on the silver and black.
Brown was let go last Saturday and immediately signed a one-year deal with the New England Patriots, giving head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady arguably the team’s most deadly offensive weapon since Hall of Fame wide receiver Randy Moss was last on the roster in 2010.
Despite the Brown’s recent antics and controversies, including a serious allegation of sexual assault against him in a civil lawsuit filed earlier this week, the public market went bet hard on the Patriots in the past week.
Prior to Brown’s signing, the Patriots were already the favorites and came in at +650 ($100 bet wins $650) odds to win Super Bowl LIV, giving the team a roughly 13.33% chance of hoisting the Lombardi Trophy when converted to an implied probability. Patriots fans looking to bet on Super Bowl 54 already saw their team favored by the bookmakers.
But in the week since adding the star wideout to its arsenal, the Patriots have nearly doubled their odds of being crown Super Bowl champs and currently sit at +350 ($100 bet wins $350) odds.
After converting, we can see the oddsmakers now give the Pats a 22.22% chance to win the Super Bowl on February 2, 2020, down in Miami, FL.
It wouldn’t be fair to say that Brown was the entire reason the Patriots chances increased during the past week.
Wide receiver Josh Gordon was reinstated by the NFL and looked impressive during the Week 1 Sunday Night Football matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
And speaking of that matchup against the Steelers, the Patriots defense maybe even scarier than the offense likely will be with Brown and Gordon.
Despite not having a true defensive coordinator, the Pats D smothered the Steelers all night long and held Big Ben and company to just a field goal on their way to a 33-3 victory in Foxborough.
While Brown’s signing came too late to have him suit up against his former team, he’s likely to have an easy test against the putrid Miami Dolphins on Sunday. Currently, the Patriots are a huge 19.5-point road favorite against the Fins for their Week 2 matchup.
Here’s a look at where the Super Bowl LIV betting odds for all 32 NFL teams currently stand as the regular season heads into its 2nd week of play. Odds can be found at Bovada Sportsbook.
Odds To Win Super Bowl 54 – NFL Week 2
- New England Patriots +375
- Kansas City Chiefs +750
- New Orleans Saints +800
- Philadelphia Eagles +1000
- Dallas Cowboys +1200
- Los Angeles Rams +1200
- Los Angeles Chargers +1600
- Chicago Bears +1800
- Green Bay Packers +1800
- Minnesota Vikings +2000
- Baltimore Ravens +2500
- Cleveland Browns +2500
- Seattle Seahawks +2500
- Pittsburgh Steelers +2800
- San Francisco 49ers +3000
- Houston Texans +3500
- Atlanta Falcons +4000
- Tennessee Titans +4000
- Carolina Panthers +6000
- Jacksonville Jaguars +6000
- Indianapolis Colts +6600
- Buffalo Bills +8000
- Oakland Raiders +8000
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers +8000
- Arizona Cardinals +10000
- Denver Broncos +10000
- Detroit Lions +10000
- New York Giants +10000
- New York Jets +10000
- Washington Redskins +12500
- Cincinnati Bengals +15000
- Miami Dolphins +25000