The NFL 2021 season exploded onto our screens on Friday 10 September when Tampa Bay Buccaneers hosted Dallas Cowboys at Raymond James Stadium in Florida. It was a date that had been circled in the diary of sports fans in the United States and across the world. The opening game of a new NFL season is a huge affair and the game certainly lived up to the pre-match hype.
Bookmakers had priced up their outright betting on a number of markets back in pre-season, including Superbowl, Conference winners and league winners. This allowed bettors to make their predictions early and get their stake money down. In most cases, the earlier you bet on a team in the outright markets the better the odds you will receive.
Some punters prefer to bide their time a little, believing the best Super Bowl bets are made after getting a chance to see how every team lines up and how their new players have settled in. That’s where in-season betting comes into play.
The leading betting apps offer odds on the outright winners before the opening weekend before updating their offers after every round. Who were the standouts on week one and did the scores force traders into a re-think?
Kansas City the early picks
Traders at all major online betting apps were strong in their pre-season picks, putting forward their support for the Kansas City Chiefs as the most likely winners of the Superbowl in February 2022. The market is a competitive one, with Kansas just shading it ahead of Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who are in second place in the betting. If the season and Superbowl is as tight as the betting then fans are in for a thrilling ride.
Those two teams sit way ahead of the chasing pack, and if we are to trust the traders on this one, then the campaign will soon become a two-horse race with Chiefs and Bucks fighting it out every step of the way. If there is to be an upset, it could come from the Los Angeles Rams, who are currently third in line, just ahead of the Buffalo Bills and the San Francisco 49ers.
As any football fan knows, those three teams have more than enough quality to challenge this season, but their betting odds tell us it’s unlikely anything other than a win for Kansas or Tampa would go down as a huge upset. That will be music to the ears of football bettors who love uncovering the value.
When making your Superbowl predictions you can follow the market and have your stake on one of the two market leaders. The odds on Chiefs and Bucks are short so many gamblers will be happy to take a pop at an underdog with larger odds attached. Backing an outsider allows you to keep your stakes small and hope your team gives you a decent run for your money. If they make it to the playoffs the cash-out offer made will be worth considering and you may end up making a profit without needing your team to win the Superbowl.
There is also the option to place an each-way bet on an outsider. The place terms are ½ the odds 1-2 which means if your selection makes it all the way to the Superbowl final you’ll see a return on your investment, regardless of the outcome of that match. There are many options open to bettors and it’s worth fully investigating what’s available to you before placing your stake. Doing so will ensure you have a full understanding of how best to bet on the NFL season and the Superbowl.
How the favourites started the season
Tampa Bay got off to a winning start at home when beating the Buffalo Bills by a 31-29 margin. It was a deserved victory for the Bucks, but they were pushed hard by the Cowboys, made to work every step of the way. Interestingly, Tampa won just one quarter of that match on their way to victory, with two ending in a draw and Cowboys winning the spare.
Kansas also started how they mean to go on with a win over Cleveland Browns, but they too were made to sweat. The final score in that match at Arrowfield Stadium read 33-29, and that came despite the Chiefs losing each of the first two quarters. They went into the half-time interval losing 22-10 but roared back in the second half.
