The New England Patriots have repeated as Super Bowl champions just once in the Tom Brady/Bill Belichick era (2003-04), but that hasn't stopped Las Vegas bookmakers from buying into the legend.
Again.
On Monday, just hours after Brady and Co. captured their sixth Lombardi Trophy (the Patriots and Steelers now own six apiece), VegasInsider.com released its championship odds for the 2019 season.
And after the waves of elite-level teams, the next cut of purported favorites might surprise.
Namely, Patriots and Chiefs have the best odds of Super Bowl glory, at 6/1 and 7/1, respectively. After that, it's an NFC-addled troika of the Rams (8/1), Saints (10/1) and Bears (14/1).
Here's where things get funky, though: The 16/1 quartet includes the Chargers, Colts, Vikings and 49ers, who plunged precipitously to a 4-12 record ... after quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo went down with an ACL tear in September.
(San Francisco was crushed by a number of injuries, as well.)
One year of NFL success/failure doesn't always portend similar results for the following season. That aside, it's still weird to see the Niners curry more favor with Vegas experts, over league stalwarts like the Packers (20/1), Eagles (20/1), Steelers (22/1), Cowboys (25/1) and Falcons (28/1).
There's a reason why San Francisco has the No. 2 overall pick in the April draft.
Speaking of which, the Falcons (approximately $13.4 million in cap space) could sport a different look this offseason, should the franchise opt for substantive changes with personnel, as a means of stockpiling draft picks and clearing payroll obligations for subsequent years.
Or, the front office could double down on its recent efforts – chalking up this season to being randomly disappointing – by re-signing defensive tackle Grady Jarrett (projected average annual salary: $17 million), spending heavily on free-agent offensive linemen and/or signing All-Pro wideout Julio Jones to a massive contract extension.
RELATED: Gladys Knight dominated her national-anthem appearance ... but did he also hit the Vegas over-under?
Here are the full championship odds for next year, according to Vegas Insider, broken down into five classifications:
SEE YOU IN THE AFC TITLE GAME
Patriots – 6/1
Chiefs – 7/1
NFC PENTHOUSE
Rams – 8/1
Saints – 10/1
Bears – 14/1
THE HIGH-RISK/HIGH-REWARD CREW
49ers – 16/1
Chargers – 16/1
Colts – 16/1
Vikings – 16/1
Packers – 20/1
Eagles – 20/1
Steelers – 22/1
Browns – 22/1
THE MIDDLE CLASS
Cowboys – 25/1
Texans – 25/1
Falcons – 28/1
Ravens – 33/1
Panthers – 33/1
Jaguars – 33/1
Giants – 40/1
Seahawks – 42/1
Titans – 50/1
BOTTOM FEEDERS
Cardinals – 66/1
Bills – 66/1
Bengals – 66/1
Broncos – 66/1
Lions – 66/1
Jets – 66/1
Raiders – 66/1
Buccaneers – 66/1
Redskins – 66/1
Dolphins – 100/1
