According to online betting website bovada.com, the Lions have a 66-1 shot at winning the fifty-first Lombardi Trophy. Twenty-three teams have better odds than the Lions, while the Chargers, Saints, and Jaguars share the 66-1 mark. Only the Buccaneers, Titans, 49ers, and the Browns have worse odds.
Last year the Lions opened the season as 30-1 shots to win the big game, a respectable 11th out of 32. They now find themselves in 24th. The champion Broncos opened the year at 9-1, but the juggernaut Panthers started all the way down at 60-1.
The Lions odds are a bit low, but based on who they’re grouped around I don’t think it’s totally unfair. The Chargers, Saints, and Jaguars, like the Lions, have some promising aspects but also some serious flaws that can’t be ignored. The Chargers offensive line is a mess, the Saints have a Pop Warner level defense, the Jaguars have inexperience, and the Lions of course haven’t even been to a Super Bowl in fifty years.
Their odds would be higher had the best receiver in franchise and possibly league history not left the building, and the struggling offensive line doesn’t help very much either. If the Lions didn’t have a franchise quarterback in Matthew Stafford, they could be as low as the Browns.
The one issue I have with the Lions ranking is who the bookies have placed in front of the Lions. The Jets, Eagles, Dolphins, Rams, and Bears all have a better chance to win the Super Bowl according to Vegas. I would agree with the Jets if I knew their starting QB would be Ryan Fitzpatrick (that’s something I thought I’d never say), but currently Geno Smith is QB1, and that says it all. The Eagles have an unhappy Sam Bradford at QB, the Dolphins are the Dolphins, the Rams have a good defense but a rookie QB paired with a sneaky awful o-line, and f*** the Bears.
Will the Lions win the Super Bowl in 2017? Probably not. However Vegas is painting a Lions picture that portrays a team with no hope, and I’m here to say that’s not the case. The Lions have nice pieces, they just need a few more to complete the puzzle.
Here’s hoping for more pieces. Forward down the field. Go Lions!
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