The Bucs have a doozy of a schedule this season facing eight teams that were in the playoffs last season. That includes the eventual Super Bowl-winning Rams and runner-up Bengals, in addition to the AFC title game losers in the Chiefs as well.
Tampa Bay will also go up against formidable opponents in Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay, as well as Dallas. With such a challenging schedule the odds are sure to be stacked against the Bucs winning Super Bowl LVII, right?
Not so fast.
According to Pewter Report’s sponsor, MyBookie, the Bucs have open with the second-best odds to win the championship at +910. The only team with better odds are the Buffalo Bills, quarterbacked by Josh Allen at +760. The reigning Super Bowl champion Rams come in with the fourth best odds at +1225.
As it stands right now betting-wise, MyBookie projects Tampa Bay to face Buffalo for the right to be crowned Super Bowl LVII champions.
Path To Winning It All Starts In Conference
Along those lines the Bucs were +310 to capture the NFC Conference title before the wager cut off. That’s well ahead of the next team in the conference. The Rams were a distant second at +430 with the Packers close behind them at +460.
Last season, the Bucs tied for the best record in the NFL at 13-4. Due to tiebreakers they just missed out on the number one seed, which went to the Packers. Still, the road to the Super Bowl ran through Tampa Bay after Green Bay’s home loss to San Francisco. Unfortunately the Bucs fell short at home to the Rams in the NFC Divisional Playoffs.
To make life easier and ensure at least one playoff game will be played at home, the Bucs will need to start by winning their own division. Of course the Bucs are overwhelmingly the current odds-on favorite to win the NFC South at -280. The Saints the next closest team at +430.
With a tough schedule ahead of them, including the first four games, the Bucs will need to get off to a good start. The good news is the Bucs are betting favorites to open up the season with a win. They are currently -2 favorites to beat the Cowboys in Dallas.