Super Bowl Odds Update: Buffalo Is Hot Prior to Wild Card Weekend

With the dust of the 2023-24 NFL regular season now settled, 14 franchises are holding on to hopes of hoisting the Lombardi Trophy next month in "Fabulous" Las Vegas.

Of course, the action will resume shortly with Wild Card Weekend. Even though the respective top seeds --- the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens -- won't be playing, there is still plenty of quality football to take in from Saturday to Monday.

For the sake of this article, let's refrain from focusing on teams with a bye this week. Looking at the remaining field, sides like the Buffalo Bills and Dallas Cowboys are entering the playoffs with undeniable momentum; both sat in second place majority of the season before clinching their division in Week 18.

Prior to Wild Card Weekend beginning on Saturday, let's have a look at the list of trending teams in the Super Bowl LVIII market.

All NFL odds via FanDuel Sportsbook.

*Denotes Super Bowl LVII participant

Super Bowl Odds

Notable Jumps

Buffalo Bills

FanDuel Sportsbook Odds: +650

As just mentioned, Buffalo turned on the gas over the final portion of the regular season. Notably (and after being in jeopardy of missing the playoffs altogether), the Bills have rallied to win the last five games consecutively to earn their fourth straight AFC East crown. Reckless as he can be at times, Josh Allen had another productive season, showing top-five figures in passing yardage (4,306) and total touchdowns (44).

In the Super Bowl market, Buffalo is currently showing their shortest price at FanDuel Sportsbook of the year. Heading into Week 14, Bills Mafia saw their big-game stock range as high as +3500 odds.

With an improved effort on defense of late, Buffalo is once again looking like a team that can go the distance. On their current winning streak, the Bills have surrendered just 16.8 PPG and were extremely impressive when holding the Miami Dolphins to just 14 points on Sunday Night Football. Buffalo will look to continue that effort in Sunday's early window when they host the Pittsburgh Steelers.

FanDuel Sportsbook has the Bills as 10-point favorites on Monday, which is the largest spread of the opening playoff round. Naturally, most experts consider the Steelers to be the outlier team in this postseason, which we'll dive into a little later.

It is tough to count the Bills out in any matchup going forward. Given Allen's abilities as a signal-caller, Buffalo can go nuclear on any given night. However, Allen can be paradoxical. His 69.3 QBR was third-highest on the year, but he is still turning the ball over too frequently. Western New York, I sincerely hope I am not foreshadowing anything.

Dallas Cowboys

FanDuel Sportsbook Odds: +750

Undeniably, "America's Team" just finished one of their most impressive regular seasons of the decade. Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb seem to be playing at an all-time high; the former led the league in touchdown passes (36) while the latter paced all players in receptions (135). Of course, it was all good enough for the 'Boys to win the NFC East in the regular season finale.

Dallas gets after it on defense, as well. The pass-rush combination of Micah Parson and DeMarcus Lawrence is arguably the top tandem in the league as they combined for more total QB pressures they any other duo. On the back end, cornerback DaRon Bland led the NFL in interceptions (9) and defensive touchdowns (5).

This Sunday afternoon, Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy will have a reunion -- one of many around the league on Wild Card Weekend -- with the Green Bay Packers. McCarthy served as top "Cheesehead" (Packers HC) for a dozen seasons, bringing Wisconsin's NFL franchise their most recent Super Bowl win in 2011.

Coming full circle, McCarthy and his Cowboys will look to extend on their home winning streak at AT&T Stadium of 16 games. Still, their last loss at "Jerry World" came in this very same round two years ago versus the 49ers. However, Dallas will be taking on a quarterback (Jordan Love) making his playoff debut. Expect Parsons and Co. to get after him early and often.

Steep Drops

Philadelphia Eagles

FanDuel Sportsbook Odds: +1400

The Philadelphia Eagles are in the midst of a historic spiral. As last season's NFC champion, Philly started the current campaign with the second-shortest odds to win the Super Bowl (+800) at FanDuel Sportsbook. As it is now, the Birds are priced at 14-to-1 in the big-game market, which is outside the top-five teams.

To add insult to injury (literally), Philadelphia closed out the regular season with an embarrassing loss at the New York Giants. In that bid, Jalen Hurts seemed to dislocate a finger on his throwing hand while receiver A.J. Brown (knee) exited the contest. Additionally, DeVonta Smith (ankle) was already working back from a lower-body ailment. With all that considered, what version of the Eagles will we see this Monday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers?

The Bucs might be considered the worst of this year's NFC division winners, but they can still put a charge into Philadelphia. To make matters worse, the Eagles lost safety Sydney Brown to what could be a torn ACL. With one of the game's best deep threats, Mike Evans, playing host to this game, that is exactly what the doctor did not order.

Philadelphia has allowed 30.3 PPG over their most recent six games (five losses), and the Eagles are the first team in the Super Bowl era to qualify for the playoffs despite losing five of six to close out a campaign. They're not peaking as we enter the postseason by any means.

Pittsburgh Steelers

FanDuel Sportsbook Odds: +13000

Let's stay in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Not to be morbid, but death, taxes and head coach Mike Tomlin getting the Steelers above .500; those seem to be the only certainties in life that have yet to be disproven.

In what was the epitome of resilience, Pittsburgh won their final three games of the season to clinch a playoff berth. Of course, they needed some outside help in Week 18. If you're a supporter of the Steel Curtain, perhaps you'll be buying a gift for your favorite Tennessee Titans fan.

Typically a testament to quality coaching, the Steelers were wildly successful in one-score games this season. Through 11 such contests, Pittsburgh went 9-2. Still, their offense was inconsistent at best. Of course, some of that can be attributed to the issue that the Steelers were forced to start three different quarterbacks in 2023.

With Kenny Pickett (ankle) practicing in full again this week, they are left with a quarterback controversy. Given that veteran Mason Rudolph has been the hotter hand, the Oklahoma State alum likely takes the snaps this Saturday in Buffalo.

Most concerning for Steel City, All-Pro defender T.J. Watt (MCL) is thought to have a suffered a substantial knee injury in the Week 18 victory over the rival Ravens. As of Monday afternoon, no definitive timetable has been given for the 2021 AP Defensive Player of the Year, but I would not anticipate Watt plays on Wild Card Weekend. Without Pittsburgh's best player, how much can we expect from them versus Allen and the Bills?

Honorable Mentions

Trending Up

• Cleveland Browns (+3100)

Falling Down

• Miami Dolphins (+1600)

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.