Odds On Super Bowl 56 Team Returning To Playoffs

• The Los Angeles Rams have -260 odds to make the playoffs.
• There are +135 odds for the Cincinnati Bengals to make the playoffs.

LOS ANGELES – After the first two games of the season, the Super Bowl 56 teams, Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals, have seen their odds to make the playoffs shift and there is certainly value to be made on both teams.

Los Angeles Rams Playoff Odds

The Rams odds to make the playoffs are in prime position right now and wont be valuable for much longer. While the NFC West has been one of, if not the most dominant division in recent years, they are currently in an off season with the Seattle Seahawks in rebuild mode and the Arizona Cardinals not being at full strength at least until Week 7. As for San Francisco, a team that usually gives LA a run for their money, they lost their starting QB in Trey Lance for the season following a Week 1 injury.

Probably the strongest reason to get behind their odds to make the playoffs right now is the fact that their odds to win Super Bowl 57 are tied for the fourth shortest at +1400. Their odds to make the playoffs have also remained in the -260 range since the preseason and are bound to shift even stronger if they win in Week 3 against the Cardinals where they are 3.5-point favorites to do so.

Cincinnati Bengals Playoff Odds

The Bengals have not lived up to their high expectations through the first two weeks of the season after an 0-2 start and seeing their odds to make the playoffs move in the wrong direction. The Bengals playoff odds started the preseason at -140, shifted to -115 after losing in Week 1, and now sit at +135 following Week 2.

There are many significant factors that go into why the Bengals have gotten off to such as slow start and it all begins with their offensive line. Through the first two weeks, Joe Burrow has been the most sacked QB having been taken down 13 times. Oddsmakers are also favoring Burrow to be the most sacked QB on the season at +275 odds. In their Week 3 matchup alone, the total number of times set for Burrow to be sacked it at 3.

This comes as a massive surprise after the Bengals spent roughly $74 million in rebuilding their offensive line in the offseason with guys such as Alex Cappa, La’el Collins, and Tedd Karras.

The major factor here though is that an 0-2 start to the season is the most dreaded thing that a team could ask for. Since the 12-team playoff format began in 1990, there have been 265 teams to start 0-2 and only 11.3% (30) of them have gone on to make the playoffs.

Taking it even a step further, since 1970 there have been 400 teams that have started 0-2 and only 9.5% (38) of them have gone on to make the playoffs.

Samuel Profeta

Samuel has been writing professionally for 4 years. He comes from a sports writing background where he enjoys writing mostly about basketball and football both professional and collegiate. He is a recent graduate of Florida State University where he majored in Editing, Writing and Media with a minor in Communications. During his free time, you can find him watching or playing sports as well as playing videogames and listening to music.