Wentz Trade Has Colts Odds To Win AFC South Tied With Titans

• Carson Wentz was traded to the Indianapolis Colts from the Philadelphia Eagles.
• Wentz led the NFL in interceptions in 2020 despite only playing 12 games.
• The Colts’ odds to win both the AFC South and the Super Bowl got shorter after the trade.

LAS VEGAS – The Indianapolis Colts have +110 odds to win the AFC South, and are now tied with the Tennessee Titans to win the division.

This comes in the wake of the Colts’ trade for Carson Wentz, the former Eagles QB who struggled heavily during the 2020 season. Wentz’s arrival in Indianapolis comes on the heels of his worst season as a pro, a season that saw him get benched partway through for Jalen Hurts, a rookie.

Despite Wentz’s struggles, it seems as though his arrival in Indianapolis has engaged bettors who want to wager on the Colts.

AFC South Winner Odds

• Indianapolis Colts +110
• Tennessee Titans +110
• Jacksonville Jaguars +1100
• Houston Texans +1400

It’s worth noting that this does genuinely appear to be a two-team race, with the Colts and the Titans the only two functional teams in the division.

The Jaguars will be entering the first year of Urban Meyer’s stewardship of the team, and while expectations for the team will increase, they won’t be expected to make a serious push for the divisional lead.

The Texans, meanwhile, are in the middle of a full-blown organizational meltdown, with J.J. Watt already out the door and Deshaun Watson demanding a trade.

In theory, this leaves the Colts and the Titans - two teams that made the playoffs in 2020 - as the only real contenders. However, for them to be even demonstrates that bettors have a lot of faith in Carson Wentz. In 2020, both the Colts and the Titans finished with 11-5 records, with the Colts winning the division.

What The Colts Are Working With

The standout aspect of the team was their defense, with Darius Leonard as the All-Pro centerpiece of the team.

Leonard has made quite a name for himself in his time in the league, and his outspoken leadership should help the Colts defense continue to perform well in 2021.

While the Colts defense shouldn’t be in doubt going into 2021, the offense is another story.

Indianapolis will be replacing Phillip Rivers with Wentz, and while Rivers was unspectacular in 2020, Wentz was downright bad.

Wentz put up a 57% completion rate, the lowest of his career, to go along with 16 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. Those 15 interceptions led the league, even though Wentz only played 12 games of the season.

In other words, Carson Wentz led the league in interceptions while only playing 75% of the season.

That’s bad.

Rivers, for all his foibles, had a 68% completion percentage, 24 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions, on over 4000 yards passing for the season. This seems like a significant downgrade.

And yet, bettors have moved this line shorter for the Colts. Before the trade, they were around +130 odds to win the division, and now they’re tied with the Titans at +110.

Incredibly, this holds true for their Super Bowl odds as well, which moved from around +2800 to +2200 depending on which sportsbook one looked at after the Wentz trade.

It remains to be seen whether or not Wentz can recover his previous form, but the fact that he’s moving the odds at all after the season he had in 2020 is genuinely intriguing.

NFL betting fans should keep an eye on Wentz and the Colts during the 2021 offseason.