Eagles tied for the best playoff odds in the NFC

OddsShark recently shared opening odds to make the playoffs for all 32 NFL teams. Here’s how everything ranks from shortest odds (favorites) to the longest odds (long shots).

New England Patriots -1500
Pittsburgh Steelers -550
Philadelphia Eagles -260
Minnesota Vikings -260
Los Angeles Rams -170
Green Bay Packers -170
Los Angeles Chargers -145
Jacksonville Jaguars -140
Houston Texans -135
New Orleans Saints -130
Atlanta Falcons +115
Kansas City Chiefs +120
Carolina Panthers +130
San Francisco 49ers +135
Baltimore Ravens +135
Dallas Cowboys +145
Tennessee Titans +165
Oakland Raiders +165
Seattle Seahawks +220
New York Giants +325
Indianapolis Colts +325
Washington Redskins +375
Cincinnati Bengals +400
Tampa Bay Buccaneers +425
Chicago Bears +450
Buffalo Bills +450
Miami Dolphins +600
New York Jets +600
Cleveland Browns +600
Arizona Cardinals +800

As you can see, the Patriots have the best playoff odds in the entire league. You have to bet $1500 on them just to win $100. Betting $100 on the Arizona Cardinals, meanwhile, could net you $800. Feeling confident in Sam Bradford?! I didn’t think so.

The Eagles are tied with the Vikings — the team they blew out in the NFC Championship Game by a final score of 38-7 — for the best playoff odds in the NFC. For what it’s worth, 69% of Super Bowl winners have gone on to qualify for the post-season the next year. So, if history is any indication, the Eagles have a nice chance, but it’s not exactly a lock.

This list illustrates how the NFC is expected to be much more competitive and much less top-heavy than the AFC. The Rams and Packers, with Aaron Rodgers now healthy, aren’t too far behind Philly and Minny.

The Eagles’ NFC East rivals trail much further behind. The Cowboys have the second best playoff odds but rank 16th overall. The New York Giants are tied for 19th. Washington has the longest odds in the division and rank 20th overall.

I don’t enjoy saying this, but I actually think Washington is one of the better bets on here. I think they might end up being the second best team in the NFC East this season. They have the division’s second best head coach in Jay Gruden and the second best starting quarterback in Alex Smith. Washington had the worst injury luck of any NFL team last season so they could be due for some positive regression to the mean there. Having Smith ultimately limits their ceiling but it also raises their floor. I could see them getting a wild card berth. Betting $100 to win $375 ain’t bad.

After winning the Super Bowl earlier this year, the thought of simply “making the playoffs” this season isn’t as exciting. There’s plenty of reason to believe the Birds can at least make it back to the post-season. They have one of the best (if not THE best) quarterback and head coach combination in the league right now. Their defense has the potential to lead the league in generating pressure, which they did last year.

On the other hand, things don’t always go as expected in the NFL. We saw the good version of this with the Eagles winning the Super Bowl. The Cowboys saw the bad version of this by dropping to 9-7 one year after going 13-3.

The Eagles have a tough task ahead of them in trying to become the second team in the salary cap era to repeat as Super Bowl champs. Becoming the first team to win the NFC East for two years in a row since 2004 would be a nice start to getting to the ultimate goal.