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It’s almost here: Super Bowl LVI. We’re down to two final contenders after the longest combined regular and postseason in NFL history: the LA Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals have reached the summit of the 2021 season and will compete for the Lombardi Trophy on Sunday, Feb. 13. It’s been a long road for both franchises to get to this point, weathering highs and lows during the regular season before embarking on exciting playoff runs. We’ve never had a matchup of two No. 4 seeds in a Super Bowl, so it’s worth taking a deeper look into just how much these two were doubted by sportsbooks as true championship contenders. How have the Rams and Bengals title odds shifted since the preseason, and when was the best time to take them to win it all?
Using our Futures tool, we can glean the exact progression for LA and Cincy’s Super Bowl title odds and compare side-by-side with other teams. Beyond merely gauging odds movement, we’re confident our cutting-edge tools can help elevate your entire betting strategy to the next level. Loaded with features that can guide your playoff decisions across a variety of sports - featuring Futures tracking, game predictions, current trends key numbers, live odds and more - we are confident that the latest edition of our premium betting tools is the finest we’ve ever produced.
Today, we take a look at how the Futures tracking tool can help inform sharper betting strategy and help us understand just how improbable this Super Bowl matchup was. Never since the merger has the Super Bowl not featured any of the top-three seeds in each conference’s playoffs. Now on the doorstep of a championship, there was enormous value to be had taking either LA or Cincy to win it all at most points during the 2021 season. See how the Futures tool tracks the Rams and Bengals’ Super Bowl title odds movement:
Super Bowl LVI Futures Odds | Rams vs. Bengals
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The progression of each team’s odds illustrates the story of each team’s 2021 season. The Rams have hovered around the top of the board for most of the season with intermittent ebbs and flows reacting to their midseason inconsistency. Prior to kickoff, PointsBet listed LA as one of the top-five favorites to win it all with +1400 odds, steadily shortening over the course of the season. However, on Dec. 12, the Rams odds had dwindled back down to +1300, nearly the same as preseason. This adjustment occurred in response to a three-game losing streak and Matthew Stafford struggles that had many doubting their potential. It would have been wise to buy the dip around this time as their odds shot up down the stretch run and through the playoffs.
The Bengals’ title odds tell quite a different story when looking closer at their movement throughout the season. Whereas the Rams’ roster included high expectations on both sides of the ball going into the season, (virtually) no one saw this coming from the Bengals. Most were unsure what to expect from Joe Burrow coming off an ACL injury and what to make of a mostly-inexperienced defense. The impact of Burrow’s newfound health and consistency, plus the additions of Ja’Marr Chase and Trey Hendrickson, made the Bengals a force to be reckoned with all of 2021. There was never a bad time to get involved with Cincinnati’s Super Bowl title price. In fact, their odds only dropped down from four digits to three late in the postseason. The most lucrative payout would have been buying the dip on Sept. 19 at +20000 odds. Odds-wise, the Bengals winning Super Bowl LVI would make for an unforgettable underdog story in the history of NFL futures betting and football in general.
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