There’s a new favorite to win the Super Bowl and its not the New England Patriots. FanDuel Sports Book released their updated odds to win the Super Bowl after the Sunday Night Football game that featured the New England Patriots at the Houston Texans. Below are the updated odds.

• Ravens +250
• Patriots +350
• Saints +550
• 49ers +800
• Chiefs +1200
• Seahawks +1200
• Packers +1600
• Vikings +2000
• Cowboys +2500
• Texans +2500

The Monday Night Football game tonight between the Minnesota Vikings and Seattle Seahawks will have some affect on the middle of these odds but I see no potential dramatic changes at the top after the MNF game. A Seahawks victory might push them ahead of the Chiefs and 49ers

So the question becomes, are these odds justified from what we have seen thus far this NFL season?

The answer to this question is YES.

First, let me discuss the team that dropped from being the favorite.

The New England Patriots

Tom Brady and the Patriots really didn’t look good on Sunday Night Football. The Patriots defense, which has carried the team most of the year, gave up four touchdowns to the Texans. It appears that Father Time is catching up to Tom Brady. Plus, Brady doesn’t have a Josh Gordon or Steve Gronkowski to throw to now.

The real test for the Patriots will come this Sunday in Foxboro when they face the Kansas City Chiefs in a rematch of last year’s AFC Conference Championship game. Can the Patriots bounce back and beat a very motivated Patrick Mahomes and Chiefs team whose defense seems to getting better? Or have the Patriots been the beneficiary of an easy schedule.

The Patriots will still win the AFC East. They will likely still go on to get a first round buy in the playoffs. But….there has to be some serious concerns in the Patriots camp about returning to the Super Bowl. They have lost to two teams now with great young QBs in Baltimore and Houston. And they didn’t dominate a very up-and-down Dallas Cowboys team, winning 13-9 two weeks ago.

Although the Patriots may wind up with a better regular season record this year than last season, the 2019 Patriots team doesn’t appear to be as daunting offensively as last year’s Super Bowl winning team.

Now onto the team that became the new Super Bowl favorite.

The Baltimore Ravens

Lamar Jackson and the Ravens are on a roll, winning eight straight games. They are deserved Super Bowl favorite right now. However, this could change in six days when the New Orleans Saints host the San Francisco 49ers. Mark your calendar for that game, Sunday December 8th at Noon CST.

Some concerns for the Baltimore Ravens are two-fold. They were favored by 5 1/2 points, had ideal weather conditions in Baltimore for their ground attack style and only won by a field goal. Plus, the 49ers held the Ravens to their season low of 20 points.

The New Orleans Saints

As I stated at the end of this blog nearly three weeks ago, my Super Bowl favorite is the New Orleans Saints. I feel that they have all the necessary ingredients to win the Super Bowl. It starts with future Hall of Fame quarterback Drew Brees. The Saints also have a top ten defense and a solid running game with Alvin Kimara.

This coming Sunday will shed a lot of light on the Super Bowl picture and conference seeding. The key games are as follows (all times are CST):

• Baltimore Ravens at Buffalo Bills – Noon
• San Francisco 49ers at New Orleans Saints – Noon
• Kansas City Chiefs at New England Patriots – 3:25 PM
• Seattle Seahawks at Los Angeles Rams – 7:20 PM

This should be interesting. To say that I can’t wait would be a bit of an understatement.