The Los Angeles Rams are sitting pretty at +500 as the clear Super Bowl 61 favorites, the only team with single-digit odds to win it all. But if you’re a 12 looking at those numbers, you know exactly what that means for our defending champion Seattle Seahawks. Every team starts 0-0, sure, but the oddsmakers are already telling a wild story for the season ahead.
The Curse of the Favorite Is Real
Joey Feazel, the head NFL oddsmaker at Caesars Sportsbook, isn’t shy about it, saying, “We’re really heavy on the Rams,” and that “Los Angeles has 18% of the money in the entire Super Bowl pool.” On paper, it sounds like the Rams are in a “good position entering the year,” as Feazel puts it. But here’s where it gets wild: history tells us something totally different. Over the last 30 seasons, there have been a mind-boggling 20 instances where a preseason Super Bowl favorite, with odds like the Rams’ +500 or better, has entered the season. Wanna guess how many of those teams actually won the Super Bowl? Zero. That’s right, 0-for-20. We’re talking about historic teams, too, like the 2007 New England Patriots or “The Greatest Show on Turf” St. Louis Rams from 2000-2002. They all crumbled under the weight of those expectations. So, while Vegas is pouring money on the Rams, every true Seattle fan knows this early “favorite” status is more like a curse.
Our Hawks Are Built Different
Meanwhile, our Seattle Seahawks, the *defending Super Bowl 60 champions*, are sitting comfortably at 12-1. Yeah, you heard that right, 12-1! The Buffalo Bills are ahead of us at 10-1, and the Baltimore Ravens are 11-1, but who cares about them? We just hoisted the Lombardi, and we did it by completely defying the odds. Remember Super Bowl 60? The Seahawks won that ring after entering the season with a massive 60-1 preseason odds. Before that, no team with preseason odds worse than 40-1 had won the Super Bowl since the 2001 New England Patriots, who were also 60-1. What does that tell you? It tells you this team thrives as an underdog, that the 12s fuel a different kind of fire, and that when everyone else is doubting, we’re just getting started. It’s exactly where we want to be.
So, as another NFL season kicks off with every team at 0-0, the betting lines are already painting a clear picture for Super Bowl 61. The so-called favorites are already on thin ice if history is any guide, and our Seahawks are right where they need to be: underestimated, hungry, and ready to prove everyone wrong again. The journey has just begun, Emerald City, and if those Rams want to carry the curse of the favorite, let ’em! We’re coming for that second ring. Get loud, 12s. Go Hawks!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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