Super Bowl Odds: Patriots Lead Panthers, Cardinals, Broncos on Updated Futures

The defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots (13-4) are favored to get back to the big game, as they visit the Denver Broncos (13-4) in the 2016 AFC Championship Game on Sunday.

At sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark, the Patriots are the choice to repeat as NFL champions at 19-10 odds to win Super Bowl 50 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on February 7. 

New England is a three-point road favorite against Denver in the 17th meeting between future Hall of Fame quarterbacks Tom Brady and Peyton Manning.

Brady owns an 11-5 edge in the past 16 meetings with Manning, and he has played with a chip on his shoulder all season following the Deflategate scandal.

The Patriots started 10-0 after Brady’s suspension was overturned. They suffered their first loss in Week 12, losing 30-24 to the Broncos in overtime as 2.5-point road chalk.

Denver has won its last five games as an underdog of three points or less both straight up and against the spread, and the team seeks a return to the Super Bowl for the second time in three years.

The Broncos are 4-1 to win Super Bowl 50 and were blown out 43-8 by the Seattle Seahawks two years ago as two-point favorites. Offensively, they are not nearly as good, but the defense is better and could give Brady some trouble like it did in a 26-16 victory against New England in the 2014 AFC title game.

The Carolina Panthers (16-1) are right behind the Patriots at 2-1 to win Super Bowl 50 and have won 12 straight home games heading into Sunday’s NFC Championship Game.

That is significant since the Panthers are hosting the Arizona Cardinals (14-3), who survived an overtime game Saturday with a 26-20 victory vs. the Green Bay Packers.

The Cardinals are 15-4 to win the Super Bowl, and they take a five-game road winning streak (4-1 ATS) into Bank of America Stadium.

Carolina and Arizona both showed some weaknesses last weekend in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs, due in part to inexperience, making oddsmakers side with four-time Super Bowl champ New England as the favorite.

The Panthers nearly blew a 31-0 halftime lead in a 31-24 win over the two-time defending NFC champion Seahawks on Sunday, while the Cardinals gave up a game-tying Hail Mary from Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers to receiver Jeff Janis in the final seconds after rallying to take the lead.