Super Bowl 2021: Initial Vegas Odds Following Week 17

The Kansas City Chiefs enter the NFL postseason as the favorite to repeat as Super Bowl champion.

Andy Reid's side is one of two franchises that will have to win three games in the new seven-team playoff format to hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

The Green Bay Packers are the other team with home-field advantage and a first-round bye. The difference between the Packers and Chiefs' Super Bowl quests is Green Bay's starters participated in Week 17. 

Although the Chiefs will not have to leave Kansas City until the Super Bowl, their starters will not have played in three weeks by the time the divisional round starts. 

The other 12 teams entered into the playoff field will play in the refurbished wild-card weekend that will have six games over two days. 

Of those squads playing next weekend, there are a few that enter the playoffs on winning streaks and could cause trouble to the higher seeds in their respective conferences.

Super Bowl Odds

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

Kansas City (+200; bet $100 to win $200)

Green Bay (+450)

Buffalo (+800)

New Orleans (+800)

Tampa Bay (+1000)

Baltimore (+1100)

Seattle (+1200)

Pittsburgh (+2200)

Los Angeles Rams (+2800)

Tennessee (+2800)

Indianapolis (+3000)

Cleveland (+4000)

Chicago (+6000)

Washington (+7000)

Kansas City has to be viewed as a solid bet to win the Super Bowl because its odds are still reasonable for a defending champion.

The AFC West champion lost once with its first-team offense on the field. Its second defeat came with Patrick Mahomes, Tyreek Hill and others sitting out Sunday's game with the Los Angeles Chargers. 

While the quarterback and his abundance of offensive weapons could convince you to pick the Chiefs to win the Super Bowl, there could be some hesitancy shown before finalizing that wager. 

Kansas City did not play its sharpest game in Week 16 against the Atlanta Falcons, and it will have an extra week off to prepare for the divisional round.

The vacant week could either help the Chiefs get healthy and fine-tune their play-calling for the postseason, or it may leave them with a bit of rust. 

Recent history could be on Kansas City's side, as only one of the four teams with a first-round bye lost in the last postseason. 

That one divisional-round home loser was the Baltimore Ravens, who have a chance to avenge that defeat against the Tennessee Titans in the Wild Card Round.

Baltimore is one of the hottest teams in the NFL and may be one of the few teams that can challenge Kansas City if it gets the chance. 

The Ravens created a deeper passing game in December and January, with Myles Boykin growing into a bigger role, Marquise Brown forming a better connection with Lamar Jackson, and Dez Bryant chipping in with a few catches. 

If Baltimore can strike Tennessee's defense with an effective dual-threat offense, it could spring the road upset and possibly end up in Kansas City for the divisional round. 

The other No. 5 seed could be dangerous as well since the Tampa Bay Buccaneers get to face the NFC East champion in the first round. 

The 11-win squad led by Tom Brady could have its way with the Washington Football Team, which could create plenty of momentum going into a tougher matchup in the divisional round. 

With Brady at the helm, Tampa Bay could be an intriguing long-shot play at +1000. If you look at teams beneath the No. 5 seed, finding a championship winner could get dicey.

The Los Angeles Rams and Chicago Bears could be outmatched in their respective quarterback matchups, with Jared Goff injured and Mitchell Trubisky hitting the road to face Drew Brees. 

Indianapolis was not convincing down the stretch against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Jacksonville Jaguars.

Cleveland may be worth a long-shot bet, but it has to beat the Steelers and Bills on the road to even get to the AFC Championship Game, and that is a task even the best teams may struggle with.

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90

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