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No, I did not miss the Super Bowl, and yes, I know that the two best teams at the end of last season were the Packers and the Steelers.
I also know that the odds are stacked against either the Packers or Steelers making it back to the Super Bowl next year: over the previous ten Super Bowls, the losing teams have only made the playoffs three times in the following season, not once advancing beyond the divisional round.
Of the winning teams, the Patriots were the only team that was able to repeat, no other Super Bowl winner even made it back to the conference championships. Incidentally, the last defending Super Bowl champion to win a playoff game the following year were the 2005 Patriots. Four of the last ten Super Bowl Winners failed to make the playoffs in the following year altogether.
After the break, we look at who Rick Gosselin from the Dallas Morning News as well as the Vegas bookmakers think the best teams will be next year.
Super Bowl favorites 2010
| Rick Gosselin | Bodog.com | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Team | Team | Odds |
| 1 | Packers | Packers | 7/1 |
| 2 | Patriots | Patriots | 7/1 |
| 3 | Saints | Steelers | 11/1 |
| 4 | Chargers | Chargers | 12/1 |
| 5 | Colts | Colts | 14/1 |
| 6 | Steelers | Jets | 14/1 |
| 7 | Falcons | Saints | 14/1 |
| 8 | Ravens | Cowboys | 16/1 |
| 9 | Jets | Eagles | 16/1 |
| 10 | Lions | Falcons | 16/1 |
| - - |
- - | Ravens | 16/1 |
Ten different teams have been crowned NFC champions in the last ten years. If the Cowboys, Falcons, Lions, Vikings, 49ers or, God forbid, the Redskins win the NFC championship game next year, that would make it 11 for 11.
Who do you think is the best team in the NFL today? Which team looks to have all or most of the pieces in place to become the dominant team of the next four to five years?
Let us know who your NFL underdog is, and why.