Tag: 2020 NFL worst-to-first betting odds predictions picks best bets

2020 NFL best bets for worst-to-first division jumps

Looking at the betting odds and making our predictions, picks and best bets while ranking which teams have the best chance to go from last to first place in their division in 2020.

With the 2020 season upon us – yes, real, live football – it’s a time to rank the NFL division worst-to-first candidates as we make our NFL picks and best bets.

NFL worst-to-first facts

From 2003 – the season after the NFL realigned into its current eight four-team division format – through 2019 (a total of 17 seasons):

  • 21 teams went from fourth to first in a division, an average of 1.2 teams per season.
  • There’s been a worst-to-first turnaround team in 15 of the 17 seasons with 2014 and this past season being the exceptions.
  • Nearly half of those worst-to-first ascenders (10 of 21) won four or fewer games the previous season.

Last season, though, was an outlier as five of the eight 2018 division champs held serve and repeated. The San Francisco 49ers (4-12 in 2018) and Green Bay Packers (6-9-1) did take noteworthy leaps, however, improving by at least seven wins apiece to win their respective divisions.

A 2020 worst-to-first run figures to be especially challenging after an offseason unlike any the league has seen, but we are definitely due for a couple surprise ascenders after last year.

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2020 NFL best bets for worst-to-first jumps

Which of the eight last-place finishers from last season are best set up to author a turnaround tale? We rank the candidates from least to most likely, with their accompanying division-title odds.

NFL betting odds provided by BetMGM; access USA TODAY for a full list. Lines last updated Wednesday, Sept. 2, at 5:50 p.m. ET.

  • Cincinnati Bengals (AFC North +2500) – No. 1-overall pick Joe Burrow has brought some hope to Cincy, but the rest of the division appears to be set under center as well – only with much better teams around them.
  • Carolina Panthers (NFC South +2000) – With a new head coach in Matt Rhule and a new QB in Teddy Bridgewater, the Panthers find themselves at a similar disadvantage in the NFC South with the rest of the division loaded with proven, veteran quarterbacks and more talented teams.
  • Washington Football Team (NFC East +1200) – Despite residing in the less-than-formidable NFC Least, there is a notable talent deficit in D.C. From the owner to the team name, this is a franchise in obvious turmoil and transition.
  • Jacksonville Jaguars (AFC South +1400) – Speaking of teams in transition, we have the Jags who have spent the last decade whiffing and/or trading away top draft pick after top draft pick. That’s not exactly how to construct a division champ.
  • Los Angeles Chargers (AFC West +800) – Philip Rivers is gone (to the Indianapolis Colts), but there’s ample roster talent left behind. The Bolts’ perennial battles, though, are keeping that talent healthy and finding a way past what looks to be the league’s new dynasty in Patrick Mahomes and the defending-Super Bowl-champion Kansas City Chiefs.
  • Miami Dolphins (AFC East +800) – With Brady finally out of New England, the path to the top of the AFC East is suddenly wide open. It’s not beyond reason that Brian Flores’ bunch continues its late-season surge from 2019.
  • Arizona Cardinals (NFC West +800) – Kliff Kingsbury and the Cards have assembled some intriguing pieces in the desert and if they all come together behind second-year QB Kyler Murray, they could challenge for best in the West.
  • Detroit Lions (NFC North +600) – Questions abound about head coach Matt Patricia after 6-10 and 3-12-1 seasons, but if QB Matthew Stafford can bounce back after an injury-shortened 2019, the NFC North crown is ripe for the taking.

Also see:

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