The Kansas City Chiefs‘ bid for the NFL’s first back-to-back Super Bowl victories in 16 years ended with a thud Sunday night in Tampa, Fla.
After the Chiefs took a 3-0 lead midway through the first quarter of Super Bowl LV, it was all QB Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense as the “hosts” dominated the defending champs en route to a 31-9 victory — the second-most lopsided Super Bowl win in the last 20 years.
It also was the second-worst Big Game loss for a defending champion in Super Bowl history, surpassed only by Washington’s 38-9 thrashing at the hands of the Los Angeles Raiders in Super Bowl XVIII in 1984, coincidentally, also in Tampa.
Now, QB Patrick Mahomes and Co., will set their sights on becoming the third Super Bowl losers to bounce back and hoist the Lombardi Trophy the following season, joining the 2018 New England Patriots and 1971 Dallas Cowboys.
Below, we’ll examine the odds of the Chiefs doing just that, courtesy of the NFL futures odds at BetMGM Sportsbook, and then detail some of the historical hurdles the Chiefs face in even making it to Super Bowl LVI Feb. 6, 2020, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.
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Odds to win 2022 Super Bowl
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Monday, Feb. 8, at 7 p.m. ET.
Usually, the reigning champs are the favorites to repeat, but that’s not the case in BetMGM’s Super Bowl LVI odds, where, yes, we find the Chiefs heading the list at +600 (6-1). Here’s a quick glance at the top 10 as of Monday afternoon:
- Chiefs +600
- Green Bay Packers +900
- Buccaneers +1000
- Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Rams +1200
- San Francisco 49ers +1600
- New Orleans Saints +1800
- Seattle Seahawks +2200
- Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys, Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins, Tennessee Titans +2500
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As you can see, only Kansas City currently has better than 8-1 odds to win it all, and it is joined by the Packers and Bucs as the only three with 10-1 or better odds.
It’s fairly stacked and even from there with another 11 of the 29 remaining teams owning odds of 25-1 or better to win Super Bowl LVI.
Chiefs will battle Super Bowl loser’s curse
As recent history has shown, losing the Super Bowl typically doesn’t portend great things the following season. Here’s how the last 20 Super Bowl losers have fared the following season:
- Eight had losing records and missed the playoffs.
- Two had winning records but also missed the postseason.
- Three others made the postseason but failed to win a playoff game.
- Six won at least one playoff game but failed to return to the Super Bowl.
- And one (the aforementioned 2018 Patriots) made it back to the Roman Numeral Game and won it all.
The 49ers, who fell to the Chiefs 31-20 a year ago in Super Bowl LIV, are the most recent example. The Niners had an injury-wrecked 2020 season and finished 6-10, bringing up the rear in the NFC West a season after going 13-3 and earning the NFC’s No. 1 seed.
Avoiding a similar fate is the challenge awaiting Mahomes and the 2021 Chiefs, who will be trying to become only the fourth team to make it to at least three straight Super Bowls, joining the 1971-73 Dolphins, 1990-93 Bills and the 2016-18 Pats.
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Chiefs Wire:
- Mathieu received apology text from Brady
- Mahomes already working on ways to counter Bucs’ defensive blueprint
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