NFL Odds: Our Predictions, Betting Preview And Best Bets For The 2023 Season

NFL Betting Tip:

• Kansas City Chiefs To Win The Super Bowl - 6/1 with Coral

The NFL draft is a distant memory. OTAs have been and gone. Training camp is all packed up and terrible preseason games can be banished from memory forever. 

At last, it’s almost time for real football to begin in America for another season.

The NFL 2023 campaign is just hours away from kick-off and the best betting sites have odds set on all 32 contenders for Super Bowl glory.

What is the Super Bowl?

Played every year since 1967, the Super Bowl is the clash between the winner of the National Football Conference and the American Football Conference to decide the champion team of the NFL.

The New England Patriots have played in the most Super Bowls (11), winning six, all of those since 2001. Along with the Pittsburgh Steelers, they share the record for the most league titles.

The Kansas City Chiefs are the defending champions after beating the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII at in Glendale, Arizona, in February 2023.

Plenty fancy them to defend their crown, but all offseason those chasing the Lombardi trophy have been making moves to take down Patrick Mahomes and company – let’s take a look at the runners and riders in 2023.

The Favourites

Kansas City Chiefs

Last season was supposed to be a transition year for the perennially contending Chiefs after Tyreek Hill departed, but they coped better than expected, with role-players and Mahomes magic filling the void.

As such, it’s reasonable to expect them to be even stronger this year.

However, it’s worth noting that Travis Kelce became the crucial cog in Andy Reid’s offensive machine post-Hill. 

He has already given Kansas City backers a fright with a knee injury this week and you’d wonder how they’d fare without him.

Also, defensive tackle Chris Jones is holding out in a bid to earn a bigger contract. If he remains off the field, it leaves both a literal and figurative gap in the centre of the Chiefs’ defence.

However, these could be tiny clouds in a blue sky if Patrick Mahomes can continue shredding defences with whatever pieces they put around him, so the 6/1 offered by the best NFL betting sites is based on his nimble feet, indestructible ankle and elastic arm continuing to defy reason.

Philadelphia Eagles

The markets also remain enamoured with last season’s NFC winners, and for good reason, the most obvious being Jalen Hurts. 

The Eagles quarterback did everything he could apart from playing defence and sacking Patrick Mahomes a few times in the Super Bowl. 

He scored three rushing touchdowns, one passing, collected 70 yards on the ground, 340 through the air, and he still lost.

The offensive talent around him should mean he can repeat and improve upon last season’s MVP-contending play. 

Their defence may have lost Javon Hargrave but has Jordan Davis ready to step in and added the player who many rated the most talented draftee this offseason, Jalen Carter, to their pass-rushing rotation.

There were some questions about the strength of their schedule last season as they made their Super Bowl run, and the NFC again this season looks markedly weaker than opposing conference.

That makes it a surprise they’re rated as long as 8/1 shots for the Super Bowl with BetVictor, as they may only truly be tested come late January if they avoid catastrophic injuries.

Contenders

San Francisco 49ers

It’s a sign of how well-run the Niners are that the decision to trade away three first round draft picks for QB Trey Lance didn’t obliterate their title hopes for half a decade at least.

He was moved on to Dallas in recent weeks after losing the Bay Area back-up battle to Sam Darnold, who will deputise if most relevant Mr Irrelevant in NFL history, Brock Purdy, fails to repeat his solid play of last season as an emergency starter.

Coach Kyle Shanahan - one of the most innovative play-designers in the game - remains in situ and there are playmakers all across the offence, with Christian McCaffrey distracting from the likes of Deebo Samuel, George Kittle and Brandon Aiyuk.

Defensively, Steve Wilks is the new coordinator and he will find lots of up-front talent to terrorise opposing quarterbacks and complement Shanahan’s offence.

They are a 9/1 shot with 888sport for the Super Bowl and anything less than the NFC title game would be a disappointment.

Even that might be a let down as they feel like a team that should have at least one ring already.

Buffalo Bills

Which brings us nicely to the Bills. They went into last season as everyone’s favourites following the drama of the previous year’s playoff exit to the Chiefs.

But it never quite clicked in the way they hoped. Their receiving options didn’t develop as planned and they ended up with a re-signed Cole Beasley taking meaningful snaps in January.

They were humbled on home turf by the Cincinnati Bengals in the Divisional Round and quarterback Josh Allen, for all his talent and staggering plays, is yet to even take the field in an AFC title game.

However, off-season moves suggest some of their issues have been addressed. They’ve turned over the backfield and added the most pro-ready tight-end in years, Dalton Kincaid, to give Allen another option outside of Stefon Diggs.

They also should be better on defence as head coach Sean McDonough has taken over play-calling, though that will also depend on the likes of Kair Elam and Tre’Davious White improving in the secondary.

The AFC is loaded with potential champions, but everyone in Buffalo knows their Super Bowl window could slam shut if they don’t move soon. They’re also 9/1 with Coral to leap through it in 2023. 

Cincinnati Bengals

Despite their Super Bowl appearance against the Rams in early 2022, the Bengals remained underrated early last season.

But the Ohio-outfit really showed what a powerful team they could be during the middle stretch of the season when star receiver Ja’Marr Chase missed significant time without affecting their play.

They put three consecutive defeats on the Chiefs as well before falling to the limping Patrick Mahomes in the AFC Championship game at Arrowhead, but there’s no shame in that. 

They should be back at that level again this year provided quarterback Joe Burrow remains healthy - an ankle injury going into the season does raise some concern on that front.

They’re as long as 11/1 with BoyleSports for the Super Bowl and there’s still a bit of the Cinderella feel to them – but, will their coach, Zac Taylor, turn back into a pumpkin? 

If they show up like they can, no one should be surprised if they’ve got some big games to play in February.

Dallas Cowboys

It feels like the stars should be aligning for a long overdue - at least according to those who follow America’s Team - Super Bowl run in Arlington, Texas.

The Cowboys have the talent on both sides of the ball. They held onto Dan Quinn as their defensive coordinator despite offers of head coaching roles. The NFC, outside of San Francisco and Philadelphia, is weak.

And yet, there are long-standing doubts about head coach Mike McCarthy. 

He has got his way, taking over offensive play calling duties from Kellen Moore, but it’s open to question whether this will be an upgrade.

Dak Prescott remains a lightning rod for sports radio disaffection too and there are some signs - the Trey Lance acquisition among them - that owner and GM Jerry Jones might consider other options at the position if this season goes south.

The Cowboys are 16/1 with Parimatch, which, given the softness of the NFC, is a tempting price, but it could be a roller-coaster ride along the way.

Outsiders

Baltimore Ravens

Every year the Ravens are in that 20/1 range where, if things fall right, they could represent great value. 

They have a well-paid, MVP-winning QB in Lamar Jackson. They have given him a new coordinator and lots of new weapons, Zay Flowers and Odell Beckham among them.

There are questions about their defence that should give pause, but if they can put together a pass rush and secondary from the pieces they have, they could be intriguing outsiders at 20/1 with Bet365.

Cleveland Browns

The consistent sad-sacks of the NFL sold their soul to get franchise QB Deshaun Watson, only to see him turn into a mediocrity?

That’s the morality tale that could play out this season if Watson’s appearances last season were an indication of where he is after the extended hiatus in the middle of his career.

However, the Browns last season with Jacoby Brissett at QB were not bad and lost a few tight games they really should’ve won. 

Nick Chubb is an incredible running back, and if they can get Watson back to his pre-suspension level of play and improve with the effervescent Jim Schwartz helming the defence, there’s a chance their deal with the devil pays off at 35/1 with Unibet.