The Pittsburgh Steelers are one of about 4 teams who hold the best odds to win Super Bowl 51. Usually joined by the Carolina Panthers, Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots, the layman would think the Patriots' odds of winning it all in 2016 would go down with the recent news of Tom Brady being suspended for the first quarter of next season.
Well, think again.
According to the Bovada Sports Book in Las Vegas, the Patriots odds not only didn't drop, but they remain the odds-on favorites to claim Super Bowl 51, even with Tom Brady's suspension to start the 2016 season.
Here was their justification of the Patriots still remaining as favorites:
"Even though Tom Brady will be suspended for the first four games of the season it has not really affected the Patriots Super Bowl odds for a variety of reasons. First, they have a fairly easy first four matchups with the exception of playing on the road in Arizona, which would have been a tough game even if Brady was playing. Also, considering how weak their division is they are still -200 favorites to win it as there is no obvious threat. Lastly, when we went through this situation last year we raised the Patriots odds with the suspension news to around 10-1 and saw a ton of money on them even though people assumed Brady was not going to be playing the first four games, so we will not make that same mistake again."
Before fans of the Steelers, and other franchises who feel they should be the favorites, get up-in-arms, it is worth noting the actual odds released by Vegas after the news broke of Brady's suspension.
See below for the latest odds by the Bovada:
2017 Super Bowl 51 Winner
New England Patriots 6/1
Green Bay Packers 17/2
Seattle Seahawks 9/1
Arizona Cardinals 12/1
Carolina Panthers 12/1
Pittsburgh Steelers 12/1
Minnesota Vikings 16/1
Cincinnati Bengals 18/1
Dallas Cowboys 18/1
Denver Broncos 18/1
With the Steelers sitting tied for the 4th best odds to win their 7th Lombardi trophy next year, if you are a gambler you might want to head to the window before Vegas gets wise on just how good the Steelers could be if they stay healthy -- which is a huge 'if' in today's NFL.