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USA Today via Reuters

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USA Today via Reuters

The Los Angeles Rams were a couple plays away from making it to the Super Bowl last season. They lost a close one to their NFC West rivals, the Seattle Seahawks, in the NFC Championship game, and they are hellbent on not letting that happen again in 2026.

The Rams identified the cornerback position their biggest weakness this offseason, so what did they do? They traded a first round pick for All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie before signing his teammate, Jaylen Watson, the best cornerback available in free agency, later in the offseason.

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But the Rams weren’t done there. They felt confident in their offense, which finished the 2025 season averaging exactly 30 points per game, which ranked first in the NFL. So, after making two big additions to their defensive backfield, the Rams pulled off one of the biggest blockbuster trades the NFL has ever seen, sending Jared Verse, a 2027 first rounder and more draft capital to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for the best defensive player in the league, Myles Garrett.

Garrett is coming off a record-setting 23-sack season in Cleveland, and now the 30 year old will take his talents to Los Angeles, and join the team that was already widely considered to be the Super Bowl favorites.

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After the trade was announced, the Rams became overwhelming favorites to win it all in 2026. FanDuel currently has the Rams at +550 to win the Super Bowl, which is basically unheard of for this point in the offseason. Once you get to August or September, you can see teams in the 500-600 range, but you rarely ever see them in that range this early in the offseason.

The real indicator of just how heavy of favorites the Rams are this season is everyone else’s odds. The team with the second-best Super Bowl odds are the defending champions, the Seahawks, who currently sit at +1100 to win it all. The last time the team with the second-best Super Bowl odds were +1000 or longer was back in 2018, when the New England Patriots were the favorites at +600 and the Pittsburgh Steelers, Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Rams were all tied for second at +1000.

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It’s not often that a team is as heavy a favorite as the Rams are this year, so today, we’re going back through the last 10 seasons and comparing the Rams’ odds to other preseason favorites.

Rams’ Odds Compared to Others in Recent Years

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As it currently stands, the Rams are +550 to win the Super Bowl in 2026, meaning if you bet $100 on LA to win it all, you’d win $550. And you have to remember, this is early June. By the time August or September rolls around, those odds will probably be closer to +450 or possibly even lower.

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So how does this compare to other recent preseason favorites? Let’s take a look back at the last 10 years and see what everyone’s odds looked like.

2025Philadelphia Eagles+700
2024Kansas City Chiefs+500
2023Kansas City Chiefs+600
2022Buffalo Bills+600
2021Kansas City Chiefs+450
2020Kansas City Chiefs+450
2019New England Patriots+400
2018New England Patriots+600
2017New England Patriots+275
2016New England Patriots+600

In the last 10 years, five teams have entered the season with better Super Bowl odds than the Rams have currently. I don’t mean to beat a dead horse, but as more money comes in on the Rams and we get closer to the season, I’d be shocked if their odds don’t drop down to the +400 to +450 range. In that case, only two teams (both of which were the Tom Brady-led Patriots) would’ve entered the season with better odds than the Rams.

And you have to remember, all but one of these teams were coming off a Super Bowl and/or had Tom Brady or Patrick Mahomes under center.

The Rams also have the largest disparity between their odds and second place of any team in the past decade. The Rams (+550) and Seahawks (+1100) are the two biggest favorites, but the Rams are still 550 points ahead of the Seahawks on FanDuel.

Here’s a list of every preseason favorite, and how their odds compared to the team with the second-best odds.

2025Philadelphia Eagles+700Buffalo Bills+700
2024Kansas City Chiefs+500San Francisco 49ers+600
2023Kansas City Chiefs+600Philadelphia Eagles+750
2022Buffalo Bills+600Tampa Bay Buccaneers+780
2021Kansas City Chiefs+450Tampa Bay Buccaneers+700
2020Kansas City Chiefs+450Baltimore Ravens+500
2019New England Patriots+400Kansas City Chiefs+600
2018New England Patriots+600Pittsburgh Steelers+1000
2017New England Patriots+275Seattle Seahawks+800
2016New England Patriots+600Seattle Seahawks+800

If you take out the 2017 Patriots, who were +275 to win the Super Bowl (which we’ll likely never see again), the average disparity between the favorites and second favorites over the past decade is 170. That puts into perspective just how crazy it is that the Rams are 550 better than the Seahawks.

The Rams haven’t quite reached unprecedented territory yet, but they’re getting very close.

How Often Do Preseason Favorites Win it All?

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In the last decade, only three teams that have entered the season as Super Bowl favorites have gone on to win it all.

The most recent team to accomplish the feat was the 2023 Chiefs, who entered the season with +600 odds. The Eagles (+750) and Bills (+900) weren’t far behind them, but the Chiefs were coming off their second Super Bowl of the Patrick Mahomes era, and went on to become the first repeat champions since the Patriots in 2003 and 2004.

Speaking of the Patriots, they are the only other team in the past decade to win the Super Bowl after entering the season as the favorites. And they’ve done it twice. Once in 2016 and once in 2018. Anytime you have Tom Brady under center, you’re going to be one of the biggest favorites to win it all, but those mid-to-late 2010s teams were loaded with talent.

The only thing standing between the Rams becoming the fourth team on this list is themselves. On paper, this is the best roster in the league. They deserve to be the overwhelming favorites to win it all, but we’ll have to see if they can live up to the hype.

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Luke Hubbard

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Luke Hubbard is a NFL Analyst at EssentiallySports, recognized for his comprehensive coverage across the NCAA and NFL landscapes. An LSU graduate, Luke brings deep reporting experience as a writer for On SI, where he covers the Tennessee Titans, Michigan Wolverines, Baylor Bears, and Virginia Tech Hokies. Previously, he served as a contributing writer for Canal Street Chronicles at SB Nation, focusing on the New Orleans Saints since 2023. Luke has also provided in-depth LSU athletics reporting for Rivals and Athlon Sports, spanning football, basketball, baseball, and gymnastics. Luke’s journey in sports journalism began as a student intern in the LSU Athletic Communications Department, where he covered diverse sports including women’s volleyball. His bylines appear in major outlets such as Athlon Sports, SB Nation, and Sports Illustrated, earning him recognition for insightful analysis and versatile game coverage. In addition to his print and digital work, Luke has contributed content to publications like Death Valley Insider, BVM Sports, and Yardbarker. Luke loves sports and the stories behind them. From NFL clashes and college rivalries to the roar of Formula 1, he chases the action with both a reporter’s tenacity and a storyteller’s heart. Based in Louisiana, he brings hometown insight with a wider perspective, giving fans sharp analysis, inside scoops, and just enough personality to keep it fun.

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