Eagles claim best Super Bowl odds but are ranked behind two AFC teams
Prognostication is the birthright of every Philadelphia Eagles fan. Come on. Let’s be honest. What’s an NFL offseason without guesses on who will make the roster, how many games Philly will win, and dare we say, Super Bowl projections?
If you’re like most of us, you have been filling out those March Madness brackets and drawing up imaginary mock drafts during the offseason for years, often with minimal success. Every year, none of that stops us from crafting theories on who will make the 53-man roster, does it? Get ready Birds fans. Training camp will be here before you know it, and it will be time to do it again.
We’re still months away from Week 1’s game versus the New England Patriots. Expect Philadelphia to be mentioned during the NFL-centered discussions from now until then. Guess what, they’re being mentioned as a Super Bowl contender again.
ESPN’s Power Football Index ranks the Eagles behind two AFC teams but also gives them the best odds to reach Super Bowl LVIII.
Hanging out on social media and perusing the web can be a daunting task at times, but it also leads to some really cool discoveries. Here’s a nice read. Seth Walder of ESPN Analytics shared a few 2023 NFL projections and Super Bowl theories using ESPN’s Power Football Index.
The FPI is ESPN’s projection model for each NFL franchise. Ratings are largely based on Caesars Sportsbook’s projected win totals for each team during the preseason. Strength of schedule, past team performance, and the number of returning starters are also factored in. Thousands of simulations are run before projections are created which are updated every day during the season.
Game predictions are also available. Travel, rest differential, and quarterback changes help determine those. As we near the end of May, two AFC teams are ranked ahead of the Eagles in the FPI’s team rankings. Here’s a look at the top ten along with their ratings.
- Kansas City Chiefs (+6.4)
- Buffalo Bills (+5.6)
- Philadelphia Eagles (+5.0)
- Cincinnati Bengals (4.6)
- San Francisco 49ers (3.6)
- New York Jets (3.2)
- Los Angeles Chargers (3.0)
- Dallas Cowboys (3.0)
- Miami Dolphins (3.0)
- Baltimore Ravens (2.0)
The FPI gives the Eagles the best odds to qualify for Super Bowl LVIII. Here they are along with the ten teams with the best odds to reach football’s biggest game.
- Philadelphia Eagles
- K.C. Chiefs
- San Francisco 49ers
- Buffalo Bills
- Cincinnati Bengals
- Dallas Cowboys
- Detroit Lions
- NY Jets
- Baltimore Ravens
- L.A. Chargers
No, that isn’t a misprint. ESPN’s Football Power Index gives the Detroit Lions the seventh-best odds to represent the National Football Conference in Super Bowl LVIII on February 10th at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada. They also see the Jets as more of a Super Bowl contender than the cross-town Giants.
That might be a glitch in the system, but hey, sometimes we never know what will happen until we see it transpire. We have believed in Jalen Hurts since the beginning, but if we’re being honest, we weren’t calling him a potential MVP candidate at this juncture of last year’s offseason. Thank goodness he was. It’s going to be fun to watch the Eagles this season.