Super Bowl betting wide open after 11 weeks

Eleven games into the NFL's regular season and no clear favorite for the Super Bowl has emerged. It truly is one of the most open betitng markets in the NFL's history.

At the top of the betting market are the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons who are joint 7/1 (bet $10 to make $70 profit) favorites, but those odds suggest that both teams only have a 15% chance each of picking up the Vince Lombardi trophy in February.

But there are nine teams whose odds are 12/1 or less, suggesting both the linesmakers and the betting public have few clues about who will contest the Super Bowl.

Three teams have a 9-2 record (Patriots, Falcons and Jets) but the bookmakers prefer the chances of the 7-4 Packers at a best price of 9/1 to the Jets who can be backed at 10/1. The 8-3 Ravens, 8-3 Steelers, 8-3 Saints and 7-4 Eagles are also rated 10/1 chances in the betting, reflecting either their relatively easy schedules over the closing five weeks or the likelihood that they will top their divisions.

Normally at this stage of the season one would expect one team to have made their mark on the betting public and be as least as short as 4/1 for the Super Bowl but with no team putting together a huge winning streak (the Falcons are in the best form with five straight victories) there is no obvious team for bettors to side with.

That said, only 13 sides are considered to be in serious Super Bowl contention with all other sides on offer at odds of greater than 150/1.The remaining contenders are considered to be the Chargers at 12/1, the Giants and Bears at 16/1, the Colts at 20/1, the Chiefs at 50/1, the Bucs at 100/1 and the Rams at 150/1.

In the pre-season Super Bowl betting the Colts were the 9/1 favorites to win Super Bowl XLV, followed by the Saints at 10/1 and the Chargers at 11/1.