The two favourites for the Super Bowl are in action in the days ahead as the Dallas Cowboys travel to New York while the New England Patriots host fierce rivals the Baltimore Ravens. A couple of weeks ago New England was odds-on in the NFL betting markets to win the Super Bowl, but everything has changed thanks to the superb form of the Cowboys, who now have the best record in the league at 11-1 and have already made it through to the playoffs in style. Injuries to key players like Rob Gronkowski have rocked the Patriots and their odds have gone out to 11/4, while the Cowboys are right behind them at 4/1 now.
Baltimore Ravens at New England Patriots
The Pats beat the Rams last weekend to go 10-2, giving them the joint best record in the AFC. The Raiders are also on 10-2 but have a more difficult fixture list in the last four games of the season, so the Patriots are looking good to secure home advantage throughout the playoffs if they extend their three-game winning streak against the Ravens. You would fancy them to beat the Ravens as they should have a psychological advantage, having beaten them in a thrilling 35-31 encounter in last season’s playoffs. The odds are low on this, however: just 3/10 at Coral and 5/16 at Ladbrokes, so you might consider betting on the spread and it will be tough for the Patriots to cover it. You can get evens on the Ravens +7 and that looks a good bet considering Baltimore are on a two-game winning streak and ran New England very close in their last meeting.
Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants
The Cowboys are the form team in the league right now. After losing the season opener, they have won a remarkable 11 games in a row and have already qualified for the playoffs. They may take a foot off the pedal a bit now, but they still want to keep the confidence surging through the team with more wins, and be assured of home advantage in the playoffs, so they are likely to make life very difficult for the Giants. The Cowboys have a great young roster, full of talented stars like Dez Bryant and Tyron Smith. The Giants, led by veteran quarterback Eli Manning and exciting wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr, are no slouches, but the Cowboys are on a roll right now and should have too much offensive power for them. The Cowboys are 3/5 to win this with 888 Sport and that looks tempting given their incredible form, but you could push it a bit further and back them to cover a -3 spread at 20/23 with Coral.
Futures betting
The Cowboys have such fantastic momentum that it is hard to look past them for the NFC right now. The Seahawks look to be their toughest opponent in the conference, but the Cowboys have proved they can win in style and win ugly and look a good shout at 13/8 with Bet365 to win the NFC Conference and go to the Super Bowl, where their most likely opponent will be New England. The Pats are 21/20 with William Hill to win the AFC, but face ferocious competition from the three teams in the exceptionally strong AFC West – the Raiders, the Chiefs and the Broncos – so that might be best avoided for now, and the 4/1 on the Cowboys winning the Super Bowl looks a good option as their odds keep dwindling.
