Ravens Now Among Top AFC Contenders for Super Bowl 53

• The Baltimore Ravens beat the Buffalo Bills 47-3 in Week 1 of the 2018 NFL season
• Joe Flacco posted his highest single-game passer rating (121.7) since 2014
• See how online sports betting sites have changed the Ravens’ odds to win Super Bowl 53

The most dominant performance of Week 1 belonged to the Baltimore Ravens, who dismantled the Buffalo Bills, 47-3.

Joe Flacco didn’t look like the washed up quarterback we’ve become accustomed to over the last three years, as he posted a 121.7 passer rating in Sunday’s game – the highest single-game passer rating for Flacco since 2014.

Baltimore’s defense turned in an even more impressive performance, though. The unit recorded six sacks and two interceptions, en route to allowing just 153 total yards and three points.

#Ravens QB Joe Flacco had more completions (25) than #Bills QB Nathan Peterman had yards.

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— Chibs ?? (@ThisIsChibs) September 11, 2018

As a result, online sports betting sites have dramatically shortened the Ravens’ odds to win Super Bowl 53. You’ll see their movement in the graph below, where they now have the fifth-shortest average odds among AFC teams. (See the “Top 5” tab.)

Average Super Bowl 53 Odds for Top AFC Contenders

Entering Week 1, the Ravens were being overlooked with average odds to win Super Bowl 53 of +4100. After their dominance in Week 1, they are now shortened all the way to +2500.

If you’re looking to bet the Ravens, you can find them as long as +2800.

Super Bowl 53 Odds

*To see odds for all 32 teams, follow the link in the table

Baltimore is still quite a ways behind the Patriots and the top contenders from the NFC, but does this just signal value?

Is There Value in Betting the Ravens to Win Super Bowl 53?

This is quite the dilemma. The AFC only has one team you can really get behind in 2018: the Patriots. After New England, there are a lot of questions marks. So the opportunity is certainly there for Baltimore to make some noise.

But I’m also not ready to give the Ravens too much credit for beating up on a weak Buffalo roster led by Nathan Peterman. We anticipated the Bills being the worst team in the NFL this season, and they didn’t disappoint.

Although you may lose some value, I’m going to wait to see what Baltimore does on Thursday night in Cincinnati. It may not be the best measuring stick the NFL has to offer, but going on the road in a short week is a tough task no matter who you’re playing.

Where is the Value in Super Bowl 53 Betting?

With the NFC being so crowded – four of the top five Super Bowl 53 contenders are from the NFC – I’m going to stick to the AFC for value.

After Week 1, there are two teams who stand out to me as presenting value: the Los Angeles Chargers (+2500 average odds) and the Denver Broncos (+3300).

You could say @VonMiller was ready for the season to start…??#ShotOfTheWeek@Broncos | Tonight on @insidetheNFL pic.twitter.com/7dfSeZtXKk

— NFL Films (@NFLFilms) September 11, 2018

As you may have guessed, I do not trust the Chiefs to win the AFC West. The Chargers were without the services of Pro Bowl DE Joey Bosa, and were just not prepared for the creativity Andy Reid’s offense unleashed – not to mention their offense squandered multiple big-play opportunities.

But we’ve seen this hot start out of the Chiefs only to fizzle out as the season progresses too many times. I don’t trust they’ll maintain this level of offensive success.

And the team the public may have slept on all offseason is the Denver Broncos. Even with Case Keenum throwing three interceptions, the Broncos defense was able to hold Russell Wilson and the Seahawks to 24 points.

The defense is back in Denver. And I’m buying into Case Keenum protecting the football better the rest of the season.