The 2024 NFL season begins this week as America’s biggest sport makes its return for yet another highly anticipated season.
32 teams will be competing to be crowned Super Bowl Champions at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, with it being the first time that the state has hosted a Super Bowl since 1993.
The magic of the NFL comes from the fact that it is, on the whole, one of the most balanced professional sports leagues in the world and teams can make runs from nowhere to become potential contenders in the postseason.
Last season, the Super Bowl was played out between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the latter coming out on top 31-9 in their home stadium. Both teams have retained key pieces after winning their respective conferences and are expected to be right in the mix come the postseason once again.
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Below, we will be taking a closer look at the top contenders ahead of the new NFL season and their odds of being crowned Super Bowl champions come February 2024.
Kansas City Chiefs – 9/2
Despite losing in last year’s Super Bowl, the Kansas City Chiefs are the favourites to win it all this season. The Chiefs have been to the Super Bowl in each of the last two seasons, winning on their first trip in 2024 against the San Francisco 49ers before losing to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2024. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes is the best player in the NFL in the eyes of most and he has two outstanding weapons to utilise in tight end Travis Kelce and wide receiver Tyreek Hill.
That makes them one of the most difficult teams to scheme for in the recent history of the NFL and head coach Andy Reid has the experience of getting this squad into the Super Bowl. On the defensive side of the ball, Chris Jones and Tyrann Mathieu will be running the show and Kansas City will be reliant on them to provide the necessary backbone for their offense to go and win football matches.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 13/2
Any team that has Tom Brady on it will be one of the main Super Bowl contenders each and every year. Brady, now 44, is continuing to defy father time and any debates over whether he is the GOAT of the sport were surely squashed as he won a seventh Super Bowl ring by beating the Chiefs in the Super Bowl last year.
The Buccaneers have become the first team in the NFL’s salary cap era to have all 22 starters from their Super Bowl championship team re-signed or under contract for the upcoming season, while the team has also added well through the draft. Having won the Super Bowl last year, the franchise will now be aiming to reach the postseason in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2002 – highlighting what an incredible achievement last year was for Brady, Bruce Arians and co.
Buffalo Bills – 11/1
This game is all about quarterbacks and the Buffalo Bills have one of the best and most promising in the game in Josh Allen. The former Wyoming star took a huge leap in his third year, propelling the Bills all the way to the AFC Championship Game where they were eventually outgunned by the Kansas City Chiefs. Sean McDermott has a very talented roster at his disposal though it appears once again that the Chiefs will be their biggest obstacle as they look to reach Super Bowl LVI.
The Bills haven’t been to the Super Bowl since their infamous run of four successive defeats in the showpiece event between 1990 and 1993, a successive losing run which remains unmatched in NFL history. No other team has ever reached four successive Super Bowls and the Bills lost all four, but with QB Allen there is hope this franchise could compete at this highest level again.
Green Bay Packers – 12/1
Despite a tumultuous offseason, Aaron Rodgers will once again be the Green Bay Packers’ starting quarterback for the 2024 NFL season. This is a franchise that has been the bridesmaid instead of the bride in recent years, having failed to reach the Super Bowl in the last 11 seasons.
They have also lost four NFC Championship Games in the last seven years, including a loss in last year’s NFC Championship Game against Brady and the Buccaneers. Randall Cobb is back in Green Bay and there will be a quiet confidence among the franchise that they will be able to compete for the NFC spot in the Super Bowl this year, particularly if Rodgers plays at an MVP level once again.
Los Angeles Rams – 12/1
The Los Angeles Rams will be looking to take inspiration from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers‘ achievements from last season as they became the first team to win the Super Bowl in their home stadium. The Rams’ SoFi Stadium is the host of this year’s season-ending extravaganza and they have marked the occasion by making one of the most notable trades of the offseason. They acquired QB Matthew Stafford from the Detroit Lions in a trade for Jared Goff, with it being the franchise’s first season without the latter since 2015.
Finishing 10-6 last year, they have set themselves the goal of making the playoffs for the fourth time in five years as a bare minimum. Sean McVay is still regarded by most as the most exciting young coach in the NFL at just 35-years-old and is still highly acclaimed for guiding the Rams to the Super Bowl in 2018. Much of this season will depend on how quickly Stafford can gel with his new teammates, but there is real excitement about what he can do outside of the dysfunctional Detroit Lions.
