The Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs are co-favorites to win Super Bowl 56 at +450 odds after oddsmakers adjusted their lines during a weekend in which every team in the NFL struggled to contain COVID-19 outbreaks.

Aaron Rodgers Green Bay Packers Super Bowl 56 odds favorites
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers celebrates a one-point victory over the Baltimore Ravens in Week 15. (Image: Robb Carr/Getty)

After the Tampa Bay Bucs were shut out 9-0 by the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football, the defending champions slipped out of the top spot. Aside from a couple of weeks in October when the Buffalo Bills were dominating everyone in their path, the Bucs have been consensus favorites to win the Super Bowl since the preseason.

Green Bay Packers Super Bowl 56 Odds
SB Odds Record
Week 1 +1400 0-1
Week 4 +1200 3-1
Week 8 +900 7-1
Week 9 +1200 7-2
Week 10 +850 8-2
Week 11 +1000 8-3
Week 13 (BYE) +750 9-3
Week 14 +650 10-3
Week 15 +450 11-3

The Packers (11-3) boast the best record in the NFL. Aaron Rodgers and the Packers are the first team in the NFC to win 11 games this season, and they currently occupy the #1 seed in the NFC. The Bucs (10-4) have the same record as the Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals. If the playoffs were to begin today, the Bucs would earn the #3 seed in the NFC.

Packers rise steadily

The Packers stumbled out of the gate, suffering an ugly 38-3 blowout against the New Orleans Saints in Week 1. Rodgers admitted that he played like crap, but the entire team bounced back with a seven-game winning streak. After starting the season 7-1, the Packers saw their Super Bowl odds improve to +900 at the end of Week 8.

At the start of November, the Packers dropped two out of three games with close road losses against the Kansas City Chiefs and the Minnesota Vikings. After Week 11, their Super Bowl odds slipped a bit to +1000. Since then, the Packers won three in a row, including a one-point victory at the Ravens, which helped them clinch the NFC North divisional crown.

In the last three weeks, the Packers saw their Super Bowl odds trend in the right direction. They were +1300 at the end of Week 13, +650 in Week 14, and +450 toward the end of Week 15.

If you follow the current flow of money, the betting public thinks the Packers and Chiefs will meet in the Super Bowl. The revitalized Chiefs have won seven games in a row to emerge as the #1 seed in the AFC. They were the first and only team to reach 10 wins in the AFC.

On Deck: Browns, Vikings, Lions

The Packers host the Cleveland Browns (7-7) on Christmas. The Browns expect that either Baker Mayfield or Case Keenum will return by then after testing positive for COVID-19 last week. The short-handed Browns started Nick Mullens on Monday against the Raiders. The Packers opened as -7.5 favorites over the Browns.

In Week 17, the Packers host the Vikings for an NFC North divisional joust. The Packers will seek to avenge a loss from Week 11 when the Viking edged them out by a mere three points.

In Week 18, the Packers head to Motor City to play the lowly Detroit Lions. The Lions will be fighting for the #1 pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, while the Packers expect to jockey for the #1 seed in the playoffs in the final game of the season.