Author
Jim Tomlin has nearly 30 years of experience in journalism, having worked at such publications as the Tampa Bay Times, FanRag, Saturdays Down South and Saturday Tradition. He is a contributing writer and editor for BetVirginia.com.
Can Commanders Be Biggest Preseason Underdog To Win Super Bowl?
The Washington Commanders Super Bowl odds were extremely long heading into the season. But so far, they have proven all of the doubters wrong.
Washington, behind rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, surprised many by going 12-5 and earning the No. 6 seed in the NFC playoffs. Heading into Sunday’s wild-card matchup at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8 p.m., NBC), we wonder if Washington can join this list of biggest preseason underdogs that won the Super Bowl in the past 30 years.
Just before the 2024-25 NFL season, the Commanders were +15000 at BetMGM Virginia Sportsbook to win the Super Bowl, among the longest shots on the oddsmaker’s board.
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Biggest Longshots To Win Super Bowl Since 1994
Team (record) | Previous season | Preseason SB odds |
1999 Rams (13-3) | 4-12 | +15000 |
2001 Patriots (11-5) | 5-11 | +6000 |
2017 Eagles (13-3) | 7-9 | +4000 |
2007 Giants (10-6) | 8-8 | +3000 |
2000 Ravens (12-4) | 8-8 | +2200 |
2011 Giants (9-7) | 10-6 | +2200 |
2009 Saints (13-3) | 8-8 | +2000 |
2008 Steelers (12-4) | 10-6 | +1800 |
2012 Ravens (10-6) | 12-4 | +1800 |
2003 Patriots (14-2) | 9-7 | +1500 |
This data since the 1994 season comes from Sportsoddshistory.com and this analysis is exclusive to BetVirgina.com, where you’ll find the best Virginia sportsbook promo codes.
The Commanders join the Denver Broncos, who were also +15000 before the season, as the teams with the longest preseason Super Bowl odds to make the playoffs this season.
How Commanders Got Here
Washington was 4-13 last season, bad enough to earn the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft this past spring. They selected Daniels, the Heisman Trophy winner out of LSU, and he has passed for 3,568 yards and 25 touchdowns with just nine interceptions. Wide receiver Terry McLaurin set a team record with 13 TD catches and 35-year-old linebacker Bobby Wagner led the team with 132 tackles.
Virginia sports betting odds as of Sept. 5, the day the regular season opened, had Washington at +15000 along with the Broncos, Las Vegas Raiders and Tennessee Titans. Only the New York Giants (+20000), Carolina Panthers (+25000) and New England Patriots (+30000) were longer.
Biggest Longshots To Win Super Bowl
The ultimate example of a team that came out of nowhere to win the Super Bowl was the 1999 St. Louis Rams. The Rams were 4-12 the previous season, had missed the playoffs the previous nine years and had gotten worse each year since 1995, their first season in St. Louis (of course, the franchise has since moved back to Los Angeles). So it’s little wonder that they had +15000 odds to win Super Bowl XXXIV, especially with little-known quarterback Kurt Warner at the helm. Warner went on to win MVP and Marshall Faulk was named the Offensive Player of the Year as they led the Rams to a 13-3 record and a Super Bowl win over the Tennessee Titans. Warner and Faulk wound up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The second-longest preseason odds for a Super Bowl champion since 1994 belong to the 2001 New England Patriots, who were +6000 at the start of the season. Similar to the 1999 Rams, the Pats were irrelevant the season before (at 5-11) but claimed their first Vince Lombardi Trophy behind another young quarterback who went on to become a legend, Tom Brady. And they beat the heavily favored Rams, who by then had become a juggernaut.
So there’s a pattern for those at Virginia sports betting apps and at least some reason to believe in the Commanders and their future, based on those previous examples.
Washington Vs. Tampa Bay History
Here is one more piece of history. Washington has lost five consecutive playoff games and qualified only sporadically in the past couple of decades. The franchise’s most recent postseason victory? That was Jan. 7, 2006, when Washington beat the Bucs 17-10 in the Wild Card Round, also at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium. That’s the exact same scenario that coach Dan Quinn’s Commanders face this weekend. Washington’s most recent playoff appearance in 2020 also was against the Bucs, a 31-23 loss at home.
The Commanders are a 3-point underdog at Caesars Virginia Sportsbook for Sunday’s game.
If they go all the way, the Commanders would join the Rams as the biggest underdogs in the past 30 years to win the Super Bowl. Now their futures odds are +5500 with Caesars – still long, but nowhere near +15000 from a few months ago.
USA Today photo by Kevin Jairaj
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