Getty Trey Flowers during a 2020 game against Chicago.
The Detroit Lions don’t have great prospects for a dominant 2021 season, but that still hasn’t stopped some hearty, motivated folks from looking to cash in.
Every season, there’s a team which defies the odds and makes an incredible run either to a division title or through the playoffs. Interestingly enough, significant bets are being placed on the Lions being that team come the start of the 2021 season.
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Already, there is money coming in on the Lions in terms of Super Bowl futures. As Chris Burke of The Athletic reported, Bet MGM is seeing an interesting percentage of futures coming in on Detroit. The team has seen nearly 2.3% of futures, which is ahead of some pretty interesting NFL competition.
Interestingly, the team is ahead of some other potentially chic Super Bowl picks, like the Baltimore Ravens, Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks. What does this indicate? For one, folks are trying to cash in on an early bet on Detroit being a bit better than everyone expects. Such bets could indicate that many folks are not buying the last place talk which has dogged Detroit most of this offseason.
Obviously, futures are not a tangible indicator of success for the team, but it is fascinating to note the love the team is receiving this offseason from some placing their on the line.
Lions Have Low Super Bowl Odds for 2021
Obviously, the bets on the Lions are not very common for most other people. Detroit is facing down one of the toughest schedules in the league and has a team taking on the look of a rebuild, so those factors combine to make the team a long-shot to have any type of success on the field. Just how much of a long-shot though? Pretty long, indeed.
Detroit’s Super Bowl odds on any given year are low, but it’s safe to say that this season, they may never have been lower to start a year. The Lions have only a 0.1% chance to win the Super Bowl according to the odds for next season.
PFF predicts the #Lions to have a 0.1% chance to win the Super Bowl. Dead last in the NFL #DetroitvsEverybody
Safe to say the odds are not in Detroit’s favor as it relates to being elite next season and ending what has been a massive NFL drought, even if some are betting on the course reversing.
Lions Maintain Long Super Bowl Drought
Why did the Lions start over again this offseason? The franchise is interested in trying to build something that will last a long time and build a winner in the best way possible, given the fact they have not had the best luck through the years.
The Lions have been one of the more miserable teams historically when it comes to the playoffs never mind Super Bowl. Detroit hasn’t won a playoff game since 1991. It’s not just 1991, however. Prior to that win, the Lions hadn’t won a playoff game since 1957. They had lost three times combined in the 1970s and 1980s. They’ve had plenty of misfortune in the playoffs as well, losing games in heartbreaking fashion and blowout fashion as well.
Detroit last appeared in the playoffs in 2018, but quickly bowed out, losing to the Seattle Seahawks in close fashion. They haven’t been consistent enough through the years at both making the playoffs and also winning when they do manage to get there, so they are looking to flip the odds once they do in order to make a run.
Perhaps strangely, many are putting their money on Detroit to do just that in 2021. Whether it’s evil genius or a major waste of money remains to be seen.