The 2021 NFL regular season will be the first season ever to include a total of 17 games in the regular season. The 2021 NFL regular season is expected to begin in Week 1 on Thursday, Sept. 9 and conclude in Week 18 on Sunday, Jan. 9, 2022, as 32 teams will look to earn a spot in this years super bowl.
All teams will play 17 games and the best 14 teams will meet in the 2021-22 NFL Playoffs. So a better chance of making the play-offs.
The 2021-22 NFL Playoffs will begin on Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022, with four rounds of betting action, which concludes with Super Bowl 56. Wild Card Round: Jan. 15-16 (12 Teams, 6 Games) Divisional Round: Jan. 22-23 (8 Teams, 4 Games) Conference Championships: Jan. 30 (4 Teams, 2 Games) Super Bowl 56: Feb. 13 (2 Teams, 1 Game).
In June the top 8 contenders for the Super Bowl 56 are:
Kansas City Chiefs +450
Tampa Bay Buccaneers +700
Baltimore Ravens +1100
Buffalo Bills +1100
Los Angeles Rams +1200
San Francisco 49ers +1200
Green Bay Packers +1400
Cleveland Browns +1600
With Tom Brady saying he’ll be back, the Bucs (+700) will be a popular choice to win another championship. The same goes for every starter on both offense and defense. History says that’s difficult to do, so we’ll pass on the Bucs. We’re looking for value and big cash in this early look at next season, which makes it relatively easy to also exclude the Baltimore Ravens or the San Francisco 49ers. Both are good teams and legitimate conference title contenders, but they’re priced accordingly with the Ravens at +1100 and the 49ers at +1200. If we’re tying up funds for a year, we need a better price at the end of the rainbow.
Same goes for the Los Angeles Rams, who are going to be both a highly popular and highly scrutinized team in 2021. The Rams have top-level defensive stars in Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey and added quarterback Matthew Stafford via trade. With a solid running back group led by Cam Akers i see the Rams having a strong core. Rams should be much better offensively than they’ve been at any point over the past two years. But this is about value, and it’s gone. Before the Stafford trade, the Rams were +2000. Now, that +1200 price is too short for my liking. Jared Goff as QB1 was awful. He never showed the potentiel Rams expected with the first pick overall in the 2016 NFL Draft. With a healthy Stafford alongside Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods and their latest addition DeSean Jackson I see the offense having great potential. But against other top contenders I don´t see them coming out on top.
So now here comes the pick that i believe holds the best value. I love the Browns roster. They had a fantastic offseason, followed by a consensus top 5 draft class. Looking at the Browns roster top to bottom it´s hard to find any real weaknesses. Defensively they added Jadeveon Clowney to play opposite of All-Pro Myles Garrett. I expect Garrett to have a monster season and be in the DPOY conversation. The Browns also added a lot of pieces to their secondary headlined by safety John Johnson. Johnson is an elite cover safety. They added Troy Hill who can cover the slot and play outside, Hill is coming off an excellent season last year that saw him make a ton of plays.
The Browns also have Grant Delpit on the roster who was the 44th pick in last years draft but missed his entire rookie season. He was my favorite safety prospect in the last years draft and could be what the Cleveland Browns are missing and could have huge impact. I loved the Greg Newsome pick. He has all the elite traits you look for and with the amount of depth the Browns possess he can develop behind their starters.
Offensively they are even more loaded. PFF graded their O-line as the beest in the NFL. They are returning all of their starters. They boast the best 1-2 punch of any backfield as well in my opinion. Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt are both elite RB´s who compliment each other perfectly. Their pass catchers are also elite with OBJ who is undoubtedly one of the premiere outside WRs, Jarvis Landry who is a very reliable slot receiver, and Rashard Higgins who showed a really nice connection with Baker Mayfield. Austin Hooper compliments the WR squad as a solid tight end.
If Baker Mayfield can replicate the level of play from last year or even take a step forward I could see the Browns being Super Bowl contenders. Top to bottom I personally feel this is the best roster in the league. In a 17 game season squad depth will be vital. Can the Browns remain relatively healthy I see having a huge year and finishing with 11-13 wins. A winning total around 11 to 13 should be enough for Divisional Round.
@+1600 Cleveland Browns should provide a value bet.
