5 undervalued teams to bet ahead of 2021 NFL season
The first NFL Sunday is less than a month away, and there's still plenty of value in the market on a handful of undervalued squads heading into 2021. Here are five of our favorite teams to bet ahead of Week 1, along with their preseason Super Bowl odds and win total at theScore Bet:
Tennessee Titans (+2800, 9.5 wins)
The Titans ranked third in yards per drive (40.6) and second in points per drive (3.0) in 2020, then added Julio Jones to a unit that now features two elite receivers in Jones and A.J. Brown; two-time reigning rushing leader Derrick Henry; and veteran quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who has posted a 90-plus PFF grade for two consecutive seasons. How's that for a star-studded offense?
Yes, the defense could use some work, but Tennessee still won 11 games last year despite owning one of the worst defenses in the league. The Titans have won at least nine games in each of the previous five seasons and should improve on that in one of the weakest AFC Souths in recent memory.
Chicago Bears (+3200, 7.5 wins)
For years, the Bears have been a quarterback away from contention. This group has quietly won at least eight games in three consecutive seasons, but Mitchell Trubisky's stunted development capped its ceiling. However, Chicago may have finally found its quarterback in Justin Fields, who looked the part in his preseason debut and has wowed with his performances in training camp.
Even if former Pro Bowl quarterback Andy Dalton is under center for Week 1, this team's ceiling is elevated with Fields on the roster. There's enough elite talent on defense to support an offense with sneaky skill-position stars in Allen Robinson and David Montgomery. Don't sleep on this group, especially late in the year.
Miami Dolphins (+3500, 9.5 wins)
Why does it feel like everybody is writing off Tua Tagovailoa after just one season? The former Alabama star was thrown into the fire as the Dolphins' starter over the back half of the 2020 campaign despite rehabbing from a serious hip injury throughout that offseason - and he still managed to flash signs of elite upside while leading this group to a 6-3 record as a starter.
Now he has a full offseason to train with a team that went 10-6 last year and posted a league-best 11-5 record against the spread. There's legit talent surrounding Tagovailoa on offense, and Miami's defense ranked fifth in points allowed per drive (1.8) a year ago behind a chaotic front and top-end secondary. The recipe is there for another 10-win season and a dark-horse title run.
Washington Football Team (+4000, 8.5 wins)
Washington might have the most limited ceiling on this list, as we know who Ryan Fitzpatrick is at this point in his career. That said, it's a heck of a lot better than what this team employed a year ago at quarterback, so a sprinkle of Fitzmagic could finally unlock the superstar upside of Terry McLaurin, Antonio Gibson, Curtis Samuel, and the rest of this explosive offense.
That's to say nothing of Washington's defense, which was a top-five unit by nearly any measure last season and should only get better as phenom Chase Young improves on the edge. In a division only nominally better than it was a year ago, Washington (+250) is the team worth betting to win the NFC East and finish with a winning record.
Carolina Panthers (+8000, 7.5 wins)
Say what you want about Sam Darnold, but the former USC quarterback has the arm talent to succeed in the NFL. Does he have the discipline? He'll have a chance to prove it in Joe Brady's offense, which ranked sixth in yards per drive in 2020 despite missing do-it-all back Christian McCaffrey for most of the season. He's back and surrounded by one of the league's most explosive receiving units with D.J. Moore, Robby Anderson, and rookie Terrace Marshall all at Darnold's disposal.
The Panthers' defense has lapsed since Luke Kuechly's retirement, but there's talent on this roster. The young core of Shaq Thompson, Brian Burns, Derrick Brown, and Jeremy Chinn is among the best in the NFC, while free-agent signing Denzel Perryman could help stabilize the void left by Kuechly two years ago. There's risk here, but the upside could be immense.
C Jackson Cowart is a sports betting writer at theScore. You can follow him on Twitter (@CJacksonCowart) or email him at cjackson.cowart@thescore.com.