The 2026 Los Angeles Rams have been framed as the closest thing to a preseason superteam in years. Los Angeles traded for Trent McDuffie, signed Jaylen Watson, selected Ty Simpson as Matthew Stafford’s projected successor and sent Jared Verse plus three draft picks to the Browns for reigning Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett. Those moves left the Rams as heavy favorites to capture Super Bowl LXI.
On the betting market the gap is large. DraftKings lists the Rams at +550 to win the Super Bowl this season, with no other team shorter than +1000, and after adjusting for the vigorish those odds convert to an implied 12.5 percent chance — about 5.1 percentage points higher than the next teams, the Bills and Ravens, according to DraftKings.
The broader question is how often teams that separate themselves so clearly before the season actually close the deal. The review examined the 15 largest preseason favorites since 1990 using preseason odds compiled at Pro Football Reference from 1990 through 2025 and compared them with current DraftKings lines. The list includes multiple Patriots and 49ers teams, the 2001 and 2002 Rams, Packers squads from the late 1990s and the 2021 Chiefs, among others.
Preseason consensus can prove unreliable. In 2025, 68 ESPN personalities picked their AFC and NFC champions and a Super Bowl winner before the season; none selected the Seahawks or Patriots, according to ESPN. The article’s author had predicted the Chiefs and Packers, who combined for zero playoff wins, and preseason favorites such as the Chiefs, Lions and Commanders ultimately missed the postseason.
Historical examples illustrate that dominant preseason positioning does not guarantee a title. For instance, the 2017 Patriots entered with an implied 19.8 percent Super Bowl probability and an 11.5-point gap over the rest of the league in the review, yet lost Super Bowl LII to the Philadelphia Eagles, 41-33. That contrast frames the analysis of what the Rams’ market separation may — or may not — mean for their odds this season.
