The Complete NFL Futures Odds Picture Week 5

Stocks Rising

Arizona Cardinals Futures Odds Week 5

Current best odds: +1600 (DraftKings)

In week 1, the Cardinals went to Tennessee and beat the Titans 38-13. In Week, they beat the Vikings 34-33. Then they went to Jacksonville and won by 12. Last week, the Cardinals dominated a previously undefeated Rams team on the road, winning 37-20. 

That’s three double digit wins, two against likely playoff teams. The schedule does not let up for Arizona, they play the 49ers twice in their next five games, and in between they get the Browns and Packers. The league’s only undefeated team will have a brutal time chasing the NFC’s only playoff bye, but their veteran roster is loaded and other than Kyler Murray, they could theoretically weather the loss of any single player.

 A 4-0 team with games remaining against the Texas, Lions, and Colts is likely to make the playoffs, so the 16-1 number seems rather low. 

Cleveland Browns Futures Odds Week 5

Current best odds: +1400 (DraftKings)

There are two ways of looking at the Browns. Either they are a 3-1 team whose lone loss was a close game in Kansas City or they are a team with not especially impressive wins over Houston, Minnesota, and Chicago, teams with a combined four wins this season. 

The prevailing wisdom is that they are a title contender, after allowing just 13 combined points the past two weeks to the pair of NFC North teams. We will learn more about the Browns this week when they face fellow 3-1 team, the Chargers. That game is in L.A. but the Browns will then come home for a rare three game home stand, welcoming the Cardinals, Broncos, and Steelers. Their quirky schedule also features two straight games against the Ravens, with a December bye sandwiched in the middle. 

The Browns are in one of the best divisions in football and have yet to play an AFC North opponent. Baltimore and Cincinnati are tied with them for the division lead at 3-1, and while Pittsburgh is struggling currently at 1-3, the Steelers have never had a losing record under Mike Tomlin in his 15 years at the helm. 

Stock Falling

Pittsburgh Steelers Futures Odds Week 5

Current best odds: +15000 (DraftKings)

It is fair to say that the Steelers are the most loyal organization in sports. They have had three (three!) coaches since the 1960’s. Each of those coaches has won at least one Super Bowl. But there are a few trouble signs for the Steelers. 

Firstly, while they have shown some patience with Mike Tomlin in the past, we have never seen him have a losing season. We don’t know how the Rooney family will react if the Steelers go 6-11 this season. Also, it is worth nothing that Tomlin’s predecessor Bill Cowher lasted exactly 15 seasons. Cowher only had 2 losing seasons in 15 years, then was dismissed after going 8-8 for the first time in 2006. 

Can the Steelers turn this season around? The next three weeks they play the Broncos, Seahawks, and Browns. If they don’t go 2-1, at least, in that stretch, they are looking at a 2-5 record and an incredibly uphill battle. If they can beat two of those teams, then they could be looking at home games against the Bears and Lions to get back over .500. The wins better come now because their schedule ends with the Ravens, Vikings, Titans, Chiefs, Browns, and Ravens, an absurd six game stretch in December and January. They are 150-1 for a reason, the playoffs seem like a rela long shot right now.