Super Bowl LVII: Who do experts predict will win?

Place your bets, ready those jerseys, and start marinating the wings — Super Bowl LVII is around the corner. But who’s expected to win? Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the NFL’s upcoming divisional round:

Most likely:

The Kansas City Chiefs or the Buffalo Bills

The Kansas City Chiefs are expected to claim the Lombardi trophy yet again this year, The Athletic reports, citing odds from sportsbook BetMGM. KC was spared from competing in a wild card game last weekend after snagging the top seed in the AFC and a coveted first-round bye, and will instead face the Jacksonville Jaguars in the divisional round on Saturday (the Jaguars on Saturday pulled off a shocking late-game comeback to upset the Los Angeles Chargers 31-30).

Should they advance to the AFC title game, KC is expected to square off against the Josh Allen-led Buffalo Bills, who in late December postponed and then ultimately scrapped a game against the Cincinnati Bengals when 24-year-old Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field. Buffalo’s “Super Bowl hopes rest entirely on Allen’s shoulders,” writes Steven Ruiz at The Ringer. “This team can’t afford for him to be anything less than elite — or anything close to the quarterback we saw against Miami” in the wild card round. But even so, the Bills are undoubtedly a favorite to go all the way.

Over at Deadspin, staff writers Eric Blum and DJ Dunson are fairly certain either Buffalo or KC will pull off a Super Bowl title — it’s just a matter of which one. Dunson, who is betting on the Bills, believes Buffalo has found a renewed sense of spirit in the wake of Hamlin’s collapse and is therefore uniquely motivated to bring home a win. But Blum senses improvement in the Chiefs’ defense, and remains convinced star quarterback Patrick Mahomes has what it takes to lead his team to victory. “This guy knows how to put his team in places to win,” Blum adds. “Josh Allen hasn’t proven that.”

A close second:

The Philadelphia Eagles

Will the Birds fly to Glendale this year? All of the necessary pieces have thus far fallen into place, including an NFC East title, a first-round bye, and a homefield advantage throughout the postseason. But what’s missing is a definitively healthy QB in Jalen Hurts, who has been nursing a limiting shoulder injury for the last two weeks. Though he returned in Week 18 against the Giants, Hurts wasn’t quite himself —  whether the pain comes back to haunt him this weekend, we’ll see.

Per modeling from The Athletic, the Birds currently have a roughly 35.1 percent chance of winning the NFC, where they will most likely face off against the San Francisco 49ers, and a 17.5 percent chance of winning the Super Bowl. Sports Illustrated‘s Bill Enright thinks the team can at least pull off the conference win. In Enright’s eyes, the 49ers are, at that point, Philly’s biggest competition, but “pardon me if I’m not buying into the idea that a rookie quarterback” — the Niners’ Brock Purdy — “can go on the road in the NFC championship and come out on top.” 

The San Francisco 49ers

San Francisco has enjoyed a riveting regular season and post-season run, thanks in large part to Purdy’s energizing performance and lauded running back Christian McAffrey’s unparalleled skill. But the team’s “firepower” has never been more apparent than “it was down the stretch of their 41-23 wild-card game win over the Seahawks,” David Lombardi muses for The Athletic, and “it’s safe to say that Kyle Shanahan’s team is in a significantly better position now than last January.”

That stance is strong enough for the Niners to clinch the NFC against the Eagles, journalist Jennifer Piacenti predicts for Sports Illustrated, and at least appear in the Super Bowl against the Bills: “The Niners boast an elite defense and steady offense that will eliminate the Eagles, who have a slightly banged-up Jalen Hurts at the helm,” she said. Editor Matt Ehalt agreed, though he thinks the 49ers are poised to face off against the Chiefs rather than the Bills: “The 49ers are the best team in the [NFC],” he said, and “Jalen Hurts not being fully healthy gives San Francisco the edge with that ferocious defense to get after him.”

Long shots:

The Jacksonville Jaguars

“Of all the teams left standing, the Jaguars have the longest odds of winning the Super Bowl,” writes The Ringer‘s Sanchez. The ringmasters over at BetMGM agree —  as of Jan. 17, the odds of the Jags pulling off an upset victory in Glendale were situated firmly at +2500 (for context, the Chiefs and Bills ranked +290 and +325, respectively). Still, it would be foolish to discount the expert in-game leadership of head coach Doug Pederson, who, in some ways, “gives the Jaguars the coaching advantage over any team they’ll face over the next few weeks,” Sanchez notes. “But unfortunately, their next opponent has Patrick Mahomes, so it may not matter much.”

The New York Giants

Not long ago you might have thought it impossible to find the Giants in playoffs — their Sunday dub against the Vikings was, after all, their first post-season win in 11 years. And though the odds they make it to the Super Bowl, let alone win, remain long (as of Jan. 18, The Athletic estimated a 5 percent chance the team emerges victorious), “they can give anyone left in the bracket a competitive game,” The Ringer‘s Sanchez says.

To be sure, “the Super Bowl is in play now as a reachable, honest-to-God goal,” adds Ian O’Connor for the New York Post. “If you are a Giants fan, nothing has ever sounded so completely crazy and perfectly reasonable at the same time.” 

Place your bets, ready those jerseys, and start marinating the wings — Super Bowl LVII is around the corner. But who’s expected to win? Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the NFL’s upcoming divisional round: Most likely: The Kansas City Chiefs or the Buffalo Bills The Kansas City Chiefs are expected to claim…

Place your bets, ready those jerseys, and start marinating the wings — Super Bowl LVII is around the corner. But who’s expected to win? Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the NFL’s upcoming divisional round: Most likely: The Kansas City Chiefs or the Buffalo Bills The Kansas City Chiefs are expected to claim…