What Dark Horse Teams Emerged After Free Agency
It is a sports bettors dream to lay big money on a long shot, dark horse team to win it all and come out on top. However, recent trends in the NFL seem to indicate that so-called Cinderella teams are a thing of the past.
Just this past year all the teams that made deep playoff runs were teams that we have been seeing in the thick of it come post season for the past three years. The Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots, have captured 12 AFC East titles and have been featured in conference championship games nine times since 2001. In that time they have also earned six Super Bowl runs, winning four of those.
Last season 12 teams had 10 or more wins. Those were the Pats, Super Bowl runner-ups, Seattle Seahawks, Arizona Cardianls, Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Indianapolis Colts, Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers. Some on that list are long shots on that list, none could really be considered dark horse teams, considering they contended this last season and future odds have the lowest of those teams as the Ravens with 35/1 odds.
A real dark horse contender would rise through the odds from near the bottom of the list. Plenty of teams showed potential and with the free agency moves coming to an end we can fully analyze some of the potential teams that could surprise us.
Both the New York Jets and Tennessee Titans made some interesting moves in free agency. The Titans picked up five free agents, mostly bolstering their defense. However, the Titans do not indicate they are going to draft a quarterback with their No. 2 pick and will likely look to continue to focus on defense. Without a star under center, the Titans making a run at the Super Bowl seems unlikely.
The Jets added several names to the team but most of note was wide receiver, Brandon Marshall and quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. The Jets quarterback situation will be an interesting one with Geno Smith and Michael Vick still on the roster.
The Buffalo Bills will have a similar choice to make in going with either EJ Emanuel, Tyrod Taylor or recently acquired Matt Cassel. Either way they go, they also have added a formiddible weapon in LeSean McCoy. Not to mention, the Bills were solid last season, going 9-7, they could be the Cinderella team that shocks the betting world in 2015-16.
Or, we could simply see another year dominated by the likes of the Seahawks, Packers, Patriots and Broncos. That element of unpredictability is what makes future betting so exciting.
