Odds ‘n’ Odds
One of those offseason artifacts that gets picked over when there are no games to play is strength of schedule. Based on last year’s finishes, it’s an imperfect — at best — measure of what a team faces. So, four games into the season, here’s how the schedule looks today. As my measuring stick, I decided to use not wins and losses, as there are still too few of either, but Super Bowl odds. Bottom line: predictions that Cincinnati’s schedule would rank among the easier NFL roads were greatly exaggerated. Current odds for the good guys:
| Team | Odds to Win Super Bowl XLIV |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 25/1 |
Seven of their remaining 12 games are against opponents that Vegas deems more likely to make the Big Game.
| Team | Odds to Win Super Bowl XLIV |
| Baltimore Ravens | 13/2 |
| Houston Texans | 45/1 |
| Chicago Bears | 13/1 |
| Baltimore Ravens | 13/2 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 10/1 |
| Oakland Raiders | 400/1 |
| Cleveland Browns | 500/1 |
| Detroit Lions | 400/1 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 8/1 |
| San Diego Chargers | 15/1 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 400/1 |
| New York Jets | 18/1 |
The good news is that the Bengals are 2-1 against teams with equal or better Super Bowl odds than they have right now.
| Team | Odds to Win Super Bowl XLIV |
| Denver Broncos (L) | 25/1 |
| Green Bay Packers (W) | 25/1 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers (W) | 10/1 |
| Cleveland Browns (W) | 500/1 |
