Super Bowl 57 Odds: Bodog’s Value Pick
With the dust finally settling on the Los Angeles Rams’ victory in the big game back in February, the next Super Bowl feels like a lifetime away – unless you’re Bodog. We’ve already got Super Bowl odds ready to rumble with preseason games scheduled to kick off in early August.
Looking this far ahead naturally highlights some early favourites, with eyes lingering over standouts like the Buffalo Bills and Tampa Bay Buccaneers for 2023. But if history has taught us anything, these favourites are far from a sure thing. At this time last year, the Rams were fourth down the line, and those savvy bettors who locked in their odds early got paid a serious payday at +1300.
Thinking of betting on football this season? Hoping for another Ram-like rise to the top? Well, Bodog has got just the “sleeper” with mid-range NFL odds to set your sights on.
Let’s look past the obvious favourites for a minute and dig a little deeper down the odds for next year’s Super Bowl 57 value pick: the one and only Los Angeles Chargers.
Los Angeles Chargers (+1400)
At +1400, the Los Angeles Chargers don’t have the best NFL odds, but they don’t have the worst chance, either – exactly what you’re looking for in a value bet. What we really want to know is if the Chargers are strong enough to rise above their long(ish) odds and make our early betters proud.
Now, if you wind back to last season, you can be excused for believing the Chargers’ performance left a lot to be desired. They finished third in the AFC West division, with a 9-8 record and 0.529 PCT. This put them 10th in the conference standings, on par with the Colts and the Dolphins, and even outside of a wild card spot in the post-season.
And yet, if you look just a tad below the surface, you will find a sleeper team that could be shaken awake at any moment.
Yes, the LA Chargers missed out on the playoffs in 2021-22, but they came incredibly close. Had the Las Vegas Raiders not managed a last-minute overtime goal in their final game of the season, the Chargers could have easily slid into the next phase of the competition.
From there, they’d have faced the Bengals in the wild-card round – a game where they would easily have been the favourites.
What’s more, 2021 was the first season that Brandon Staley had been at the helm of the Chargers. He’s certainly no stranger to the city, having been the defensive coordinator at the Rams for 2020. It was there that he coached the defensive team into becoming the leaders in the NFL on both points and yards allowed.
2021 was Staley’s first role in charge, but he’s already proven he can lead the Chargers to a winning status after securing a victory in his first game against the Commanders.
It is important to build a balanced perspective, however, so we can’t look past a few wobbles last season, the most notable being the last-minute timeout against the Raiders, costing them their place in the playoffs. Staley will surely learn from such shortcomings and come back stronger in 2022.
Los Angeles Chargers Star Players
Had the chips fallen a different way, the Chargers could have been in with a shot for the Super Bowl last year.
Thankfully for them, the Chargers’ line-up remains mostly unchanged for 2022, allowing them to build upon their previous season and hold a better chance this time around.
Ahead of the 2022 season, the Chargers have retained the influential Mike Williams. The 27-year-old wide receiver led the team in receiving yards at 1,146 and had the second-highest number of receptions during last season. He converted nine of these into touchdowns – one more than Austin Ekeler and three more than Keenan Allen. Last season was undoubtedly the best of his career, with early indicators pointing to him only getting better in 2022.
Ekeler is another of the Chargers’ key assets, managing more rushing yards than the next three best players combined, converting them into 12 rushing touchdowns.
Then there’s Justin Herbert – the MVP in Los Angeles. This quarterback has only been in the NFL for two seasons and has already made himself invaluable to the Chargers. In 2020, the sixth overall NFL Draft pick converted 396 passes from 595 attempts, covering 4,336 yards and setting up 31 touchdowns.
In 2021, Herbert took it to another level, managing 443 passes from 672 attempts over 5,014 yards, resulting in an impressive 38 touchdowns. Should the Chargers make it into the playoffs next season, we can expect Herbert to be at the centre of their campaign.
And now, in 2022, these stars will be joined by Gerald Everett at the Chargers. Despite managing a career-best season after moving to the Seattle Seahawks in 2021, he’s decided to relocate back to LA to play for the Chargers this time. The tight end will be a fine addition to the lineup, and he could be the missing ingredient in the LA Chargers’ Super Bowl cocktail.
Los Angeles Chargers Super Bowl History
The Los Angeles Chargers have never won a Super Bowl. They were American Football League Champions in 1963, before the unification of the AFL and the NFL, but haven’t seen such success in the near-six decades since.
In fact, the Chargers have made only a single appearance in the big game back in 1994, beaten by fellow Californian side, the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XXIX. The team has made regular appearances in the playoffs since the mid-2000s, none ending in glory.
Now, the move from San Diego back to Los Angeles has been one met with trouble and turbulence, perhaps causing some distraction against the potential of the Chargers, but five years on, the focus seems to be finally getting back to the players.
With the off-field troubles behind them, a new home at the SoFi Stadium, a new head coach, and a quality line-up, the Los Angeles Chargers could be a great value pick for Super Bowl 57 in 2023.
If the Chargers manage to pull everything together, their current +1400 Super Bowl 57 odds will shorten very quickly, making now the ideal time to lock them in. So, get your slips in early and let’s play some football.