NFL News: What Are the Odds That These Teams Will Make the Playoffs?

The next event on the NFL schedule is this week’s entry draft. However, that doesn’t mean that some fans and bettors are looking beyond that.

Wagering on future NFL events, whether that’s the draft or picking a Super Bowl winner, is extremely popular and fun. Another future that people can now bet on is whether or not certain teams can make the playoffs. BetOnline has released odds on each of the 32 teams’ chances of making the 2021 NFL Playoffs. While some teams are likely to be locks, like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-750) or Kansas City Chiefs (-1200), not every team is as fortunate. Some playoff teams may not even be decided until the very last game of the season.

Will the Washington Football Team Make the 2021 NFL Playoffs?

Odds via BetOnline as of Monday, April 19

  • No (-215)
  • Yes (+175)

At -215 odds, BetOnline is favoring the Washington Football Team to miss the upcoming season’s playoffs. If it happened, it would be the fifth time that they miss the NFL postseason in six years. WFT made the playoffs last season when they won the NFC East, finishing with a 7-9-0 record. It was a bit of an anomaly to see a sub-.500 team winning the division, but WFT was a surprisingly good team despite their record.

Despite a 7-9-0 record, the Washington Football Team made it all the way to the 2020 Wild Card weekend, losing 31-23 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the eventual Super Bowl winners.

The Washington Football team allowed just 21.2 points per game in the 2020 NFL season (T-5th). The one thing that held them back was their offence, which ranked 25th in points per game (21.1). That could be different this season as they now have Ryan Fitzpatrick as their signal-caller, who should be an improvement over Alex Smith last season. Still, the Dallas Cowboys will have QB Dak Prescott back this season, which should make WFT’s path to a division title and playoff berth that much more difficult.

Will the Steelers Make the Playoffs?

Odds via BetOnline as of Monday, April 19

  • No (-165)
  • Yes (+135)

The Pittsburgh Steelers have been one of the most consistent NFL teams in the last two decades. Since 2001, they have only missed the playoffs seven times. With that being said, it can seem a bit shocking at first to see the Steelers being projected to miss the playoffs by BetOnline. However, once you look deeper, you’ll see that it might not be. On one hand, they still have to deal with both the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns in their division.

On the other, the Steelers started the 2020 season at 11-0 and some thought they could possibly end up at 16-0. However, that’s where the brakes fell off and the Steelers finished their final five games with a 1-4 record. Entering 2021, Ben Roethlisberger will be one year older and the team didn’t get that much better. Both of those factors could spell disaster for the Steelers this NFL season.

Will the Cowboys Return to the NFL Postseason?

Odds via BetOnline as of Monday, April 19

  • Yes (-160)
  • No (+130)

According to BetOnline, it’s likely that the Dallas Cowboys will return to the playoffs at -160 odds. They’ve missed the playoffs three times in the last four seasons, but things could change in 2021. The Cowboys 2020 NFL season was derailed when Dak Prescott suffered a season-ending injury in the fifth game of the season. Now that he’s signed to a long-term contract and healed, he and the Cowboys’ talented offense should come alive. Their only real competition in the NFC East is the Washington Football team, so a path to the playoffs likely isn’t that difficult.


Full playoff odds available at BetOnline.ag.

Devon Platana
Devon Platana

After graduating with a Masters degree in Journalism, Devon joined USGS to improve his sports writing skills. As a lifelong sports fan, one of Devon’s favorite things to do is analyze statistics across all sports.