Every NFL season starts with the same illusion. All 32 teams technically have a shot, but everyone knows that only a few are actually built to win the Super Bowl. Preseason odds exist to reflect that reality. They tell us who is expected to contend and who is expected to fade quietly into winter.

Every once in a great while, those expectations are completely wrong.

The Gold Standard of Longshots: 1999 St. Louis Rams (+15000)

No team embodies preseason disbelief like the 1999 St. Louis Rams.

At +15000, the Rams entered the season with the longest Super Bowl odds ever for an eventual champion. This was a franchise coming off a 4–12 season, starting an unknown backup quarterback in Kurt Warner after Trent Green went down with a preseason injury. There was no reason to believe they were anything more than a rebuilding team.

What followed became known as “The Greatest Show on Turf.”

Warner exploded into superstardom, winning league MVP and transforming from a forgotten team into an offensive juggernaut. When the Rams won Super Bowl 34, it was not just an upset. It was a reminder that the NFL still has room for the impossible.

More than two decades later, the Rams remain the biggest preseason longshot to ever win the Super Bowl.

This Year’s Super Bowl Longshots: Patriots (+8000) and Seahawks (+6000)

That context is what makes this season so interesting. Because while no team this year entered anywhere near +15000, history will still be made no matter how the Super Bowl ends.

• New England Patriots: +8000

• Seattle Seahawks: +6000

Neither number touches the Rams’ +15000 mark, but both would still rank among the longest preseason odds ever for a Super Bowl champion.

If the Patriots win:

• One of the biggest preseason turnarounds in modern NFL history

• A franchise widely assumed to be deep into a rebuild re-emerging at the sport’s highest level

• A Super Bowl win that defied both market expectations and public perception

If the Seahawks win:

• A team that was thought to have downgraded during the offseason

• A title run that outperformed nearly every preseason benchmark tied to the roster

• Proof that teams can grow into contenders rather than start as one

Either outcome would place this Super Bowl firmly in the conversation with the greatest longshot stories the league has ever seen.

Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER