The Westgate Sportsbook in Las Vegas has given the Baltimore Ravens 40-1 odds of winning Super Bowl LIII:

NFL 2019 Super Bowl



NE 5/1

Pit 8/1

Phi 10/1

Min 10/1

GB 10/1

NO 16/1

Atl 16/1

Dal 18/1

LAR 18/1

Sea 18/1

SF 20/1

Jax 20/1

Hou 20/1

Car 20/1

LAC 30/1

KC 30/1

Oak 30/1

Det 40/1

TB 40/1

Bal 40/1

Ten 40/1

Ind 40/1

Ari 40/1

Den 40/1

NYG 60/1

Wsh 60/1

Mia 60/1 — Jeff Sherman (@golfodds) January 8, 2018

Their way-too-early odds have Baltimore tied for the 20th best chance of hoisting the Lombardi Trophy on February 3rd, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. The Ravens are tied with Tennessee, Indianapolis and Denver as the eighth most respected team in the AFC. Their arch rival Steelers have the second best odds in the NFL at 8-1, behind only the New England dynasty. The Bengals and Browns are listed at 100-1.

This offseason the Ravens will again be forced into difficult choices between desirable players due to salary cap constraints. What’s more, there is no guarantee the team will be able to better avoid impactful injuries next season, and they are unlikely to face as many backup quarterbacks as they did in 2017.

Nonetheless, the Ravens have won at least eight games in nine of ten seasons during John Harbaugh’s tenure as head coach. Still, a distinction should be made between contending for the playoffs and contending for the championship. Just three wildcard teams have advanced to the Super Bowl since the playoff field was expanded in 1990.

Harbaugh seemingly always finds a way to engineer a couple more victories than the talent on the roster would suggest. That can be viewed as a gift for those with faith that the team can win another Super Bowl under the current regime’s leadership. Or a curse for the group who believe the Ravens recent mediocrity has only prolonged an inevitable full scale rebuilding project.

When considering recent postseason history, talent currently under contract, salary cap space and draft assets, the Ravens will probably need a near perfect offseason to be viewed as viable Super Bowl contenders. Anything can happen in the NFL week-to-week, let alone more than a year out, but the final results are far from completely random. Hopefully Baltimore can improve their Super Bowl odds as they build their 2019 team throughout the offseason.