Vikings' Super Bowl 2019 Odds Improve With Kirk Cousins Likely Signing In Minnesota

You can argue how much of a difference Kirk Cousins makes for the Minnesota Vikings, but the oddsmakers certainly seem to think he’ll have a significant impact on his new team. Minnesota’s Super Bowl odds have improved amid reports that the quarterback is likely to sign with the Vikings.

The Vikings saw their championship odds go from 16-1 to 12-1 Tuesday afternoon. That puts them second in the NFC behind only the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles.

The New England Patriots are still the 2019 Super Bowl favorites after coming up short against Philadelphia last month.

Minnesota was the NFC’s No.2 seed last season after finishing the regular season with a 13-3 record. They defeated the New Orleans Saints in the divisional playoffs but were blown out on the road by the Eagles in the conference title game.

The Vikings won the NFC North comfortably, finishing well ahead of the Green Bay Packers, who were without Aaron Rodgers for most of the season. Green Bay has the same Super Bowl odds as Minnesota with the quarterback expected to be completely healthy at the start of the 2018 season.

The Vikings have reached the playoffs in two of the last three years. They last made the Super Bowl in 1977 and have never won a Super Bowl title.

If Cousins puts up the same kind of numbers that Case Keenum did for the Vikings in 2017, it might be hard to keep Minnesota from reaching the Super Bowl. Keenum had a career-year, performing like one of the league’s best quarterbacks with better than a 3:1 touchdown-to-interception ratio and a 98.3 passer rating.

Cousins failed to make the playoffs for a second straight year with the Washington Redskins, who went 7-9. The quarterback led the Redskins to the postseason in the 2015 season, but he has no career playoff wins.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are tied with Philadelphia for the second-best Super Bowl odds. Pittsburgh was upset by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the divisional playoffs, reaching the postseason with double-digit wins for the fourth straight year.