Week 17 of the 2022 NFL season kicked off on Thursday night, which means we’re roughly two weeks away from the start of the postseason. Heading into Sunday, we have a good idea of who this year’s Super Bowl favorites are.

The Philadelphia Eagles are only one win away from clinching the No. 1 seed in the NFC. However, the Dallas Cowboys, Minnesota Vikings and San Francisco 49ers are still technically alive for that coveted first-round bye. In the AFC, the Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs are vying for the No. 1 seed.

Unsurprisingly, all of these teams—aside from the Vikings, which oddsmakers don’t take too seriously—have 11-1 or better Super Bowl odds, according to DraftKings Sportsbook.

The past two years have shown that the favorites don’t always get to the big game, though. The Bengals and Los Angeles Rams each reached the Super Bowl as a No. 4 seed last year. The previous year, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won it all as the NFC’s No. 5 seed.

Factors like playoff experience, team health and momentum—there’s a lot to be said for peaking at the right time—can outweigh the benefits of home-field advantage or a bye.

With that in mind, let’s examine five of the non-favorites who could make surprise runs to Super Bowl LVII. Each team listed here has 20-1 or longer odds to win the Super Bowl but could still be a major postseason threat.

Teams are listed in alphabetical order.

 

Baltimore Ravens

Super Bowl Odds: 25-1

The Baltimore Ravens still have a shot at winning the AFC North, so they aren’t as much of a long shot as some of the other teams featured here. However, they’d have to win out and beat the Cincinnati Bengals—who are currently riding a seven-game winning streak—to host a wild-card game.

The biggest question mark for the Ravens right now is the health of star quarterback Lamar Jackson. The two-time Pro Bowler has been out since suffering a PCL injury in Week 13, and Baltimore hasn’t been the same without him.

With Tyler Huntley at quarterback, the Ravens have scraped by the Denver Broncos, Pittsburgh Steelers and Atlanta Falcons. They also got embarrassed by the lowly Cleveland Browns. Since Jackson has been out, Baltimore has not looked like a credible threat to reach the Super Bowl.

However, Jackson could be back for the playoffs. According to Mike Preston of the Baltimore Sun, Jackson’s recovery timeline is 4-6 weeks, which would potentially put him back under center for the wild-card round.

Jackson is arguably the hardest quarterback in the NFL to defend because of his dual-threat ability, and he’d make Baltimore a threat against any opponent. What makes the Ravens truly dangerous, though, is the fact that they’ve learned to lean on their defense and ground game without him.