The Houston Texans are getting ready to host the Wild Card-winning Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday in the first playoff game in franchise history. They'll be slight favorites to win that game and advance to the next round, but the oddsmakers do not seem to have a lot of confidence that Houston can take it all the way.
The Texans are still favored by three points to pick up a win over the Bengals in Round 1, according to our friends over at OddsShark. That's where the good news seems to end if you're planning on putting money on the Houston squad.
Odds site bovada.lv has the full odds on the chances of the various AFC teams to win the AFC Championship and advance to the Super Bowl. The Texans are 16-to-1 to win the Championship, faring just slightly better than Wild Card teams the Bengals and the Denver Broncos:
Odds to win the 2012 AFC Conference
New England Patriots 11/10
Baltimore Ravens 9/4
Pittsburgh Steelers 7/2
Houston Texans 16/1
Cincinnati Bengals 25/1
Denver Broncos 25/1
The news gets even more dreary when you looks at each team's odds to win the whole shebang:
Odds to win the 2012 Super Bowl XLVI
Green Bay Packers 9/5
New England Patriots 4/1
New Orleans Saints 9/2
Baltimore Ravens 15/2
Pittsburgh Steelers 11/1
San Francisco 49ers 11/1
New York Giants 18/1
Atlanta Falcons 35/1
Detroit Lions 40/1
Houston Texans 40/1
Denver Broncos 50/1
Cincinnati Bengals 65/1
40-to-1 to win the Super Bowl. It's true that the odds could be a lot worse for a team entering their first-ever round of NFL playoffs. If they get past the Bengals on Sunday, Houston will be up against some mighty tough teams. But as any fan of football knows all too well, anything is possible in the postseason.
For all news and information regarding the Houston Texans, please visit Battle Red Blog. For updates and conversation on the Cincinnati Bengals, head on over to Cincy Jungle.