It seems a little early to talk about 2012 Super Bowl odds, since we haven't yet put the 2011 Super Bowl to bed, but such is the nature of sports on the Internet — Bodog already has the odds up, and will allow you at this very moment to make a 40:1 bet on the St. Louis Rams. 40:1! We're moving up in the world! That's lower odds than 12 other teams, including the reigning NFC West champs, the Seattle Seahawks. It puts the Rams ahead of the Tim Tebow show in Denver; the similarly receiver-hungry Cincinnati Bengals; the surprisingly decent Oakland Raiders; and did I mention the Seahawks? Them, too.
↵The Rams share their odds with the San Francisco 49ers, who remain a popular if-Alex-Smith-puts-it-together pick, and 40:1 seems about right to me. Their defense is nearly ready for primetime, and their offense might see some new personnel and is in the process of being overhauled by Josh McDaniels. All the downside risk of surprising teams remains in the Rams' 2011 DNA, but they've added plenty of upside just by fiddling with the offense. They could go 6-10, but they could also go 10-6. Like the Green Bay Packers, if you want to get explicit about it.