Which 2021 playoff teams won’t make the 2022 postseason…?

From 2012 through ’21, some 58 teams have advanced to the playoffs after missing the postseason the previous year – That’s a rate of nearly six new playoff teams after every season, until 2021 a 50% turnover rate.

But even after expanding the playoffs to 14 teams in ’21, the 50% ratio held, with not only both Super Bowl teams, the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams, but the Las Vegas Raiders, New England Patriots, Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers also advanced after missing out in 2020.

So which teams does NFL bets figure not to return to play in January? We’ve got…

• Pittsburgh Steelers (-450 to miss playoffs). Sure, a Mike Tomlin-led Steelers team has never finished a season below .500 – but they’ve missed the playoffs five times in his 15 years with the club. For the first time in forever, the Steelers have the longest odds of the four teams to win the AFC North division; this alone feels like a loser to me…

• Las Vegas Raiders (-200). Including the Raiders on this list seems odd at first, what with the obvious coaching upgrade from Racist Chucky to Josh McDaniels. However, the presence of three playoff contenders within the AFC West makes things tough for Vegas. Betting a nice “Four Teams from AFC West Make Playoffs” proposition bet would make a solid hedge here.

• San Francisco 49ers (+170). NFLbets would have to see some miracle-level performances out of either Jimmy Garoppolo or Trey Lance to get NFLbets to back of this contention. Speaking of miracles and contention, it is a miracle that the 49ers ever contend behind Kyle Shanahan and his proclivity to openly show no confidence in his starting quarterback. We’re thinking things will begin unravelling for the Niners ’round about week 5.

• Kansas City Chiefs (+165). Look: You’ve got to figure that one of the publicly-perceived powerhouses of the NFL will have an off-year. And while NFLbets is perfectly willing to consider the Green Bay Packers or Tampa Bay Buccaneers, we’re not convinced there’s enough competition in the NFC North, NFC South or the NFC generally to keep an 8-8-1 team out of the playoffs. So call this our upset proposition bet pick of the offseason….