Throughout
the next few weeks, I will be breaking down each division and the odds
surrounding each team to win the conference and the Super Bowl. We will kick it
off with the AFC East, a team with the defending AFC champion in it, and three
other teams looking up.
New England Patriots -400 AFC
& +450 Super Bowl
The
Patriots are now officially the consensus odds on favorites in NFL Future odds
to win the Super Bowl. The Pats lost a heart breaker to the Giants in the Super
Bowl last season, and they have now been retooling their roster in preparation
for another run at a ring.
The
Patriots seem to be continuing to load up on offense, and worry about defense
later. They franchised wide receiver Wes Welker, despite the conflicts between
the two sides about a long term deal. They also re-upped with Deon Branch, and
they signed Brandon Lloyd, which will give them yet another target for Tom
Brady. They also stole injured tight end Jake Ballard away from the G-Men.
If the
Pats can stay healthy, they will run away with the AFC East rather early. While
the AFC will be down a bit this season, they will still have several
competitors such as the Ravens and Texans, but +200 to win the AFC might be a
pretty nice value to take for New England.
New York Jets +600 AFC &
+3000 Super Bowl
See the
drop off from where the Patriots are in the odds to the next team? While the
Jets are capable of making a playoff run, (something they failed to do last
season) they aren’t getting much love from the odds makers. Mark Sanchez has
been under much scrutiny, and with the arrival of Tebow fever, it could make
New York an even more volatile place.
They
will obviously still have the talent on defense, but their offensive struggles
from last season don’t look like they will be getting any better. The Jets
ranked in the bottom third of the league in passing and rushing. Plus, Plaxico
Burress still has yet to re-sign, and although they still have some good
receivers, if Sanchez is really an average quarterback, the Jets have no chance
against the Patriots, or the playoffs.
Buffalo Bills +700 AFC &
+5000 Super Bowl
Down to
the bottom of the barrel, the Bills are just above the Dolphins for the
sportsbook’s third place choice in the AFC East. The Bills started very well
last season, but an incredibly bad run in their last eleven games brought them
down to another disappointing season.
The
Bills are kind of a dark horse team however, because everyone saw how well they
played in the first five games of 2011. Their offense will still be very potent
if Fred Jackson can continue to play well and Ryan Fitzpatrick can manage the
games well again. While in no way am I endorsing taking them to win the Super
Bowl, a total wins bet might be in order. They are sitting at over/under 7 ½ wins;
however, they do have a pretty tough schedule.
Miami Dolphins +1200 AFC &
+6000 Super Bowl
The
bottom dweller team in the AFC East is the Dolphins, and with a quarterback
controversy and not much more than Reggie Bush on offense, this might prove to
a be a long season for the Dolphins. Their total wins number is 7.5. And at
first glance, that number looks like a lock to go under.
The
Dolphins ranked well against the run last season, but they were in the bottom
of the NFL against the pass. They drafted no secondary help, and they lost
their number one receiver to the Bears. It will be a long season for the
Dolphins.