The NFL season is slowly creeping up, meaning it's time to look at some of the early favorites to win this year's Super Bowl.
The New York Giants won it all last season after an
improbable run and will look to defend their championship. However, there's a
host of other teams that will be trying to knock them off their perch.
How will the new season pan out? We'll start out with the
favorites and work our way down.
All of the following NFL odds can be found at 5Dimes, and reports on each of these teams can be found on SBR's NFL Football Betting page.
Two front-runners
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The Green Bay Packers and New England Patriots will enter
the season as the two teams to beat.
The Packers were a ridiculous 15-1 in the 2011/12 regular
season, earning themselves a BYE in the first round of the playoffs. There they
lost to the surging Giants 37-20, at Lambeau Field no less.
Still, Green Bay returns practically everyone from that
team, including MVP Aaron Rodgers, who tossed 45 touchdown passes. These guys
will be right up there again and sportsbooks have them at +625 to win it all.
New England's high-powered offense, led by Tom Brady,
carried them all the way to the Super Bowl last season, where they lost 21-17
to the Giants.
The Patriots (+725) went 13-3 during the regular season and
had a point differential of +171. As long as Brady stays healthy, New England
will always be a championship contender.
After those two, there's a slight drop-off in the futures
odds, but the number of teams that are given a realistic shot to win the
Lombardi is considerable.
Parity rules
The Houston Texans (+1200) and Philadelphia Eagles (+1200)
are two explosive offensive teams that everyone should look out for. The San
Francisco 49ers (+1300) had a very successful season thanks to a dominating
defense, while the Denver Broncos' chances have skyrocketed since acquiring
Peyton Manning during the offseason. They can be backed at +1400 to win the
Super Bowl.
Next on the list are the New Orleans Saints (+1600), who
have gone through so much during the offseason that it's hard to imagine them
making any legitimate noise. They still haven't figured out a deal with Drew
Brees and will play the entire season without head coach Sean Payton and key
defensive stalwart Jonathan Vilma.
The next three teams, the Pittsburgh Steelers (+1700), New
York Giants (+1800) and Baltimore Ravens (+2000), are tough-nosed clubs that
all have nasty defenses.
With Eli Manning elevating his play last season, there's no
reason why the Giants can't repeat. They have the offensive weapons now to go
along with a fearsome defensive front. Meanwhile, Ben Roethlisberger and Joe
Flacco are no slouches either and should have their teams competing come
playoff time.
There's quite a few other franchises who could make runs
too, including the Detroit Lions (+2300), Atlanta Falcons (+2500), Dallas
Cowboys (+2500), Chicago Bears (+2800), New York Jets (+3200) and Cincinnati
Bengals (+4000).
In terms of the biggest underdogs, there are three teams not
given a chance in hell and they're the Cleveland Browns, Jacksonville Jaguars
and Minnesota Vikings. All three are listed at +20000 on the NFL lines board to
win the upcoming Super Bowl.
Rookie Player Props
To try something different, why not head on over to
Bookmaker and check our their future NFL odds on offensive and defensive rookie of
the year?
On the offensive side of things, Andrew Luck (+300) was
picked first in the draft, yet finds himself behind Robert Grifin III (+200) to
win the ROY. Then you've got Trent Richardson (+400) and Justin Blackmon (+600)
who are worth considering as well.
Maybe the sportsbooks are onto something. Griffin III has
more weapons around him than does Luck, namely a running back in Roy Helu who
can take some pressure off.
It's more muddled on the defensive end, but the favorite is
Luke Kuechly at +700, a linebacker who racked up an amazing 191 tackles in his
junior year at Boston College. Others, like Morris Claiborne (+800), may be
worth a glance, but ultimate your best bet may be on playing the field (+500).