Another NFL season gets underway in the early hours of Friday morning UK time so now is the time to have a good look at the campaign ahead, one which promises to be exciting, with a very open look and feel to it.
Recent Super Bowl Winners
2017 – New England Patriots
2016 – Denver Broncos
2015 – New England Patriots
2014 – Seattle Seahawks
2013 – Baltimore Ravens
2012 – New York Giants
2011 – Green Bay Packers
2010 – New Orleans Saints
2009 – Pittsburgh Steelers
2008 – New York Giants
AFC
The defending Super Bowl champions New England Patriots go into the season as the 4/1 favourites to retain their title. I would make them favourites purely because of the division that they are in but even with the addition of Brandin Cooks the injury to Julian Edelman is a big loss. One day Tom Brady’s body will give in so at that price I don’t see much value.
Many people, myself included, tipped Pittsburgh Steelers to go the course and distance last season but they ran into the Patriots at the wrong time. I don’t see that Pittsburgh have regressed too much so 11/1 is a fair reflection of their chances. Whether they can beat the Patriots to make the Super Bowl remains to be seen.
By the time we hit December last year people were starting to view the Oakland Raiders as potential Super Bowl winners but then Derek Carr got injured and their chances went immediately. If he remains fit and if Marshawn Lynch returns to the NFL the player that Seattle had then 18/1 could have legs. They would need to improve on defence though.
Kansas City Chiefs and the Denver Broncos will both push Oakland strongly but even at 28/1 and 33/1 respectively for the Super Bowl they look to have too many deficiencies to go all the way so are easily overlooked.
NFC
The Green Bay Packers are the favourites to win the NFC. They are 10/1 for the Super Bowl but I wonder if they are going to be any better than last season. Running back remains a big issue and while Martellus Bennett should be a great red zone option Aaron Rodgers wasn’t really short of them to begin with. This doesn’t feel like the Packers season to me.
Seattle Seahawks are a point bigger in the Super Bowl market and of the two I would probably side with them given that their defence remains solid but they too have offensive issues. They are in the easier division so they should make the play-offs but how they’ll go from there I’m less sure of.
All eyes will be on the Dallas Cowboys this season. They were fantastic in the regular season last year but their defence was exposed by Green Bay and their run to the Super Bowl was cut short. Dak Prescott was excellent last season but he could be without his star running back Ezekiel Elliott for six matches so there will be pressure on the young quarterback to deliver. They are 14/1 for those who think he will.
Atlanta Falcons are 16/1 to win the Super Bowl. They should be defending the title after running up a huge lead in the Super Bowl in February but then they collapsed and that will take some getting over. Their defence looks to have improved but can their offense he as potent now Kyle Shanahan is in San Francisco?
New York Giants are perennially underrated and at 25/1 that appears to be the case again this year. Defensively they look just as strong as last year and now that they have added more weapons for Eli Manning to find I wouldn’t be surprised if the Giants go the distance once again. They are certainly ones to watch.
[the_ad_group id=”3624″]
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl market is not one I like to get too involved with this early in the season. Often the play-offs are about who is in form and more importantly who avoids injuries the best and we just don’t know who that will be this far out but I am going to dabble on one side before revisiting it later in the season.
The last two sides who have lost in the Super Bowl have come from the NFC South and I wonder if Tampa Bay Buccaneers can make that a hat trick, hopefully with a different outcome. We have seen in this division that mighty attacking units can power their way to the division title and Tampa’s offense looks mighty strong this season. I don’t think they are necessarily that weak on defence but even if they are the division is going to be an offensive one. DeSean Jackson being signed could be a masterstroke while OJ Howard looks a good draft pick. At 40/1 I’ll take a chance on the Bucs.
Division Betting
This is more my scene and there are four of the eight divisions I like bets in. It makes sense to take the Bucs to win their division given the case I’ve made for them to go deep in the play-offs. If Atlanta suffer a natural hangover then 7/2 on the Bucs snatching the division looks very big.
Moving to the East in the NFC and the New York Giants look underrated to me. Can Dallas have as good a season as last year? I’m not convinced. I think the G men have improved certainly in the weapons they have given Eli and if he is protected better this year then they can overcome the others in the East to progress to the play-offs.
Green Bay Packers are all the rage in the NFC North but I’m not convinced by them. The Detroit Lions only had to win a home game against the Packers in the final week of last season to win the division and yet the Packers are odds on here and the Lions are 7/1. That doesn’t feel right to me and while we have to acknowledge the danger of the Minnesota Vikings I still think the 7/1 on the Lions is too big.
Looking at the AFC and there is one division I like. I note the improvement in the Tennessee Titans, and indeed the Jacksonville Jaguars for that matter, in the South but I can’t go against the Houston Texans defence. They won the division last year with a quarterback who couldn’t find a receiver for love nor money. I don’t think it will be long before Deshaun Watson, a quarterback I really like, is starting for the Texans and he can ride that defence all the way to another AFC South title.
Tips
Back Tampa Bay Buccaneers to win Super Bowl (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 41.00 with William Hill (1/2 1-2)
Back them here:
Back Tampa Bay Buccaneers to win NFC South for a 3/10 stake at 4.50 with LeoVegas
Back them here:
Back New York Giants to win NFC East for a 2/10 stake at 3.25 with Skybet
Back Detroit Lions to win NFC North for a 1/10 stake at 8.00 with Skybet
Back them here:
Back Houston Texans to win AFC South for a 3/10 stake at 3.25 with Betbright
Back them here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2017
