NFL Predictions

Is the offseason over yet? I’m already ready to get the sports gambling season started off with a nice little futures bet. I’m looking at the odds for Super Bowl XLV right now and seeing if there’s any dark horses with some decent odds. My Philadelphia Eagles are getting friendly +1800 odds to win the Super Bowl. It looks like the bookmakers don’t have much faith in them. Although I honestly don’t expect them to win the Super Bowl, I think they’re certainly capable of making a nice push with Kolb — I’m expecting them to grab the Wild Card at a minimum. I’m a big Kolb advocate. I think he shows a lot of promise and will be just as good as Aaron Rodgers and Matt Ryan, but I am being completely bias here since I am not a fan of McNabb and glad that he’s gone.

Let’s be serious for a second though, the front runners to come out of the AFC, I would have to say, are the Jets with their ridiculous defense that will give up less than 10 PPG. Add Santonio Holmes, LaDanian Tomlinson, and QB who is no longer a rookie, and I think you’re looking at the Jets as next year’s champs.

Believe it or not, but they’re getting +1200 odds. That looks like a good score to me. In the NFC, I think it will come down to the Saints and Cowboys (I hate to say it as an Eagles fan, but let’s be honest here). The Saints have +900 odds and the Cowboys have +1000 odds. The Colts are favored to win it all at +800 odds. You also have to look at the Chargers in the mix with +900 …

While Super Bowl 2010 Odds have the Colts as a 5.5 point favourite, which will be a tough margin, the over/under line of 56 looks to be a much more profitable number to bet on. When the Saints and the Colts hit the field for the NFL Championship game in Miami this Sunday, there is a good chance that it will be a high scoring affair.

The Indy offence is led by Peyton Manning who, with his ability to reading and react to the defence before the snap, put up a league best 4,500 passing yards while only being sacked 10 times in the regular season. Having already won a Super Bowl in 2006, the four time AP NFL Most Valuable player knows how to deal with the pressure and intensity of the big game and will looked upon as a leader on and off the field. He should have a better chance of connecting with All-Pro wide-receiver Reggie Wayne then he did during the Conference Championships.

Even though Peyton Manning put up great individual numbers last game, he only connected with Wayne and tight-end Dallas Clarke for seven receptions and 90 yards combined. Considering both were over 100 receptions and 1100 yards on the regular season, they should have much more productive games this weekend. This does not bode well for the Saints defence.

The one big question mark on the Colts defence is the health of Dwight Freeney’s ankle.  The All Pro defensive end is one of the best pass rushers in the league and, along with Robert Mathis, will be the key to Indy’s pass defence. Pro Bowler safety Antoine Bethea is expected to be in the line-up as well after seeing limited practice time last week …

AFC:
East – New England Patriots (1st Seed)
North – Pittsburgh Steelers (2nd Seed)
South – Houston Texans
West – San Diego Chargers
Wild Card – Indianapolis Colts
Wild Card – Baltimore Ravens

NFC:
East – Philadelphia Eagles (1st Seed)
North – Minnesota Vikings (2nd Seed)
South – Atlanta Falcons
West – Arizona Cardinals
Wild Card – Green Bay Packers
Wild Card – New Orleans Saints…

Here are my predictions for the 2008-2009 NFL Season.

AFC:

AFC East Winner – New England Patriots (12-4) – I don’t think the Patriots will be anything close to going 16-0. Their defense will be hurting after losing Asante Samuel to the Eagles and Randall Gay to the Saints. The loss of Donte Stallworth will mean that Randy Moss is double teamed even more so than last year. I expect the Jets to manage 1 win off them and other losses could include @ Chargers, @ Colts, and Pittsburgh.

AFC North Winner – Pittsburgh Steelers (12-4) – The Bengals and Ravens are clearly not competing for the division, so that should be 4 easy wins for the Steelers. I don’t see the Browns topping them yet. Plus, Anderson began to be exposed towards the end of the season. The Steelers offense will be just as good as Cleveland’s. Santonio Holmes should be even better this season and Fast Willie Parker and Rashard Mendenhall will be a great 1-2 punch.

AFC South Winner – Jacksonville Jaguars (10-6) – I expect the Jaguars to finally overtake the Colts this year. They’ve added Jerry Porter to boost the receiving corp, Reggie Williams will have a breakout season, they’ve added two top DEs in the draft (Derrick Harvey and Quentin Groves). There are question marks surrounding Manning’s knee. I like the Jaguars.

AFC West Winner – San Diego Chargers (12-4) – This is a no-brainer. They’re in the weakest division in the NFL.

AFC Wild Card – Indianapolis Colts (10-6) – Despite me going with the Jags as the AFC South winner, the Colts aren’t missing the playoffs.

AFC Wild Card – New York Jets (9-7) – I think the last wild card will …

Here are my predictions for the 2007-2008 NFL Season.

AFC:

AFC East Winner – New England Patriots (12-4) – This is a no brainer. The Pats don’t have any holes on both sides of the ball. I doubt anyone in the AFC East will be able to get a win from them, but maybe Mangenious can steal a win from them.

AFC North Winner – Baltimore Ravens (11-5) – With the new rushing weapon in Willis McGahee, the Ravens will be able to effectively run the ball to cure their offensive woes. Last year, the Ravens ranked 30th in yards and 25th in points. With one of the league’s top defense (2nd in fewest points allowed, 1st in fewest yards allowed) it is easy to pick the Ravens to win the division. This year, expect the Ravens’ offensive numbers to go up, while the defensive numbers stay at the top of the league.

AFC South Winner – Indianapolis Colts (10-6) – There should and will be concerns will the Colts defense, who is starting a lot of new players on the defensive side of the ball, but their offense will be as potent as ever to make up for points the defense gives up.

AFC West Winner – San Diego Chargers (12-4) – Another no brainer here. LT will continue to be ridiculous to lead the Chargers as the top offense in the league.

AFC Wild Card – Denver Broncos (11-5) – It’s going to be hard to pass on the Broncos this year: Dre’ Bly and Champ Bailey should shut down most teams’ passing attack. Travis Henry will put up some big numbers in the Broncos’ zone-blocking system. Plus, they have a fairly easy schedule.

AFC Wild Card – …