Should the New England Patriots be Favored to Win Super Bowl?
The New England Patriots came into the 2009 NFL season as 3/1 favorites to win the 2010 Super Bowl. Should they be?
New England just barely beat the Buffalo Bills Monday night at home and the only reason they won was because one of the Bills players completely screwed up a play. Had that not happened, the Bills would have walked away 1-0 and New England 0-1. This is significant as the Bills were (and still are) the big long shot to win the AFC East Division.
Following Week 1's play here are some teams that definitely look Super Bowl bound, at least for the moment:
The New Orleans Saints - Sure they played the lowly and winless Detroit Lions, but Drew Brees threw 6 touchdowns and the Saints blew away the Lions in decisive fashion. They were listed with 20/1 odds at Sportsbetting.com to win the 2010 Super Bowl prior to this week and those odds will be slashed a bit.
The Philadelphia Eagles - Even if Donovan McNabb is out a few weeks (it looks like he'll be out at least for Game 2), the Eagles have signed Jeff Garcia to take his place (and this is WITH Michael Vick eligible to play in Week 3). The Eagles, going into Carolina and crushing what was one of the best teams in the league last year, demonstrated just how hungry they are for a Super Bowl win in 2010.
The Pittsburgh Steelers - So they beat Tennessee Titans by under a touchdown. The Titans played better than most of the teams that won during Week 1.
The Atlanta Falcons - They nearly shut out the Miami Dolphins. One thing to watch is the defense, which looked way better than what was expected. They were at 24/1 odds to win the 2010 Super Bowl.
The San Francisco 49ers - They went into Arizona and won against a team that made it into last year's Super Bowl. We may need a little more convincing but this was a good start to be certain. The payout would be $4800 for every $100 bet if the 49ers were to win the 2010 Super Bowl.
The Dallas Cowboys - The Tampa Bay Bucs looked a whole lot better than what we expected, but were still not able to stop the Cowboys in the end. Dallas got the job done winning by nearly two touchdowns.
Green Bay Packers - The defense was solid throughout their season opener against Chicago. Last year, the Packers would have lost this game. Now they host the Bengals next week and go on the road in St. Louis the following week. This Packers team could start the season 3-0. It's the Week 4 showdown in Minnesota vs. Brett Favre that will have everyone's attention and if the Packers start the season 4-0 they stand a very good chance of being Super Bowl bound. Oh, it also helps that they will be hosting Detroit after their bye the week after Minnesota and then heading to Cleveland.
Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
