NFL Previews- 2013 Odds to Win the NFC North

Over the past decade or so when you thought of the dominant power in the NFC North you immediately thought of the Green Bay Packers. That is still the case heading into this season, but the gap between the Packers and the Chicago Bears could be much tighter than you may think.

Green Bay still has one of the top two or three quarterbacks in the league in Aaron Rodgers which will always make it a legitimate contender for the division title, but a change at the top in Chicago could have the Bears back on track for a playoff run. Longtime head coach Lovie Smith was fired at the end of last season despite leading his team to a 10-6 record. The Bears decided to bring in a more offensive-minded coach that would be able to squeeze the most production out of their quarterback, Jay Cutler. They went 'north of the border' and hired Marc Trestman, who was the coach of the CFL's Montreal Alouettes at the time. It is hard to tell how well this duo will gel this season, but all signs point to a much more dynamic offensive attack then we have seen from Chicago in the past.

The following is a link to my complete preview of the NFC North in an article I recently wrote for Cappers Picks:

NFL Previews – 2013 NFC North Betting

NFL Previews – 2013 Odds to Win the NFC South

The Atlanta Falcons ran away with the NFC South last season with a record of 13-3, while the other three teams in the division all finished at 7-9. The Falcons are once again the preseason favorite to win the NFC South title this season, but rest assured it will be a much tighter race this time around.

The New Orleans Saints have their head coach back after the NFL decided to suspend Sean Payton for the entire 2012 season for his role in a player bounty scandal. You know that he is coming back with a huge chip on his shoulder which will definitely carry over to his players as well.

Both Tampa Bay and Carolina used this past offseason to hopefully add the missing pieces to the puzzle that gets them back to the postseason. The Buccaneers traded for All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis which should go a long way towards turning around a defense that was ranked last in the league in 2012 against the pass. The Panthers added wide receivers' Domenik Hixon from New York and Ted Ginn from San Francisco to giver third-year quarterback Cam Newton a few extra targets in the passing game.

The following is a link to an article I recently wrote for Cappers Picks covering the futures odds for each one of these team's chance to win the NFC South this season.



NFL Previews – 2013 NFC South Betting

2013 Odds to Win the NFC West

As training camps start to open all around the NFL it is time to get serious about the start of a new season of football. The Eagles decided to break a 17-year tradition of holding their summer camp at my old Alma Mater, Lehigh University to train in the cushy surroundings of the NovaCare Complex and Lincoln Financial Field. New head coach Chip Kelly appears to be hell-bent on putting his unique stamp on everything that has to do with this team, which hopefully in the long run results in an early February parade down Broad Street in the not too distant future.

Before we get to the meat of the order in the NFC East, I will take a closer look at the other three divisions in the conference starting with the NFC West. This division is shaping-up as a two-horse race between legitimate contenders to win it all this year. San Francisco has the slight inside edge over the Seattle Seahawks heading into the preseason, but you get the feeling that this race is going to remain too close to call all the way to Week 17 of the regular season.

As part of a four-part series for Cappers Picks, the following is a link to my NFC West preview that was recently posted on the site.

NFL Previews – 2013 NFC West Betting Odds

NFC West - Key Player Transactions for the 2013 NFL Season

The NFC West contains two of the top three favorites to win the conference this season in San Francisco and Seattle. Just a half game separated these two teams last season for the division title, so it is safe to assume that this year's race will probably rage on until the final week of the regular season.

In order to keep you up to speed for all the roster changes in the NFC West this offseason, the following is a link to an article covering the key player transactions in the division as part of an ongoing series for Sporting Charts.


NFC West - Key Player Transactions for the 2013 NFL Season