We are still a few months away from really thinking about NFL betting action, but the Super Bowl odds are always out at 5Dimes Sportsbook, and we are going to be taking a quick look at some of the teams that have been movers and shakers since the end of last season on the 2013 Super Bowl odds.
We’ll start with one of the teams that has seen a lot of action on it over the course of the last several weeks, the Philadelphia Eagles (+1100). The Eagles really had a strong NFL Draft and the offseason, and they look to have done quite a bit to sure up their defense. The Achilles heel was right up the middle, and those problems might have been solved in the NFL Draft by taking DT Fletcher Cox in the first round and LB Mychal Kendricks in the second. The team also added LB DeMeco Ryans from the Houston Texans in a trade in the offseason, and then drafted DE Vinny Curry to add yet another pass rusher to a team that already has a slew of great rush ends and linebackers. If QB Michael Vick can take care of the football, this is a team that will do a heck of a lot better than its 8-8 campaign last year.
There also seems to be some budding enthusiasm about the San Francisco 49ers (+1200). The Niners were just a few plays away from the Super Bowl last year, and they could be back for more in 2012. QB Alex Smith clearly has control of the team, and the rest of the NFC West really doesn’t look like it did all that much to improve its positioning. WRs Randy Moss and Mario Manningham were both great signings for a team that didn’t have all that much in the way of wide receivers, and San Fran also added first round pick WR AJ Jenkins as well. Keep an eye on RB LaMichael James, who becomes a great change of pace back as well to RBs Frank Gore, Kendall Hunter, and Brandon Jacobs.
As far as teams that are going in the wrong direction, we have to talk about the St. Louis Rams (+9000). No one really expected to see the Rams do all that much this year anyway, but a perceived relatively weak NFL Draft didn’t help either. St. Louis hitched itself to QB Sam Bradford by passing on QB Robert Griffin III, and it traded down quite a bit as well to get a lot of picks. DT Michael Brockers still felt like a bit of a reach for the Rams where they ended up at No. 14, and with their three second round picks, they got a lot of speedy players in WR Brian Quick, DB Janoris Jenkins, and RB Isaiah Pead, but none of the three really strike us as tremendous starters that are going to help this team immediately.
The perception of the Cleveland Browns (+22500) is definitely going in the wrong direction as well. The Browns have already essentially named their first round NFL Draft pick, QB Brandon Weeden as the starter even though he is younger than QB Colt McCoy, who has been in this league now for two years. RB Trent Richardson will be explosive for sure, but is he really capable of getting around the defenses for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens? It just doesn’t seem like it. Losing out on RB Peyton Hillis in the offseason really didn’t help matters either, and we can definitely see why the Browns are going to be so bad once again in 2012.