When the 2013 NFL season started, the Las Vegas oddsmakers saw five teams as head and shoulders above the rest when it came to the Super Bowl betting odds. The Denver Broncos, San Francisco 49ers, New England Patriots, Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers were the favorites, ranging from 3-1 to 6-1, and from there it was a big dropoff to the next team up at 18-1.
Are the Green Bay Packers dead in the water? That’s the question the NFL world is asking in the wake of the Aaron Rodgers injury, a fractured collarbone last night on Monday Night Football, a game his team lost 27-20 to the Chicago Bears, slipping into a three-way tie with the Bears and Detroit Lions for first place in the NFC North.
NFL Week 9 had a lot going on–Nick Foles looked like a Hall of Fame quarterback while Aaron Rodgers was knocked out. The collapses in Atlanta and Baltimore continued, while Seattle and Indianapolis showed some escape-ability. But TheSportsNotebook’s NFL analysis is going to begin with the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers, two enigmatic organizations that are showing themselves to be for real
The nationally televised games for Sunday of NFL Week 9 are games that looked at the start of the year like possible AFC divisional playoff round games. That is, until Pittsburgh and Houston fell apart and took some of the shine off these games. Even so, Steelers-Patriots and Colts-Texans make for good late Sunday afternoon/prime-time viewing, and that leads into Monday Night’s NFC North tussle in Lambeau Fiel
NFL Week 8 was pretty chalk, as evidenced by the fact that the elimination pool I’m in so nobody get knocked out for the first time all season. There were no big battles, no landscape-changing moments. So why not just start with the basics, and that’s the consensus three best quarterbacks in the NFL. Tom Brady and Peyton Manning dug themselves holes before turning on the gas, and Aaron Rodgers shone in prime-time.
If you like mediocre NFC football, you’re going to love the major TV games for NFL Week 8. Of the eight teams in the four key national spots (Thursday, late Sunday afternoon, Sunday night and Monday), five of them are NFC teams that are .500 are lower. It’s time for Washington, St. Louis, Carolina, Minnesota and Tampa Bay to bask in the national spotlight.
Peyton Manning’s homecoming falls flat, thanks to a big difference in supporting cast performance. The Jets get a win both lucky and deserved all in one, the Cowboys grab first place, the Bengals win a wild one in Detroit and the improbable Chiefs are the last unbeaten team. These games lead up TheSportsNotebook’s NFL analysis as we run through all the action of NFL Week 7…
TheSportsNotebook’s NFL analysis runs through all the games of Week 7, starting with the four national games most people will see.
The NFL moneylines are in parentheses next to each team, the odds for each winning the game outright
An epic finish in Foxboro presaged a similar drama in baseball, the Packers grind out a big win, the Seahawks and Broncos win fairly ugly and the Chiefs stay undefeated. TheSportsNotebook’s NFL analysis rips through the notable takeaways from the NFL Week 6 games…
The winless New York Giants try to avoid national TV humiliation, a possible Super Bowl preview in Foxboro, a battle for first place in the NFC East that underscores divisional weakness and a Monday night battle that conjures up memories of playoff battles in the late ’00s.
Denver and Kansas City stay unbeaten at the top of the AFC West, while New Orleans does the same in running away from the NFC South early. Atlanta and Houston look finished, while Green Bay and Indianapolis look impressive. TheSportsNotebook’s NFL analysis closes out Week 5 with a run through all 14 games…
This Sunday is one where the undercard games are, more often than not, the better games on the schedule, making one wonder about the wisdom of those who make up the TV schedule.