'Twas the week before the NFL regular season and all through the land, bettors were waiting for kickoff so they could wager on some football.”
Okay, poetry isn't our strength, but we are all eagerly awaiting the start of the NFL's Opening Kickoff on Thursday night, September 4.
The Washington Redskins travel to New York to play the defending champion Giants with a line on this one of the Giants as a 3.5-point favorite.
But while there is a comprehensive Week 1 menu (as well as the final week of preseason), complete with regular lines and Over/Under bets, futures and props are also available.
Among the offerings are options on which American Football Conference team will win the respective divisions.
AFC East
The New England Patriots are still the cream of the crop in the AFC East and arguably the conference in general.
SPORTSBETTING.COM has the Pats listed as a -900 to win their division this year. Despite a dismal record in the preseason (who cares in New England); speculation is that they're resting everyone for the start of the regular season anyways.
The Miami Dolphins, who are coming off a dreadful 1-15 season, and the Buffalo Bills probably won't mount much of a challenge this year, besides, the Pats are 7-3 straight up and 6-4 against the spread in the last 10 games against Miami and 9-1 SU and 7-3 ATS against the Bills.
The only team in the AFC East who might have a shot (a long one though) at challenging the Pats is the New York Jets, who now have Brett Favre calling the signals.
In the last 10 games against the Jets, New England is 9-1 SU and 7-3 ATS.
Besides division rivals, the Pats and teams from the AFC East will be matched with teams from the NFC West and New England has feasted on the likes of the 49ers, Seahawks, Rams and Cardinals going 9-1 SU and a perfect 10-0 ATS in the last 10 games against these teams.
Will the Pats repeat as AFC East champions? It looks that way.
AFC South
Picking a team to win the AFC South is a little bit harder as there is more than one team talented enough to take the division, but Indianapolis is still the team to beat (currently -150 at SPORTSBETTING.COM).
Like the Pats' Tom Brady, Peyton Manning has seen little or no action in the preseason because of knee surgery in July, but Indy head coach Tony Dungy told the media that "he would be shocked" if Manning didn't play in Week 1. However, do not discount the fact the Colts lost center Jeff Saturday, which is a big injury.
The Colts are a good Money line team against division rivals earning a 16-4 record SU in the last 20 games but they aren't so good ATS, going only 8-12.
Indianapolis will be matched up against teams from the NFC North this year and the Colts have a five-game SU winning streak going against teams from the NFC North and they've gone 4-1 ATS in the same span as well.
This could be a tight race, as the Jaguars are a Super Bowl contender and even Tennessee or Houston could surprise (no kidding). There could be some real value in any of those three teams as a future bet.
AFC North
The favorite to take the AFC North at -140, the Pittsburgh Steelers, have had a relatively easy time of it against divisional competition going 14-6 SU and 11-8-1 ATS in the last 20 divisional games.
Along with games within the division and against other AFC divisions, the Steelers will see action against the NFC East this season, which makes for a tough schedule.
It’s not going to be easy to win their division this year with an improving Browns team and if Cincinnati ever gets their act together, they could make some noise in this race.
AFC West
While all the talk in San Diego is about the pros and cons of Shawne Merriman's decision to skip surgery and play with ligament damage in one of his knees, the San Diego Chargers still look good, and their price to win reflects this, as they are listed at -500 to win the AFC West division.
The Chargers have been tough on their division as of late. In those divisional matchups, they've gone 10-2 SU in the last 12, including five straight wins, and 9-3 ATS, with a five-game win streak as well.
The NFC division that the Chargers will play this season is the South, one of the weaker divisions in the league.
The NFC South was formed in 2002 and meetings with are San Diego rare; the Chargers have 3-1 SU and 4-0 ATS against that division.
The NFL season is a week away. Enjoy the final week of preseason and your Labor Day long weekend.
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