Friday, June 27, 2014

2014 Odds to Win AFC North with Picks and NFL Predictions

My continuing series for Doc's Sports covering the 2014 NFL futures odds in terms of each team's chances to win its division takes us to the AFC North this week. This should definitely be one of the most competitive races in the league this season as any of the four teams in this division have a shot at winning the title.

Cincinnati has the best odds to repeat as champions after going 11-5 last season, but both Baltimore and Pittsburgh follow close behind. Even Cleveland is expected to be in the mix this year with a projected win total of 6.5 and moneyline odds that favor the OVER. Division play among these four teams should eventually be the deciding factor as to which one climbs to the top, but to give you a sneak peak on my personal pick, there should be two NFL division winners in Pennsylvania this year!

The following is a link to this week's preview and picks for the AFC North as originally posted on Doc's Sports.

2014 Odds to Win AFC North with Picks and NFL Predictions

Friday, June 20, 2014

2014 Odds to Win AFC South with Picks and NFL Predictions

My trip around the NFL previewing each of the eight division title races for the upcoming 2014 regular season as part of an exclusive feature for Doc's Sports takes me to the AFC South for this week's installment.

The Indianapolis Colts completely dominated this division during Peyton Manning's long and successful run as their starting quarterback and right now it looks like his replacement Andrew Luck is poised to continue this high level on success heading into his third season as the Colts' starting quarterback after leading his team to the division title in 2013 with a record of 11-5.

Houston filled the gap as the top team in the AFC South during a brief two-year hiatus by Indianapolis in 2011 and 2012, but the Texans rapidly plummeted to the bottom of the NFL last season with just two wins after going 12-4 the year before. Many experts believe that this team is poised for a dramatic improvement this season given the overall talent on both sides of the ball, but it remains to be seen if it will be enough for a worst to first finish in this division in 2014.

Tennessee continues to plod along from year to year with a combined record of 36-44 in its last five seasons. The Titans did win nine games in 2011, but they followed that up with a 6-10 record in 2012 and a 7-9 mark last season. Where they go from here is anyone's guess, but any future success will likely hinge on the play of fourth-year quarterback Jake Locker. He has shown flashes of brilliance in his first three seasons in the NFL, but the only thing that matters in this league is wins and losses.

The perennial doormat in the AFC South for the last few years has been the Jacksonville Jaguars (although they did finish third in 2013). The good news about last season was the fact that they doubled their win total from the year before. The bad news is that they only won two games in 2012. Things could get interesting in Jacksonville in 2014 with a whole new cast of characters on offense with the addition of quarterback Blake Bortles and wide receivers' Marqise Lee and Allen Robinson in the first two rounds of this year's NFL Draft.

The following is a link to this week's piece as originally posted on Doc's Sports.

2014 Odds to Win AFC South with Picks and NFL Predictions

Friday, June 13, 2014

2014 Odds to Win AFC West with Picks and NFL Predictions

The start of a new NFL season is still a couple of months away, but this is a perfect time of the year to take a closer look at each of the eight divisions in terms of a team's future odds to win this year's title. The odds for some of the divisions such as the NFC East suggest a wide-open battle between a number of teams, while a few of the other divisions have a prohibitive favorite and three also-rans.

As part of an eight week series produced exclusively for Doc's Sports, I will preview each division as well as provide my predictions for which team ends up on top at the end of the 16-game regular season. This week I am delving into the odds to win for the four teams that make up the AFC West.

2014 Odds to Win AFC West with Picks and NFL Predictions

Friday, June 6, 2014

NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year

The 2014 NFL Draft is in the books so it is time to start the debate over which of newest members of the league will earn top honors as "Rookie of the Year" for their play this upcoming season. This award is broken down between offense and defense so I decided to look at Bovada's futures odds for the top players on the offensive side of the ball given all the hype that some of the quarterbacks in this class received leading up to the actual draft.

Below is a link to an article I recently wrote for Doc's Sports covering the Offensive Rookie of the Year and while none of the Eagles picks have any posted odds, the rival New York Giants added a player that has a good chance at ending up at the top of this list.

NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Props Odds and Betting Picks