FOOTBALL NFL ARTICLES

Those odds are again so favorable because of the presence of Aaron Rodgers. The Packers’ star quarterback remains one of the best players in the NFL and will always have his team in contention. The Vikings have some talent but don’t have stellar quarterback play, while the Lions would really need to surprise to be in the race.The Packers have the best odds to win the NFC heading into the season, so it would be a disappointment if they don’t claim the division for the sixth time in the past seven years.... 

Atlanta seems to be getting penalized by past history. It as almost every key player returning and there is every reason to believe the Falcons will have a dynamic group once again. However, it has been rare for the NFC champion to repeat of late, and Atlanta had such a quick rise that it’s fair to ask if it was a one-hit wonder. Atlanta needs to replace offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan but if that goes smoothly the Falcons should again put up a ton of points.Atlanta may be improved defensively, and if the Falcons can manage a tough schedule and get a high seed for the playoffs, they could be tough to knock off by the other top teams in the conference.... 

Chicago is in clear rebuilding mode and is among the teams with the longest odds to win this year’s title. If the Bears can manage an unforeseen turnaround, it will clearly be on the shoulders of a quarterback. Mike Glennon will get the start to begin the year after he was added in free agency, but don’t sleep on Mitchell Trubisky. The No. 2 overall pick in the draft has high upside and could be the only possible way the Bears completely outperform expectations in 2017.... 

Two of the longest tenured coaches in the NFL will square off on Saturday night in the Queen City when the Cincinnati Bengals play host to the Kansas City Chiefs. Both teams are feeling good about their quarterback situations after their first preseason games and will look for the good vibes to continue here. It will be the Bengals last home game of the preseason after they hosted their preseason opener against Tampa Bay.This matchup in Week 2 of the preseason will take place on Saturday, August 19, 2017,at 7 p.m. ET at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio.... 

Welcome back Marcus Mariota. Mariota saw the field for the first time since breaking his leg near the end of last season and made some headlines before the game started. He was late to the field after stopping to take pictures with fans and received widespread praise for the move. The Titans ended up getting the loss, but it was nice to see Mariota in action again. He and the Titans will host their first preseason game on Saturday afternoon when they welcome the Carolina Panthers to the Music City.This matchup in Week 2 of the preseason will take place on Saturday, August 19, 2017, at 3 p.m. ET at LP Field in Nashville, Tennessee. This game will be broadcast on NFL Network.... 

The Washington Redskins will probably have a new quarterback next season. Although Kirk Cousins has been the best quarterback this team has had in over two decades, he and the Redskins have been unable to come to a long-term deal. Washington has used the franchise tag on him in each of the past two seasons and that means that Cousins is set to be a fully unrestricted free agent in 2018. That makes a successful 2017 campaign all the more important if the two sides want to join forces into the next decade.... 

The Houston Texans can’t do it in the regular season and they’ve failed in the playoffs. So now they’ll try and beat the New England Patriots during Week 2 of the NFL preseason when the teams meet for the first time ever in games that don’t count. The Pats easily handled the Texans in both meetings last season, including a romp in Foxboro in the divisional round of the playoffs, and essentially ended the brief career of Brock Osweiler in Houston. These two hook up in five weeks when they game does count and both will look a lot different then.The Week 2 preseason contest between the New England Patriots and Houston Texans will take place Saturday, August 19, 2017, at 8 p.m. ET at NRG Stadium.... 

It was nine years ago that the Detroit Lions set an NFL record for futility. They failed to win a regular season game in 2008, becoming the only team to go winless in a 16-game season. In a cruel twist of fate, they had a perfect 4-0 preseason that year, but that doesn’t get mentioned. Many are predicting the 2017 Jets to challenge Detroit’s record as they are undergoing a complete team rebuild. The two will get together in Week 2 of the NFL preseason.This matchup in Week 2 of the preseason will go down Saturday, August 19, 2017, at 7:30 p.m. ET at Ford Field.... 

Following a 6-10 season in 2015 that resulted in the ouster of Tom Coughlin, the New York Giants spent a boat load of money to improve the league’s worst defensive team. The money was well spent as Big Blue won 11 games last year and returned to the playoffs for the first time since winning the Super Bowl after the 2011 season. Now that the D appears to be in order, the Giants need more production from an offense that couldn’t run the ball and left Eli Manning scrambling for much of the year. If upgrades on that side of the football work out, the Giants could be a force in the NFC title picture.... 

Uncertainty is what has driven the NFC East over the past several years and the division was hit with another dose when favorite Dallas saw its prized running back slapped with a six-game suspension. If the other teams needed a boost, they got it. And the Philadelphia Eagles are poised to make a move. Philly did some soul searching this offseason and upgraded its receiving corps for Carson Wentz, then addressed its need in the back of the defense by acquiring Ronald Darby in a deal with the Bills. The Eagles got much closer to being division champs than most realize.... 

The New York Giants returned to the playoffs for the first time since 2011 in Ben McAdoo’s first season as head coach in the Big Apple. They went on to get smashed by the Green Bay Packers in the wild card round, but laid the groundwork for success down the road. The GMEN have gotten some love in the Super Bowl LII futures market, yet only head into 2017-18 with a win total of 8.5. They won 11 games yet only ranked No. 26 in points scored a short season ago. This team just might by flying under the radar. Remember, they swept the series with the Cowboys last year and look to be a better team on paper this time around.... 

The Detroit Lions outperformed expectations in 2016, winning nine games when many expected them to take a step back after the loss of star wide receiver Calvin Johnson. If they can take another unlikely step forward, they could be in the mix for the conference championship in 2017, but those odds will be gone.... 

The Washington Redskins have been boom or bust when it comes to divisional finishes the past several years, with two NFC East title but six last-place finishes since 2008. The only time they haven’t finished first or last was last year when they went 8-7-1 and finished in third place.... 

The Los Angeles Rams have added a star receiver to the fold, and Sammy Watkins is expected to see his first action with his new team in Week 2 of the preseason against the Oakland Raiders. The Rams may want to get Watkins and starting quarterback Jared Goff on the same page, which could keep them on the field together for a handful of snaps.... 

The Atlanta Falcons made it to the Super Bowl last season and the Pittsburgh Steelers should be in the hunt with them this year. However, as these two talented squads face off this weekend, it won’t look anything like a clash would in the regular season.... 

The Seattle Seahawks have been to the playoffs five straight seasons and been to the Super Bowl twice during that span. Pete Carroll has turned this franchise into one of the more dominating in the NFC, and their odds to win it all ( +935 ) are on par with every perceived major player save for the defending champion New England Patriots. There’s no reason to think this club doesn’t have what it takes to make another title run in 2017-18.... 

The Dallas Cowboys received some surprising news this week when the NFL announced that running back Ezekiel Elliott would be suspended for the first six games of the season for domestic violence. The young star’s presumed absence will have an effect on the spreads for those games, but he is still allowed to play in the preseason.... 

The Green Bay Packers are one of the top contenders for the Super Bowl this season because of quarterback Aaron Rodgers. He is so valuable to the team that Rodgers may see little to no action in the team’s second preseason game of the year against the Washington Redskins.... 

The Detroit Lions are still looking for their first postseason win in more than a quarter-century. Detroit has made the postseason in three of the last four seasons, but has been unable to get out of the Wild Card Round. A lot of that is due to Green Bay’s dominance of the division as the Lions haven’t won a division title since 1993.... 

After winning just four games in the 2015-16 season, the Dallas Cowboys rode a pair of rookies in Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliot on a worst-to-first trek back into the playoffs last year. But with Elliott suspended for the team’s first six games, their odds to win Super Bowl LII, the NFC and NFC East have all taken a hit. What hasn’t really changed is the team’s win total which opened at 9.5 -110 and remains there with +112 juice attached to the over. With Zeke likely out for almost half the regular season, can Jason Garrett coach this team to double-digit wins?... 

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a season O/U win total of 8 with the over shaded at -116 juice. While the defending NFC champion Atlanta Falcons are currently installed as favorites to win the NFC South, a steady stream of Bucs money has kept Dirk Koetter’s squad in the running ( +275 ) with Tampa Bay opening as +282 underdogs to win the division. This is a team that closed 2016-17 out winning six of eight games both straight up and against the spread, and played some tough nosed defense along the way. The hype attached to this club entering 2017-18 looks to be warranted, but much has to go right for it to live up to those expectations.... 

While the Dallas Cowboys, Seattle Seahawks, Green Bay Packers and Atlanta Falcons are seen as the cream of the crop in the NFC, the Giants aren’t far behind on that next tier. Their defense improved by leaps and bounds in 2016 and the key pieces are back. The Giants were held back by their offense and so they picked up up wide receiver Brandon Marshall. New York isn’t even the favorite in its division but it’s not out of the realm of possibility for the Giants to make a Super Bowl run if everything falls right.... 

The Philadelphia Eagles feel like they are a team on the rise. If that is indeed true and they surpass last year’s 7-9 record, bettors who took the “over” on their projected win total for 2017 will be feeling good. Quarterback Carson Wentz showed some impressive flashes as a rookie and will aim to take another step forward.The defense should be good again, so if the offense can score a couple more points per game this season, the returns should be positive. Philadelphia could be in contention for a playoff spot in the NFC if all goes well in 2017. However, there is also the possibility that Wentz doesn’t progress as hoped, which could lead to another losing year.... 

The Bucs have a similar core returning from last season and a quarterback in Jameis Winston who has proven himself in the NFL. Tampa Bay could be taking a more laissez faire approach to these exhibition games, interested in getting some work in for its starters but not too concerned about that result. That separation in motivation could play a critical role in the outcome of this matchup.Watch this preseason Week 2 matchup live on Friday, August 17, 2017, at 8 p.m. ET at EverBank Field.... 

With a reworked offensive unit, the Minnesota Vikings have plenty to figure out on that side of the football this preseason. The Vikes will take their new-look offense to the Pacific Northwest for a battle with the Seattle Seahawks in Week 2 of the 2017 preseason slate. Vikings’ coach Mike Zimmer likes to win games and it doesn’t matter if it’s an exhibition contest. Minnesota improved to 13-1 during the preseason under Zimmer with last week’s win over Buffalo.The Week 2 preseason battle between the Minnesota Vikings and Seattle Seahawks will take place Friday, August 18, 2017, at 7 p.m. ET at CenturyLink Field. Watch the game live on the NFL Network....