Odds to Win NFC North Division: Green Bay Packers Early Favorites
NFC North Division Odds
The 2013 NFL season is right around the corner with plenty of speculation already brewing about which teams will be a force to be reckoned with in the NFC and AFC.
Here we’ll be breaking down the NFC North Division and the odds of the four teams to win the division title in 2013:
After finally ending the playoff drought in 2011, the Lions laid an egg in 2012 winning only four games and missing the NFL playoffs entirely. Although Calvin Johnson had a historic season breaking Jerry Rice’s NFL record for receiving yards in a single season, the team was unable to rally around their best player in order to make another playoff run.
Despite the disappointing effort last season, the Lions will likely bounce back in 2013 with a better effort with the addition of Reggie Bush potentially a promising sign of things to come for the struggling franchise.
NFL MVP Adrian Peterson defied Las Vegas odds in 2012 by bouncing back from a torn ACL to torch the competition on a weekly basis in order to lead the Vikings into the playoffs. Peterson came only nine rushing yards shy of Eric Dickerson’s single-season record for yards on the ground.
Although Peterson reclaimed the distinction as the league’s best running back, Minnesota will be without Percy Harvin after trading him to the Seattle Seahawks and that may prove to be a devastating blow.
After starting the season with seven wins in eight games, the Bears began to fall apart and ultimately missed the playoff altogether falling to the arch division rival Green Bay Packers with the division title on the line.
Chicago is without a doubt a team starting to figure things out with Jay Cutler under center, Matt Forte coming out of the backfield and Brandon Marshall downfield, but might not be able to get it done in 2013 without the retired Brian Urlacher and former head coach Lovie Smith.
The Packers were able to win the NFC North division title once again in 2012 and will likely do the same in 2013. Green Bay will be bringing back relatively the same team next season with the exception of Greg Jennings and Donald Driver. Although Green Bay will miss both veterans, this team is poised to win and win now.
The division title will be there’s for the taking in 2013 unless the three other teams within the division have a breakout season which is conceivably possible.