2016 NFL: Division Winner Betting Predictions
The final NFL preseason game has been played and for now, it’s all about Week 1!
Carolina will clash with Denver Thursday September 8th (Friday morning AEDT) in a Super Bowl rematch to kick off what promises to be a great season.
Before we shift our focus to our weekly NFL betting tips we’ve come up with our best division winner bets now that all the dust has settled on the preseason. You can also check out our 2016-17 Super Bowl predictions here
We don’t want to play in all of the divisions but there is enough value on the board to recommend a few season-long plays.
Here are the NFL futures bets we like in terms of division winners.
AFC North
Hard not to love this bet when we have pencilled them in as value to win the Super Bowl (link Super Bowl bets article). Pittsburgh have enough holes on the defensive side and mounting injury concerns to consider them a risk at there current price ($2.20). Cleveland just don’t have enough talent and Baltimore are in a transition phase. They conceded the second least amount of points in the entire NFL last year while scoring the seventh most! Before that Andy Dalton injury they were legitimate Super Bowl contenders last year and they can go close again this time around.
Tip: Cincinnati to win the AFC North – $2.85 at William Hill
AFC South
A little bit speculative here but they are well overpriced and need to be bet. The Colts deserve to be favourites but the running game is non-existant and Andrew Luck has his own demons to overcome. That’s without even mentioned the defense. Houston is a top tier defensive team but we are yet to see them click under new quarterback Brock Osweiler. The Jaguars have a ton of young talent but are yet to prove anything, how are they $4 and our boys $11? We’ll never know. The running game for the Titans looks to be LETHAL this year with DeMarco Murray much better suited in this scheme, he’s got two solid backups in McClusker and Henry to help him out and they’ll be a very tough stop for opposing front lines. We also think Mariota will improve on his rookie season where he had a completion percentage of 62.2%, he too will benefit from a strong ground game to lean on. We think they are a $5 shot and well worth a punt!
Tip: Tennessee Titans to win the AFC South – $11 at Bet 365
AFC West
The Chargers were straight up awful in close games last year! Three wins and eight losses in games decided by seven points or less. They have also been ravaged by injuries of late. They are straight up over the odds to win this division, there is some underrated talent on the roster and it’s impossible not to project the Broncos to regress based on how ‘lucky’ they were in close games last year. Not to mention the most hyped team of the preseason the Oakland Raiders. Chargers quarterback Phil Rivers quietly had one of his finest seasons last year and with even luck they could have finished 8-8 (.500). A healthy Keenan Allen and Melvin Gordon are key but the young talent on defense can help tip them over the edge. We’ve rated them a $5 chance to win the division and as roughies they too are worth a spec.
Tip: San Diego Chargers to win the AFC West – $8 at William Hill
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