The New York Giants and the New York Jets are currently duking it out in both teams' third preseason game, with Rex Ryan's bunch holding a 7-3 lead over Tom Coughlin's squad in a sloppy affair. While the two finish their business for the night, let's take a look at several future bets for both teams in 2011, specifically the odds each will make the playoffs, how their repsective divisions will fare collectively, and whether either of them or one of their divisional foes will hoist the Lombardi Trophy in Indianapolis next February.
NFL 2011/12 - Will the New York Giants Make the Playoffs?
Yes Even
No -130
NFL 2011/12 - Will the New York Jets Make the Playoffs?
Yes -170
No +140
The injuries to Terrell Thomas and Prince Amukamara obviously will spook some bettors from taking a position on the Giants until they see how the secondary fares in the early stages of the season. Understandable, but the Jets may not be all that much more likely to earn their third consecutive postseason berth despite the unfortunate injuries suffered by the Giants defensive backfield. Why? Well, most everybody considers New England to be a lock to win the AFC East. Whether or not that turns out to be the case remains to be seen, but assuming the Jets are forced to contend for a Wild Card, they'll likely be in a battle with either the Baltimore Ravens or Pittsburgh Steelers for one of the two final slots. Both should obviously be quite formidable in 2011. There's also the Kansas City Chiefs or the San Diego Chargers that should be in contention from the AFC West, and the Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts from the AFC South. All told, I think the AFC is deeper than the NFC when you get past the top three or four teams from each conference. The likely Wild Card contenders in the NFC should be the New Orleans Saints or Atlanta Falcons, the Chicago Bears, Dallas Cowboys, and, well, that's about it. Hard to see any team from the NFC West being in the hunt for a WC, and most expect the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to struggle to match their win total from a year ago, even if they are undoubtedly heading in the right direction as a franchise.
Even though the Giants face longer odds to make the playoffs, they're still expected to be competitive and help the NFC East finish with the best cumulative win percentage of any of the eight divisions in the NFL.
NFL 2011/12 - Which Division Will Have the Highest Win Percentage
NFC East 3/1
NFC North 7/2
AFC East 4/1
NFC South 5/1
AFC North 11/2
AFC South 6/1
AFC West 15/2
NFC West 20/1
NFL 2011/12 - Which Division Will the Super Bowl Winner Come From?
AFC East 7/2
NFC East 4/1
NFC North 4/1
NFC South 11/2
AFC North 6/1
AFC South 8/1
AFC West 15/2
NFC West 18/1