The 2012 NFL season has been in the books for about four days, so it seems like an appropriate time to check and see who the favorites are for the 2013 NFL season.
Actually, it probably isn't. . .but that's not going to stop us from doing it anyway.
According to the folks at the Bovada sports book, your Minnesota Vikings are currently a 40-to-1 shot to win Super Bowl XLVIII in New Jersey next February. That doesn't sound too bad. . .until you look at the list and see that those odds put the Vikings on a par with the Detroit Lions (4-12 in 2012), the Philadelphia Eagles (4-12 in 2012 and fired their head coach) and the New York Jets (who are in the process of being sued by Barnum and Bailey for stealing their schtick).
Then again, as a point of reference, when my wife and I went to Las Vegas for our anniversary last March, I was able to place a bet on the Vikings winning the Super Bowl, and got odds 80-to-1 odds. So, maybe that means Vegas likes them twice as much as they did last year. (I'm just trying to find the positives here, honestly.)
To round out the NFC North, the Green Bay Packers are listed at 10-to-1, while the Chicago Bears stand at 20-to-1. For teams that finished one game ahead of and tied with the Vikings (respectively), I'm not sure that their odds are really that much better.
The co-favorites going into next season are the Denver Broncos and the San Francisco 49ers, both listed at 7-to-1. Right behind them sit the New England Patriots at 15-to-2. The longest odds on the board belong to the Jacksonville Jaguars, currently a 150-to-1 shot to hoist the trophy in New Jersey.
What do you think of those odds, folks? Too optimistic? Too pessimistic? Just about right?