Joe Osborneof OddsShark.com released the site's futures odds for the 2017 season, and not surprisingly, the New England Patriots are the early favorites to win the Super Bowl and repeat as champions.Osborne justified the Patriots' selection by noting that the team added wide receiver Brandin Cooks andcornerback Stephon Gilmore and will also get Rob Gronkowski back this season. He concluded, "many things would have to go wrong for them to not get at least 12 wins."It's hard to argue. Bill Belichick remains the NFL's best coach, Tom Brady is still one of the league's top quarterbacks and the team has an array of weapons on both sides of the ball. And after the Patriots erased a 28-3 Atlanta Falcons lead in the second half of this year's Super Bowl, well, there isn't even a deficit the team seems incapable of overcoming.So yes, the Patriots are the safe bet. They'll likely be the safe bet so long as Belichick and Brady are paired together in New England. But they won't go unchallenged.The Dallas Cowboys are tied for the second-best title odds, and for good reason. Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott are coming off amazing rookie seasons and should improve in 2017. They'll be supported by arguably the league's best offensive line, wide receiver Dez Bryant and tight end Jason Witten.Their defense will be the major question mark, again, but the league's most balanced offense should be able to lead the team back to the playoffs.So long as Aaron Rodgers is under center, the same could be said for the Green Bay Packers. The Seattle Seahawks, meanwhile, will once again feature an excellent defense and quarterback Russell Wilson, who has dangerous weapons in Jimmy Graham and Doug Baldwin in the passing game.The Falcons will be out for revenge after blowing their huge lead in the Super Bowl, and so long as they have Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman on offense, they'll be a threat. Ditto for the Oakland Raiders, who are stacked on offense (Derek Carr, Amari Cooper, Michael Crabtree, Marshawn Lynch) and are led on defense by burgeoning superstar Khalil Mack.As for some of the better values on the board, the Houston Texans will have a fearsome defense that gets J.J. Watt back from injury and an offense that should be better with rookie Deshaun Watson under center. The New York Giants added Brandon Marshall and rookie Evan Engram to an already dangerous passing game and should once again have a solid defense.And the Carolina Panthers might be the best value in the NFL. Cam Newton now has two dynamic weapons after the draft in Christian McCaffrey and Curtis Samuel, while they added veterans inMike Adams, Captain Munnerlyn and Julius Peppers to the defense in free agency.It's easy to remember that the Panthers were in the Super Bowl two seasons ago and Newton was the MVP after last season's 6-10 debacle. But if any team is primed to bounce back in a major way, it's the team with Newton calling the shots on one side of the ball and Luke Kuechly on the other.
Click here to read full news..
