Last year in the NFL was an intriguing one in may respects. The first 17-game regular season saw the Green Bay Packers and Tennessee Titans secure the top seed positions in the NFC and AFC respectively.
However, neither could take advantage of home field advantage throughout the playoffs as both succumbed to Conference rivals who would then go on to meet in the Super Bowl.
The Packers were beaten by the Los Angeles Rams, while the Titans were defeated by the Cincinnati Bengals and it would be those two teams who contested the Super Bowl, with Los Angeles becoming the second team in as many years to claim the Super Bowl title on their home turf.
Since then, we have had a very active free agency period, which has seen a number of star names move to pastures new, plus the NFL Draft, which saw a number of teams make some major steps forward by strengthening their roster in key areas.
We’ve also seen some blockbuster trades too, with wide receivers in particular picking up some great money in the off-season, while we have also seen top ranking quarterbacks such as Matt Ryan, Deshaun Watson and Russell Wilson move on to new teams.
Unsurprisingly, with pre-season games now underway in the NFL, fans are eager for the real action to start in September, and bet365 Sport is already offering a wide range of bets on the NFL for fans to enjoy.
In this article, we are going to take a look at each of the eight divisions in the NFL and give you our tips for which team will win each division.
You can bet on these singly if you like, or better still, put them into an accumulator bet to try and land a long odds win!
The odds shown for each team below are for them to win their respective division and they were correct with bet365 at the time of writing but may have changed in the meantime.
AFC Conference
AFC East
- Buffalo Bills – 1/2
- New England Patriots – 17/4
- Miami Dolphins – 4/1
- New York Jets – 18/1
The Bills are the favourites to win the division AND the Super Bowl this year with most bookmakers and it is not hard to see why. They have retained the nucleus of a very strong team from last season, added to it with some quality free agent signings and are by far and away the strongest outfit in the AFC East.
The Patriots have pretty much stood still this off season while the Dolphins and Jets have both made very positive strides forward and I see this division being comfortably the Bills, but the other three teams being relatively close together.
Prediction
- Buffalo Bills – 13-4
- Miami Dolphins – 8-9
- New England Patriots – 7-10
- New York Jets – 5-12
AFC North
- Baltimore Ravens – 2/1
- Cleveland Browns – 2/1
- Cincinnati Bengals – 2/1
- Pittsburgh Steelers – 9/1
One of the toughest and grittiest divisions in the NFL, the AFC North looks very open this year with the Ravens, Browns and Bengals all rated as the same odds to win the division, leaving the Steelers as the rank outsiders.
A lack of presence at QB may hurt the Steelers in this division, with three stellar signal-callers at the other teams. I think the other three teams will go close but I am backing the Bengals to do just enough to claim the divisional title.
Prediction
- Cincinnati Bengals – 11-6
- Cleveland Browns – 10-7
- Baltimore Ravens – 8-9
- Pittsburgh Steelers – 5-12
AFC West
- Denver Broncos – 5/2
- Kansas City Chiefs – 8/5
- Las Vegas Raiders – 6/1
- Los Angeles Chargers – 12/5
What a division this is, blessed with Superstar quarterbacks at every team, superb strength in depth and four teams that will legitimately feel that they not only have a chance at the playoffs, but all being well, a shot at Super Bowl glory too.
For many years, this has been the Chiefs division and they will certainly feature here, but can the Broncos challenge now that they have a stellar QB in Russell Wilson and how will the Raiders and Chargers fare, given they made major upgrades in the off-season. This promises to be a very tough division indeed.
Prediction
- Kansas City Chiefs – 11-6
- Los Angeles Chargers – 10-7
- Denver Broncos – 7-10
- Las Vegas Raiders – 5-12
AFC South
- Houston Texans – 28/1
- Jacksonville Jaguars – 7/1
- Indianapolis Colts – 10/11
- Tennessee Titans – 7/5
Perhaps the weakest of the AFC divisions, the Colts have made major upgrades at QB this season in signing Matt Ryan, while the Titans have lost their star WR duo of Julio Jones (released) and AJ Brown (traded to the Eagles).
The Texans and Jaguars are still very much in a building phase with the Jaguars probably a little further along that process than Houston and as such, I think they’ll pip the Texans to third in this division this year, but they’ll be well off the pace of the top two.
Prediction
- Tennessee Titans – 11-6
- Indianapolis Colts – 10-7
- Jacksonville Jaguars – 5-12
- Houston Texans – 2-15
NFC Conference
NFC East
- Dallas Cowboys – 23/20
- New York Giants – 8/1
- Philadelphia Eagles – 9/5
- Washington Commanders – 5/1
Given they were supposed to be so strong last season, I was very disappointed with the Cowboys and their meek effors in the playoffs. I can’t see them making huge strides this year either and I actually feel the Eagles could step up and land this division.
Don’t rule out the Commanders or Giants this year either. I think both teams still need plenty of work, but there is now real talent on both those rosters and I think they have closed the gap on the other two teams in this division. This could be a close one.
Prediction
- Philadelphia Eagles – 10-7
- Dallas Cowboys – 9-8
- Washington Commanders – 7-10
- New York Giants – 6-11
NFC North
- Chicago Bears – 17/2
- Detroit Lions – 10/1
- Green Bay Packers – 5/9
- Minnesota Vikings – 11/4
One of the easier divisions to predict. Green Bay may have lost Davante Adams to the Raiders but they still have Aaron Rodgers and he has proven before he can work with virtually any received to put the Packers in winning positions.
I do feel the Lions should be better than that 10/1 price suggests and I feel the Bears and Vikings will likely be embroiled in a battle to finish second behind the Packers, but I’d be surprised if more than one team qualifies for the playoffs from this division.
Prediction
- Green Bay Packers – 12-5
- Chicago Bears – 7-10
- Minnesota Vikings – 7-10
- Detroit Lions – 6-11
NFC West
- Arizona Cardinals – 16/5
- Los Angeles Rams – 27/20
- San Francisco 49ers – 7/4
- Seattle Seahawks – 12/1
It’s hard to see past the Rams and 49ers in this division to be honest. The Cardinals started last season superbly well but really tailed off towards the end of the season and I am not sure those issues have been addressed in the post season effectively enough.
The Rams remain very strong and the 49ers are going to turn Trey Lance loose this year ahead of Jimmy Garoppolo, for me, they are the two clear favourites to dominate this division while I only see a season of struggle ahead for the Seahawks as they start to rebuild.
Prediction
- Los Angeles Rams – 13-4
- San Francisco 49ers – 11-6
- Arizona Cardinals – 7-10
- Seattle Seahawks – 4-13
NFC South
- Atlanta Falcons – 20/1
- Carolina Panthers – 12/1
- New Orleans Saints – 4/1
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 2/7
This has been Tampa’s division for the past few years and with Tom Brady returning, that should be the case once again, even if he is without his partner in crime, Rob Gronkowski who retired for the second time in the post-season.
The Saints are the biggest threat to the Bucs, but they are a rebuilding at the moment and there is no way I can see either the Falcons, who are so short of quality receivers, or the Panthers, for me the worst team in the NFL last season, are anywhere near being at Tampa’s level.
Prediction
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 13-4
- New Orleans Saints – 8-9
- Atlanta Falcons – 5-12
- Carolina Panthers – 3-14
Tags: bet365 Sport NFL
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