Packers and Texans heading to Super Bowl XLVII

Green Bay and Houston are the National Football League teams on which punters should focus as the road to Super Bowl XLVII begins in the United States of America this week.

The Packers won Super Bowl XLV in 2010 and looked set to go back to back in 2011, compiling a franchise-best regular season record of 15 wins and one loss before going down 20-37 to shock eventual Super Bowl XLVI champions the Giants of New York in their first play-off match at Lambeau Field.

The best sides do not necessarily win knockout competitions but Green Bay, for all of its defensive woes towards the end of last National Football League season, was the best side last term and can bounce back in the coming campaign.

There are three reasons why the Packers are the National Football League team to beat. First, their attack is set to be every bit as good this season as it was last season. Led by quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the Packers put up incredible offensive numbers throughout last term and, at 28, Rodgers ought to be coming into his prime as his team`s on-field director. They should continue to score lots of points.

Second, Green Bay head coach Mike McCarthy and his army of assistants have spent the spring and summer months trying to get their side`s defence up to scratch, spending their early draft picks on key defenders who will be expected to make significant impacts from the beginning of the season.

And third, the Packers have one of the softest schedules in the National Football Conference, coming up against a host of ordinary teams with rookie or sophomore quarterbacks.

Bookmakers have installed Green Bay as the Super Bowl XLVII favourite and rightly so. The Packers are around 13-2 to win the Vince Lombardi Trophy for the fifth time in their history and, at those odds, they are a fair bet.

It is often said that the National Football League is a quarterback league and, for that reason, the Texans are the best Super Bowl XLVII bet apart from the Packers. The 2002 expansion side is available at around the 11-1 mark.

Houston had a 7-3 record two-thirds of the way through the last National Football League season but it experienced what can only be described as quarterback hell. Regular starter Matt Schaub went missing from the rest of the campaign as a result of the foot injury that he sustained when Tampa Bay defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth fell on him. And 2004 Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart did not last long as Schaub`s replacement, breaking his collarbone and forcing the Texans to blood rookie quarterback TJ Yates.

Many American football pundits believe that Houston would have taken out last term`s American Football Conference and contested Super Bowl XLVI had Schaub and Leinart not picked up season-ending injuries. The Texans did manage to win the AFC South behind Yates and beat the Bengals 31-10 in the Wild Card Play-offs before the Ravens ended their run.

Drawn in a weak division - the AFC South looks there for the taking by Houston, with its three divisional rivals rated Super Bowl XLVII no-hopers - the Texans can build into the season and position themselves for a serious title push.

Schaub has recovered well from surgery and, at double-figure odds, Houston is the best alternative to obvious Green Bay.

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05/09/2012     © Frixo 2024