There was plenty of love being thrown Aaron Rodgers’ way at the start of the NFL season. Sportsbook.ag listed the Green Bay Packers quarterback as the favorite at 9-2 to win the NFL MVP award. Bovada liked the sound of Rodgers and MVP in the same sentence even more, opening with him atop the heap with 4-1 odds.
Things have since changed for Rodgers and his MVP chances.
He’s no longer the odds-on pick to be the NFL’s MVP, a recognition Rodgers received in 2011 and 2014. He’s currently the third choice in most sportsbooks – Bet365 and Paddy Power list Rodgers at 7-1, while Ladbrokes has Rodgers at 8-1.
Meanwhile, Bovada puts Rodgers as their sixth choice to lead the NFL in passing with 9-1 odds.
From those numbers, you’d think it’s been a rough go for the Pack so far. In actuality, Green Bay is 3-1 – the same record that 29 of the last 34 Super Bowl winners had posted four games into their respective seasons.
The Packers trail the 5-0 Minnesota Vikings by 1.5 games in the NFC North but the fact of the matter is, Green Bay still haven’t yet brought their A game to the field thus far. That bodes well for the Pack, don’t you think?
You’d have to think, with all of his top assets back at his disposal this season – receivers Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb, along with running back Eddie Lacy – that Rodgers will come around.
He is a five-time Pro Bowl selection after all and has led the Packers, while winning 65 percent of his starts, into the playoffs in each of the past seven seasons.
Sportsbooks believe, like many pundits and fans, that the current Packers’ form is just a blip on the radar and that it’s just a matter of time until they’re firing on all cylinders once again. We tend to agree.
Bovada puts the over/under on Packers wins this season at 10.5, and while it seems a safe bet, you have to consider that the Packers have the third most difficult schedule in the NFL. Their remaining opponents have a combined overall winning percentage of 54.9.
BetOnline have the Packers at +400 to lead the NFL in wins, which would would mean home field advantage all the way to the NFC Championship game. We all know how big an advantage that is, especially knowing what kind of weather Green Bay often produces in January.
The Packers are bound to start firing on all cylinders. They’re just too good of a team not to and we still like Green Bay to make the Super Bowl final, so jump on them, at +400, to win the NFC Championship and reap the financial – and emotional – rewards.