The new NFL season is so close you can almost touch it. The preseason games have begun and the countdown to the first weekend of fixtures is ticking down. The new season begins on 5 September and it promises to be an exciting season on and off the field.
After the ground-breaking ruling by the US Supreme Court last year, betting on the NFL is possible for New Jersey residents. Wagering on the New York Giants or Jets might not win you a fortune though. But who are the teams you should be backing to make it to Super Bowl LIV on 20 February 2020? Betting in New Jersey is going to be huge this season, let’s take a look at some of the popular teams.
New England Patriots
With three wins in the last five years, the New England Patriots are always a team to fear in the NFL. There seems little reason for that changing this season. Their legendary quarterback Tom Brady has just signed a new contract with the Patriots. He may be aged 42 now and about to begin his 20th season with the Patriots, but Brady is full of enthusiasm.
It’s not been all good news for the Patriots with Rob Gronkowski retiring after their latest Super Bowl victory. Last week saw tight end Matt LaCosse injured in their preseason game against Detroit Lions which they won 31-3. They will also have Benjamin Watson missing for the first four games of the new season. He’ll be serving a ban for substance abuse.
Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs are again strongly fancied to be the Super Bowl winners. Perhaps fate will play a part as their last victory in the Super Bowl was in 1970. They got off to a great start last season and went on to win AFC West. That made them the number one AFC seeds, but they lost to the New England Patriots in the AFC Final. They did manage to average over 35 points a game though (only the third team to do so) and a repeat of that this year will again make them a major force.
New players this season include Emmanuel Ogbah who has arrived from Cleveland. He’s been joined by former New York Jets player Darron Lee. Preseason got off to a good start with a 38-17 win over Cincinnati Bengals. All eyes will be on quarterback Patrick Mahomes after his impressive debut season last year.
Other teams to be challenging this season include New Orleans Saints and the Los Angeles duo of the Rams and Chargers. But who needs to up their game in the 2019 season? The answer seems to be close to hand with both the New York Giants and New York Jets hoping for better seasons.
New York Giants
The Giants finished bottom of the NFC East last year with a 5-11 record. Well it was an improvement on the disastrous 3-13 end result in 2017. A good start to the new season would be a refreshing change. The past two seasons have seen them go 1-7 for their first eight games.
New York Jets
It was doom and gloom in AFC East too. The Jets finished bottom with a 4-12 season record. They even lost to the Cleveland Browns which at the time took some doing. Eight straight seasons missing the play-offs means the Jets must be big improvers this season.
