The first round of pre season games took place this weekend, and there have been a couple of big name "transfers" as well as injuries that will affect certain teams chances/odds.
Firstly, Brett Favre has come out of retirement and was traded by Green Bay to the NY Jets, which saw their long time #1 QB, Chad Pennington, move to divisional rivals and last years whipping boys the Miami Dolphins. Neither trade will impact heavily on the Superbowl picture, though a better season for Miami is expected and i think Pennington will be a good fit for them, while there may be a knee jerk reaction to the Jets chances because of the Favre effect, but they are still a long way short of the NE Patriots, who are also in their division, as well as many other AFC teams. But the 100/1 on the Jets may well go soon.
The Denver Broncos have lost their rookie RB sensation to injury. Denver have a habit of producing starlet RB's who come from seemingly nowhere and then run defenses ragged - they had got one primed to be unleashed on the NFL this season, but Ryan Torain's elbow break means he will miss most of the season and this will seriously damage Denvers chances in the AFC West. This is good news for the San Diego Chargers, who should win the division comfortably now, with their main rivals being weakened - it should be noted also that the Chargers beat up the Dallas Cowboys this weekend and their own banged up QB, Phillip Rivers, made a successful return and looked very sharp.
Of the rest, Peyton Manning-less Indianapolis slipped to another defeat against Carolina, and the rumours are that Manning wont be ready for the start of the season. The effect this will have on the Colts cannot be understated and I would leave them alone hugely for now.
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