Preview: The NFL’s opening weekend is right around the corner and fans looking to make future predictions should tune in for this season opener.
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September is NFL fans favorite month because it gives them a chance to rake in some earnings with online betting, all the while enjoying the sport that they love. As is tradition the NFL season will be kicked off by a rematch of last year’s Super Bowl. The Carolina Panthers will be traveling to Mile High Stadium to take on the defending world champion Denver Broncos. After that intense rematch fans can prepare to enjoy football Sundays until it’s time to prepare for Valentine’s Day. Opening weekend features many promising matchups as teams try to showcase their offseason improvements. Many fans have chosen the Green Bay Packers as their favorite for their bet on NFL futures, and tuning into their week 1 matchup will help determine if that was a propitious prediction, or an inauspicious one.
“Everybody in the locker room, everybody on the coaching staff, everybody in the organization wants to win. We’d like to take this team to the highest level and give this fan base what they deserve.”
That was the statement the Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley issued to their fan base during the preseason. The Jaguars have struggled lately both to stay above .500 and to fill their stadium, and opening the 2016 season against a team as formidable as the Packers won’t help them accomplish either. The Jaguars organization knows they need a turnaround from top-to-bottom and the first thing they need to address is their pass protection. Blake Bortles has been a part of the Jaguars ever since they drafted him in 2014 and in just two seasons the poor chap has been sacked 106 times. It doesn’t matter if you have the best route-runners in the entire league if the guy tossing the pigskin can’t stay upright. If they’re able to keep their Bortles safe until he finds an open guy then the Jaguars might be able to find some success in the season. That might not be enough to beat the Packers however, considering who they have lining up under center.
Aaron Rodgers is coming off one of the worst seasons of his career. While that statement is true it is also true that there are innumerable quarterbacks who wish they could put up the kind of numbers Rodgers did in 2015. #12 was able to throw for 3,821 yards, 31 touchdowns and a quarterback rating of 92.7 – the lowest in his career since he became a starter. Much of Rodgers struggles in 2015 can be attributed to the poor play from his receiver and the season ending injury his favorite target – Jordy nelson, suffered in the preseason. Even with all that Rodgers still managed to only throw 8 interceptions proving exactly why he holds two MVP awards. If there’s one reason the Packers are some fans online betting favorites, it would be Aaron Rodgers.
The Jaguars are coming off a 5-11 season but that doesn’t mean they are incapable of winning this game. If Jacksonville is looking to come out on top then they have to establish the running game in an effort to tire out the Packers defense, as well as making sure Rodgers stays on the sideline. There’s no question the online betting odds will favor the Packers, meaning, that Jaguars fans could make a pretty penny off a Jacksonville upset.