1. New England 5/1-Despite losing their last two home playoff games in B2B years, the Patriots are the early favorite to capture their first title since 2004. In recent years they have retooled their defense and LY added a couple of outstanding rookie TE's. Again NE has the ability to improve greatly with six picks in the first 100 (3 in the top 33) in this year's draft more than any other team. Look for Brady and Belichick to be motivated to make a deep playoff run for the first time in several seasons.

2. Green Bay 6/1-The defending champs are one of the favorites to repeat and why not with Rodgers back behind center and keep in mind the Packers suffered several injuries to key players last season and still won it all and went the entire season without trailing by more than a TD in any game. With a little better luck on the injury front don't be surprised to see them back in the Super Bowl for a 6th time in franchise history.

3. Pittsburgh 8/1-The Steelers came close to getting their 7th title this past year and that was with Roethlisberger missing the first four games. You have to worry about their aging defense but with Tomlin, LeBeau and many of the same players that have played in 3 SB's the last 6 years coming back you have to consider them one of the favorites.

4. Baltimore 12/1-The Ravens have had great regular seasons and good runs in the playoffs but have not been able to get back to the Super Bowl since they won it back in the 2000 season. Their main nemesis naturally has been the Steelers and you have to wonder how many years Lewis, Reed and Co have left however with a young offense expect to see them back in the playoffs again.

4. NY Jets 12/1-The Jets have made B2B appearances in the AFC Championship game winning two road playoff games each year in getting there. While they will certainly have many new faces since they released several veterans, HC Ryan has clearly done a good job with this team and this year the key might be getting a bye or a home playoff game or two so they don't run out of gas in the conf title game if they get there.

4. San Diego 12/1-The Chargers may have been one of the most underachieving teams of all-time last year as they finished the regular season with the #1 total offense and defense in the NFL and still did not even make the playoffs. Clearly they wish WR Jackson could have played sooner and there is no doubting their very talented roster but can they get over their playoff hump and reach just their 2nd SB in team history?