Giant challenge
Packers early favourites for next year's Super Bowl
By Jonathan Witty - Twitter: @skybet_Jonathan. Last Updated: February 8, 2012 6:35pm
Giants: Aiming to retain their crown
Newly-crowned world champions New York Giants are 16/1 in Sky Bet's Super Bowl betting to lift the Vince Lombardi trophy again next year.
Eli Manning led his side to their fourth Super Bowl title, and second in four years, with a hard-fought 21-17 victory over the New England Patriots (8/1) at the Lucas Oil Stadium.
Despite losing to the Giants in the regular season, the Green Bay Packers are 6/1 favourites to win Super Bowl XLVII and Sky Bet's NFL trader Ben Wright reckons the Aaron Rodgers-led Pack can win their third Super Bowl crown.
He said: "The Green Bay Packers were the best team in the 2011 regular season, but were eliminated by the red-hot Giants in the playoffs.
"But the Giants have very few key free agents and should be a strong team again. Their main disadvantage is the strength of their division, as they must edge out their main rivals, Dallas, Philadelphia and Washington for a post-season berth.
"New England face an uncertain future with several key players due to become free agents. They are 8/1 to win it all next season."
He added: "Two teams I want to keep on side are the Carolina Panthers and Cincinnati Bengals. Both teams got stellar seasons from rookie quarterbacks and can look to build on this next year. They are 33/1 and 20/1 respectively."
