Packers News: Green Bay A Heavy NFC North Favorite After First 2021 Win

The Green Bay Packers’ stunning Week 1 loss might’ve been just a blip on the radar for the reigning NFC North champs. Aaron Rodgers & Co. defeated the Detroit Lions with ease for their first victory of the 2021 season, making them overwhelming favorites to finish atop the division for a third straight year.

Green Bay beat Detroit 35-17 Monday night to close out the Week 2 schedule. Improving to 1-1 with a very early share of first place, the Packers have -210 odds to win the NFC North at FanDuel Sportsbook.

The Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings aren’t given much of a chance to challenge the Packers with +450 odds apiece. Chicago is 1-1, while Minnesota has lost a pair of nail-biters to start the season 0-2. The 0-2 Lions are long shots with +4400 odds to win the NFC North.

No team looked worse in their season opener than the Packers, who were blown out by the New Orleans Saints 38-3. There was speculation that Rodgers’ conflict with the front office might’ve contributed to Green Bay starting the season in such poor fashion.

“There’s so many overreactions that happen from a week-to-week basis,” Rodgers told reporters Monday night. “So it's nice to come out, have a good performance and get the trolls off our back for at least a week.”

Coming off his third MVP award, Rodgers was limited to 133 passing yards and two interceptions in Week 1. The quarterback bounced back by completing 22 of 27 attempts for 255 yards, four touchdowns and no picks against Detroit.

Green Bay got off to a bit of a shaky start Monday, trailing Detroit 17-14 at halftime. The Packers’ defense shut out the Lions in the second half and Rodgers led three touchdown drives to secure the win.

“We’ve got a lot of veterans, not only on the offense but on the defense, as well; and we gotta continue to improve each and every day and each and every week, and we gotta make sure we take it and look at it one game at a time,” Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said.

“You can never get too high on yourself in this league because you will be humbled in a hurry, and I think that happened to us a week ago.”

In back-to-back seasons, Green Bay has won the NFC North with a 13-3 record and reached the NFC Championship Game. Only the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers are given better odds to win the conference.