Aaron Rodgers just may have one of the best years in his career this upcoming season. Why, you ask? Because the Kate Upton effect is real. You may not have heard of this actual analytical theory that was put together by the Harvard Sports Analysis Collective, but I am sure you have heard how star athletes start to suck at their jobs almost immediately after they begin serious relationships with beautiful famous women.
The guys and gals over at Harvard were able to come up with 75 relationships and statistically analyze performance before, during, and after with dozens of data points. The results were astounding. Once beyond the pre-dating point –which also shows significant performance decline—and at the “dating to married” point, athletes show an average of 25.6% decline in performance. The bright side is, after the breakup, they average a 23.9% jump back the other direction.
The Olivia Munn Effect
We all know that this off-season, Aaron Rodgers’ longtime girlfriend of three years, Olivia Munn, hit the bricks and moved to Splitsville. Considering the data found by the Harvard Sports Analysis, this is excellent news for Green Bay. An Aaron Rodgers who is somewhere in the neighborhood of 20% more effective than he was last season, is a scary thought! Couple this fact with the disheveled state of their division … the Bears, Lions, and Vikings are in for some trouncings.
NFC North 2017 Outlook
The Bears only won 3 games last year. And even though they were slightly better than average in many areas like Yards Per Pass, Yards Per Rush Attempt etc. They had a -20 turnover margin and their offseason moves were questionable at best. The folks in Las Vegas don’t have much faith in the Bears, setting their Season Wins at just 5.5 games and most experts are touting that it would take a miracle for the Bears to win even 6 games.
The Lions just hiked up Stafford’s salary in a MAJOR way even though he’s only 4-43 against teams with winning records and has zero playoff wins! Somehow Detroit went nine and seven last season, but I feel a post ‘Elite Salary’ slump coming on. Matthew Stafford is about to become the highest paid guy in the league and the experts are expecting a bit of regression, setting the Lions at just 7.5 wins this season. And that could be a stretch given their tough road schedule this season.
The Vikings started tough at 5-0 before trouble with Norv and Zimmer’s eye saw them finishing the final 11 games at just 3-8. They did decent in the draft by getting Cook and picking up Latavius Murray from the Raiders, but they still have a QB that despite having a great completion percentage … just doesn’t show up in clutch situations.
My prediction for the 2017 Green Bay Packers is that they have a bit of a slow start at first. But … their only real challenge going into the back half of their schedule is at the Pittsburgh Steelers. Barring catastrophic errors in management or injuries to multiple key players, the Green Bay Packers are in a position to rule the NFC North and make a playoff run for the NFC. I predict that they win 11 games, breaking the 10.5 games line on the season wins market—review markets such as these at respectable sportsbooks such as YouWager.
The Packers toughest tests will most likely come in the form of hard road games against the Falcons on Sep. 17th, Dallas on Oct. 8th, and the Steelers on Nov. 26th. The Pack started out slow last season, mostly due to defensive issues, but there is definitive talent in their young secondary that did not exist last year.