Dallas Favorites to Win NFL Superbowl

With week one of the NFL underway, the Dallas Cowboys have become the bookmakers' favorite to win Superbowl XLIII and return to the glory days of the 1990s, when they won three of their five championships.

The main contenders
Dallas Cowboys, 10/3 at UK bookmaker Bet365: Dallas fell over in the divisional playoffs last season after initially looking like the NFC's most likely challenger to the AFC's New England Patriots. With star quarterback Tony Romo and wide receiver Terrell Owen back in the lineup for another year, the Cowboys are the team to beat.

San Diego Chargers, 8/1: Perennial contenders but never having actually won a Superbowl, the Chargers' season got off to a rocky start Sunday with a home loss to Carolina. They'll have to do better if they're to improve on last season, when they got within nine points of New England in the AFC championship match.

New England Patriots, 8/1: All pre-season the Patriots have been planning to redeem their shock loss to the New York Giants in last year's Superbowl, which came after a perfect 16-0 regular season record. But those plans have been thwarted by star quarterback Tom Brady' season-ending ACL injury in Sunday's victory over Kansas City. So good are the Patriots that they still remain third in betting. But it's hard to see them scoring as freely as they did last year when they had Brady leading.

Indianapolis Colts, 11/1: The Colts also got off to the worst possible start to season 2008-09, losing at home to Chicago, the team they beat in the 2006 Superbowl. They shouldn't have much trouble winning the AFC South division for a sixth season in a row, but whether they can get past San Diego and bitter rivals New England for the AFC championship is another question altogether.

The dark horses
Philadelphia leads the pack at 14/1, followed by defending champions the New York Giants, 16/1. Jacksonville, Pittsburgh and New Orleans are also 16/1, although it remains to be seen how the latter will be affected by the continuing threat of Hurricane Ike.

The Miami Dolphins are the biggest outsider of the 32 teams, at 175/1 for the championship.