Skepticism continues to mount over the Indianapolis Colts and their title defense, although expect it to be muted this week after Indy pasted the Saints 41-10 on Thursday night.

The Colts are 8-1 odds to win Super Bowl XLII; not only are they behind New England and San Diego on the odds list, but they’ve also been joined at 8-1 by both New Orleans and Chicago, the team they put away at SBXLI.

Defense is once again the big question mark in Indy, enough so that Jacksonville is looking more and more like legitimate AFC South contenders. The Colts remain the overwhelming division favorites at 1-3.

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If Indy’s offense doesn’t propel the team to the division title, there’s still some buffer room for a Wild Card even if the Colts skim under the posted total of 10.5 victories. The “under” is a slim dog at –105. Then the playoff gauntlet begins. The Colts are 5-1 to win the AFC, which just goes to show the sheer amount of talent in the conference.

Is there a better bounce-back candidate in the NFL than the Seattle Seahawks? With Matt Hasselbeck and Shaun Alexander both healthy, they look a lot more like the team that went to Super Bowl XL. The Seahawks are 22-1 to erase that painful memory.

Playing in the NFC West helps. The competition will be a little stiffer this year, but Seattle remains the division favorite at 7-5, despite carrying a regular-season total of just nine victories, with the “over” the slight favorite at –120.

For that matter, playing in the NFC itself is the easier way to get to Glendale. The Seahawks are 13-2 to win the lesser of the two conferences, behind five other teams in a tight pack at the top of the odds list. Strangely, one of those teams is San Francisco at 6-1. The Niners are 9-5 to win the NFC West; they’re Seattle’s biggest obstacle in 2007.

The news hit the betting world like a hammer: The New England Patriots, 2-1 favorites to win the Super Bowl.

The Pats were expected to get plenty of title talk. This “dynasty” underwent a high-profile upgrade during the offseason, adding the likes of Randy Moss to what was a no-name receiving corps in 2006. But 2-1?

The betting public didn’t even blink. New England’s odds shortened to 8-5 before the pendulum swung back. But those bettors who assumed a fair chunk of Super Bowl risk for relatively little reward might be second-guessing themselves.

New England’s title chances, however strong, took a hit when Rodney Harrison was suspended for four games for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy. With Richard Seymour missing at least the first six games after going on the PUP list, and Moss missing the entire preseason with hamstring issues, the Pats are staring at a possible 3-3 start to their would-be championship season.

Complete NFL odds and Super Bowl odds at Bodog Sportsbook.