Posted on
8/27/2007 7:05:15 PM
NFL Betting Odds - NFL Regular Season Wins - NFC
By Dave Golokhov
When it comes to NFL betting and regular season win totals, like Alice In Chains’ song Over or Idaho’s Under, there's only two ways to go. In the seventh of our eight division previews, we examine the NFL odds for regular season wins in the NFC South:
Atlanta Falcons
All signs point to a disastrous season in Atlanta.
Michael Vick is out, Warrick Dunn is already hurt, and the offensive line doesn’t look like they are built for Bobby Petrino’s new offense.
Default starter, Joey Harrington, still gets razzled too easily in the face of pressure - which isn’t good with an offensive line that is not adjusting well to Petrino.
On defense, the Falcons defensive line seems to be constantly dealing with injury, which hurts their production. While the linebacking corps has some nice pieces, the secondary looks fairly bad on paper, particularly at safety.
NFL Odds For Regular Season Wins: 7.5
NFL Free Pick: Under
Carolina Panthers
A year removed from a Super Bowl appearance, the Panthers might be back to contending.
Their offensive line took some big hits last year but is fully healthy now, which is crucial to Jake Delhomme’s performance.
With two decent running backs and Steve Smith, the Panthers are still short secondary and tertiary passing options.
The defense is a veteran group that is loaded with talent everywhere but safety. John Fox’s defenses have rarely been the cause of failure and won’t be in 2007 unless linebacker Dan Morgan is once again injured long term.
NFL Odds For Regular Season Wins: 9
NFL Free Pick: Over
New Orleans Saints
Sean Payton is entering his second season as a head coach but looks to be one of the sharpest offensive minds in the league. With Drew Brees running the offense and Payton game-planning, you can count on the Saints pinpointing opposing team’s weaknesses and scoring points.
The questions remain on defense, where the Saints don’t have a whole lot more than a decent defensive line. We’ll have to see how their linebackers and secondary respond to a tougher schedule.
The Saints benefited from a weak division last year, where Atlanta faltered down the stretch and the Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers endured terrible years.
Their offense is strong but they don’t have the defense to make a deep postseason run.
NFL Odds For Regular Season Wins: 9
NFL Free Pick: Over
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Bucs won the division in 2005, then flopped in 2006.
Although there are high aspirations again, mostly because they have a capable quarterback now in Jeff Garcia, the Buccaneers record will likely fall somewhere in between the last two years’ results.
The offense should be back in full gear. They have retooled their line, which means that Cadillac Williams will be a big threat once again. Garcia will keep defenses honest and might do a lot more than just that. Whispers around camp suggest that head coach Jon Gruden believes that Garcia is the best quarterback he’s had to date.
The defense is cycling in young parts and is coached by the best defensive coordinator in football - but they simply aren’t as talented as they used to be. They might play better as the season progresses, but they aren’t there yet.
There’s a lot of ‘ifs’ on this roster to consider them a power-player in the NFC.
NFL Odds For Regular Season Wins: 7
NFL Free Pick: Under
Want more previews? Here are the rest of the Regular Season Wins pieces in this Series:
Regular Season Wins - NFC South
Regular Season Wins - AFC North
Regular Season Wins - NFC North
Regular Season Wins - NFC East
Regular Season Wins - AFC East
Regular Season Wins - NFC West
Regular Season Wins - AFC West
Regular Season Wins - AFC South
The 2007 NFL betting season is here in full force! If you like to bet on the NFL, you are in the best possible place for online betting. The BetUS sportsbook has NFL odds up on a ton of futures, and you will also find NFL lines up for early games as well. Join BetUS today and we'll help guide you right through to Super Bowl XLII and beyond!