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Yesterday I showcased some college totals to glance at before the season kicks off Thursday. Today I give you some NFL over/under season totals that look great. Just like a fantasy team these over/unders always look fantastic before the season starts. I hate to pat myself on the back but NFL season totals have been one of my strong specialties over the years.
Latch onto some of these and come back after week seventeen.
Tennessee Over 6.5- -115
The Titans team as a whole does not look great on paper, but I think 6.5 is a solid number for them. They stayed in a lot of games a season ago, and replaced Matt Hasselbeck with another capable backup quarterback in Ryan Fitzpatrick. I believe he will get some playing time over Jake Locker as the season wears on. Key winnable games, twice against Jacksonville, Jets, split the division games against the Colts, Oakland, KC at home, and a crucial week seventeen finale against the Texans. That is a home game and if the Texans coast they’ll be resting their players giving the Titans an edge on the field.
NY Jets Under 6- +105
This payout will likely move quickly in the event Mark Sanchez misses the early part of the season with a bad shoulder. After Geno Smith’s erratic preseason start against the Giants (3 INT’s), he is ill prepared to be a starter week one. That may happen however. Nothing is worse than a quarterback getting thrown out into the fire before he is ready, sitting on the bench when Sanchez is healthy again, and then coming back in at the latter part of the season. Mentally he will be pressing against the mistakes he had earlier in the season. The team and Rex Ryan just have that free fall Philadelphia Eagles—Andy Reid look from last season.
Washington Over 8 -145
The NFC is more tight knit than ever and the linesmakers are downgrading the RG3/Cousins repeat combo from a season ago. I do not see a reason why the Cowboys (8.5), Giants (9), and even Eagles (7.5) are getting as much love as they are. Washington is infused with youth and returns a healthy defensive unit. Even if RG3 is 85 percent to 90 percent you have to figure the winning streak he finished the regular season on is not going to wane. If All Washington has to do is finish .500 to break even, I’ll take my chances.
Tampa Bay Under 7.5 +125
On paper this team looks very capable of eclipsing the 7.5 win total, but they will not do it. Doug Martin will keep them in games, but when it comes down to it the Buccaneers are going to have to rely on Josh Freeman. Greg Schiano has not backed him yet, and being that it is his last year under contract, the Bucs may be leaning more towards backup quarterback Glennon. He is not ready. That’s when the high contracts Mike Williams (40 million), and Vincent Jackson (55 million) will see their play deteriorate as their team play does.
Jacksonville Jaguars Over 5 Wins -115
We have seen a lot of 1 or 2 win teams from the year prior, suck the puss out of their roster in the offseason, and come back with rejuvenated blood. Jacksonville added Gus Bradley the former Seahawks defensive coordinator as their head coach, and have installed yet another offense for Blaine Gabbert. If Bradley can make an impact to this defense right away, I think the Jaguars get six to seven wins. Offensively they have strong weapons with a tight end in Marcedes Lewis that had a career year just a few seasons ago, under rated young wideouts in Blackmon and Shorts, and a healthy Maurice Jones-Drew. It’ll be up to Gabbert and with protection I think he finally progresses. If he doesn’t Chad Henne showed capable of lighting a fire to the offense in stint stretches last year. I like they’re first two games of the season as well, against Kansas City and Oakland, and believe they’ll win them both.
San Diego Chargers Under 7.5 Wins -125
A few years ago the Chargers would lose tough games and find themselves on the verge of missing the playoffs. Suddenly the mindset of must-win would kick in and the team could hit another gear. Lately that team has been levitating right beneath that level. Hurdles are still all over the field for this team, and I think Ken Whisenhunt and Mike McCoy will prove to be one of the worst tandem alleged coaching upgrades from the eight switches in the offseason. Not only will the Chargers fall below 7.5 wins but I think they do it with strong regression and finish with five.
Others I Like
Seattle Under 10.5- -120
Chicago Over 8.5 – -140
Denver Under 11.5 – -115
Houston Over 10.5 – +115
Kansas City Chiefs – Under 7 +130