08 September 2010

NFL 2010: Win Total Predictions NFC South

Thursday kicks off the new season of the true 'Greatest Show on Earth', that's right, NFL Football! All odds taken from Vegasinsider.com (opening line).

NFC South should be an entertaining division, with two good teams, one enigmatic team, and one team continuing to rebuild. They face the creampuff NFC West and the tough AFC North, so their out of division match ups are a mixed bag. New Orleans should have another solid year, though their relatively weak defense may cost them a few more games than they did last year. Atlanta might be very good, or it might all fall apart, they have a lot of young talent at the skill positions, which means they're unpredictable. Carolina will probably be awful, unless they aren't, any result from 10-6 to 4-12 seem possible. Tampa Bay will play hard, but they lack talent, so playing hard won't result into a whole bunch of victories.

Atlanta Falcons (Win total 9.0) OVER!
This is a tough one, they feel like a 9-7 team to me, so most likely this will be a push, but if a few breaks go their way, 10-6 and a playoff berth should be within reach. Should be a fun team to watch, either way.

Carolina Panthers (Win total 7.0) OVER!
Another tough one, this is probably a 7-9 team, but they still have a pretty solid defense, so they might squeeze out a few 13-7 victories that push them to 8-8 or 9-7. Will be a frustrating season for their fans, and they'll probably be ugly games to watch, but they'll be about as successful as their talent allows.

New Orleans Saints (Win total 10.5) UNDER!
Another tough call, the lines on the teams in this division all fall right at the number of victories I expect. This is a 10-6 or 11-5 team, very solid, probably in the top four teams of the NFC, but nothing like the team the team that seemed so dominate offensively last season, and their defensive lapses will punish them in a few close games.

Tampa Bay Bucaneers (Win total 6.0) UNDER!
Might challenge for the number one draft pick this year. Don't think there are any 0-16 teams this season, probably 4-12 will be as poorly as any team does, and that'll be about where this team finishes, so on the negative side, horrible for their fans, on the plus side, they might earn themselves a pretty special player in next year's draft.

2 comments:

Icepick said...

You forgot the odd result that since the inecption of this division, every year's division winner has been the team that finished last the previous season.

Last year that was the Bucs. Given that the ownership is still in cost slashing mode because of other business interests that stereak ends this year. (Perhaps if they make their balloon payment on Man U this year the owners can afford some players for the Bucs again next year.)

Of topic, and the real reason I'm commenting: Yesterday I heard that the President wasn't wearing his wedding ring at the news conference. I had heard a good chunk of it but I wasn't watching. I watched some footage later and thought the same thing you did: He's looking haggard and drawn, although his hair was freshly dyed. I decided to check Althouse as I knew she would cover this topic which is where I saw your comment. Too bad everyone else wanted to talk about Lord of the Rings instead - one would think the health of the President might illict SOME interest....

XWL said...

Thanks for the comment.

The presidency is a huge job.

Our current president is a small man.

I think his smallness was obvious during the campaign, but a combination of McCain's unattractiveness, GOP fatigue after the Bush years, and MSM cheerleading lead a majority of voters to delude themselves into believing the hype about an untested and unready Chicago-style pol.

Now all but President Obama's most ardent supporters must acknowledge what a small, petty, emotionally fragile, and intellectually lazy administrator holds the highest office in the land.

Hope and Change!