I was in Reno for a few days and made several season win totals.
Houston Over 8 1/2 (-140) William Hill
Carolina Under 9 (-125) William Hill
Oakland Under 8 1/2 (-130) Atlantis
Backed off on Philly under 10 1/2 (-125, available several places). Houston has the best schedule in the NFL. Not only in terms of opponent's expected wins, but in terms of opponent sequencing. 5 of their 8 home games are against teams playing in their second consecutive road game. That is the most good setups of any team in the league. The Texans have been hit quite hard by injuries the past 2 years, ranking 29th both seasons in starter games lost. Carolina has so many negative factors I could write a thesis on it. They were 4-0 in games last year in games decided by 4 points or less. Their 3rd down performance on both sides of the ball was considerably better than their overall performance. McCafferey may be a good receiver out of the backfield, but he hasn't proved he can run between the tackles. Are they really going to count on 38 YO Julius Peppers, 35 YO Thomas Davis and an oft-injured Luke Kuechly to recapture the form from the 2015 season? They have one stretch where they play only 1 divisional game in 10 weeks, then close the season with 4 divisional games in the final 5 weeks. Even their bye week sucks. Nobody wants a week 4 bye; the later the better so the nagging injuries can heal. And in terms of injuries, the Panthers were 7th last year and 6th in 2016 in fewest starter games missed due to injury. We know that will likely even out. As for Oakland, I don't like the hire of Gruden. Football is a young man's game and he's loading the roster up with aging veterans. Will Gruden last long enough to coach a game in Vegas?
FWIW, US Bookmaking/Baldini's in Sparks will be offering minus 108 for sides and totals.
Houston Over 8 1/2 (-140) William Hill
Carolina Under 9 (-125) William Hill
Oakland Under 8 1/2 (-130) Atlantis
Backed off on Philly under 10 1/2 (-125, available several places). Houston has the best schedule in the NFL. Not only in terms of opponent's expected wins, but in terms of opponent sequencing. 5 of their 8 home games are against teams playing in their second consecutive road game. That is the most good setups of any team in the league. The Texans have been hit quite hard by injuries the past 2 years, ranking 29th both seasons in starter games lost. Carolina has so many negative factors I could write a thesis on it. They were 4-0 in games last year in games decided by 4 points or less. Their 3rd down performance on both sides of the ball was considerably better than their overall performance. McCafferey may be a good receiver out of the backfield, but he hasn't proved he can run between the tackles. Are they really going to count on 38 YO Julius Peppers, 35 YO Thomas Davis and an oft-injured Luke Kuechly to recapture the form from the 2015 season? They have one stretch where they play only 1 divisional game in 10 weeks, then close the season with 4 divisional games in the final 5 weeks. Even their bye week sucks. Nobody wants a week 4 bye; the later the better so the nagging injuries can heal. And in terms of injuries, the Panthers were 7th last year and 6th in 2016 in fewest starter games missed due to injury. We know that will likely even out. As for Oakland, I don't like the hire of Gruden. Football is a young man's game and he's loading the roster up with aging veterans. Will Gruden last long enough to coach a game in Vegas?
FWIW, US Bookmaking/Baldini's in Sparks will be offering minus 108 for sides and totals.
