It’s not always what the experts “think”; it’s what the Vegas experts think they can get a reasonable split of the betting public’s money so they can maximize return.
Looking into the Hog Fever crystal ball the Giants should be good for about 10 wins, making the 10 number a tough call. I’ll go under here but I’m not real confident in this call. I think the loss of Plaxico for the whole season is going to hurt the team quite a bit. He bailed them out a lot and created space for the other receivers. The rookie guy you hear so much about is no Plax, not yet anyway. Their defense should be solid. As mentioned above the Giants have a stable organization and always seem to have a lot of decent young players though, so I guess they have that. They aren’t a great team, but they know how to win and rarely beat themselves. 8-8
The Eagles number is not all that tough in my opinion. They have a couple of question marks on offense but unlike the Giants they don’t have to have a rookie (Macklin) come in and start at WR. They have two guys who are decent but not spectacular. The defense will have to adjust to the loss of Dawkins but they are solid on that side of the ball. The only problem I see for them is the schedule and McNabb staying healthy. I hate the Eagles but I like the Eagles to win the division. I can see them winning 11 ball games. 11-5
The Cowboys are in a bit of trouble. The loss of T.O. is going to be huge. They simply don’t have anyone to replace his production. The addition by subtraction rule will not play out here. Most of the league has Romo figured out. On the defensive side of the ball is where they are going to win ball games. Wade Phillips is not a great head coach but he can coach a defense. If the defense plays well enough and Romo can limit mistakes they could be in some games. I don’t see that happening with any consistency. I want to go lower, but I think they win 7 games and Phillips is run out of town at the end of the season or before. 7-9
The Skins situation is well known to everyone here. I think this team has talent, but a lot of question marks remain. We are going to need a lot of pieces to fall into place to improve on last season’s record. My guess is some things will work out and some things won’t. We will be talking about this for the next few months so I’ll skip the detailed analysis and just get to the meat of the matter. This is an average ball club and for the sake of betting I’d go over, but just. Nothing they have done in the off season has changed my mind about that. I’ll hope for more. Hell, I’ll find a way to rationalize a playoff run, but I don’t honestly believe that at this stage. Prove me wrong guys. 8-8
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