5 NFL under bets to hit in 2018
Which NFL teams aren’t going to live up to expectations? Last year, most believed the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks would be the top two teams in the NFC, only to see both home for the playoffs. NFL betting continues to be unpredictable.
This year, there are others that are getting plenty of hype, only to crash to earth in the coming months. Look for these five teams to fit that description. All of the lines are courtesy of OddsShark.
5. Indianapolis Colts – 6.5 wins
With all due respect to the Colts and their fine fans, how could anybody take the over? The only rationale would be that Andrew Luck stays healthy and puts the team on his back for a seven or eight-win season. Frankly, even if Luck is perfectly fine for 16 games, the rest of this roster is anything but. Look for the Colts to be drafting in the top five once again come 2019.
4. Dallas Cowboys – 8.5 wins
After years and years of having an offense that needed to carry a suspect defense, it’s the other way around in Dallas this fall. The Cowboys should be very good in the front seven and cornerback Chidobe Awuzie is a budding star, but the offense is basically Ezekiel Elliott and little else. It’s hard to have a winning record in the loaded NFC when your starting receivers are Allen Turns, Michael Gallup and Terrance Williams.
Read: Raiders QB Derek Carr Says Khalil Mack Trade ‘Isn’t What Anybody Wanted’Â
3. Pittsburgh Steelers – 10.5 wins
This line is very high, and the Steelers are not as good as they were a year ago. There is a real chance that we never see Le’Veon Bell in a Pittsburgh uniform again, and the team is tragically without Ryan Shazier after his spinal injury last December. Factor in the age and durability concerns around Ben Roethlisberger, and it makes it easy to take the under on a team that might not make the postseason.
2. Seattle Seahawks – 8 wins
Seattle isn’t winning eight games with this roster. The Seahawks couldn’t make the playoffs last year and that was when the team still had Michael Bennett, Kam Chancellor, Cliff Avril, Paul Richardson, Jimmy Graham and Sheldon Richardson. There’s no reason to believe the Seahawks are somehow going to cobble up eight wins with this group.
1. Oakland Raiders – 7.5 wins
Have you seen the offseason in Oakland? Sometimes there is no need for analysis. The Raiders traded away Khalil Mack in a stunning move, and somehow were talked into giving a second-round pick up with him. In addition, Oakland is the oldest team in the league and perhaps the slowest, all with a head coach in Jon Gruden who is looking more and more like a monumental error in judgement.
