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Today Gambling911.com examines odds for three teams in 2011 – The Minnesota Vikings, the Seattle Seahawks and Washington Redskins. These are franchises expected to finish under .500 but there are a few futures bets to consider.
With Donovan McNabb in Minnesota, the Vikings do have a shot at winning a very competitive NFC North. That said, they are still the red-headed step child in this division.
McNabb failed to spruce up Washington last season but he also didn’t have the playmakers that will be readily available in Minnesota. This is one team that can overachieve, and at 10/1 odds of winning the NFC North, the value is something worth considering.
The Vikings schedule isn’t the best but it’s easy to see them going 7-9. Unfortunately, that’s exactly where the oddsmakers place them.
The Seattle Seahawks will have their work cut out for them in the notoriously soft NFC West with Arizona looking exceptionally good coming into the 2011 season, St. Louis continuing to ramp things up and San Francisco – God only knows there.
Seattle has some value at 6/1 of winning the NFC West only because there is enough wiggle room in the division to pay out even with 9 or 10 wins, though we do see Arizona stretching beyond this number (see previous G911.co reports in our Football section)
The Seahawks did make moves during the offseason including the release of Matt Hasselback and the acquisitions of Sydney Rice and Tavaris Jackson.
Considering Seattle has only had one under .500 season over the past decade (they avoided one last year by making it to the Playoffs), the idea that oddsmakers have them listed as winning just 6 regular season games is enough to make our mouths water.
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Seattle played well at home last season and horrible on the road. They can conceivably win in San Francisco but will lose at Heinz Field against the Steelers. They can probably win at home against Arizona but will have a tough time hosting Atlanta. A Week 5 game in the Meadowlands against the Giants should have Seattle at 2-3 prior to their Week 6 bye.
A game in Cleveland is winnable but, again, Seattle did have a tough time on the road. They should easily beat Cincinnati at home the following week to have 3 wins under their belt.
Hosting Washington, the Rams and San Francisco should provide easy wins for the Seahawks down the stretch.
But remember, this is a team that has not gone below .500 in the past decade and they look like an improvement over last season. Throw in a win on the road in Cleveland or Chicago and maybe an upset home victory at home and we have our 8 wins.
As for the Washington Redskins, few people believe this team will enjoy much success in 2011.
The only possible futures betting odds to consider when looking at the Redskins is in regard to the regular season win totals in 2011.
Most of the home games look tough. They can beat Arizona early on but probably won’t. Hosting the 49ers and Vikings seems like the only hope but Donovan McNabb has something to prove. Thankfully they have an early season game in Buffalo and one in Carolina to get some redemption, but winning more than 5 regular season games in 2011 will present a challenge. The oddsmakers have the OVER/UNDER set at 6 with the UNDER at -130.
Futures Betting Value Index:
Minnesota Vikings odds to win the NFC North 10/1 – Good
Minnesota Vikings odds to win OVER/UNDER 7 games – Poor
Seattle Seahawks odds to win the NFC West 6/1 - Fair
Seattle Seahawks odds to win OVER 6 regular season games -120 – Very Good
Washington Redskins odds of winning UNDER 6 regular season games -130 - Fair
- Don Shapiro, Gambling911.com
