NFL betting guide: NFC East and NFC West

Entrance to the Race and Sports SuperBook at the Las Vegas Hilton Tuesday, March 15, 2011.

Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2011 | 9 p.m.

Note: LasVegasSun.com will run betting previews for all 32 NFL teams over the next four days. They’ll be broken up by division with a prominent Las Vegas oddsmaker offering his input.

The NFC West served as a lesson in futility last season.

The division produced the first champion in NFL history with a sub-.500 record in the Seattle Seahawks. Las Vegas oddsmakers aren’t calling for the quality of the division to improve much this season.

None of the four teams have a higher over/under win total than eight at the Las Vegas Hilton Superbook, making the NFC West the only group with that dubious distinction.

“These teams are at the bottom of the barrel when you look at the NFC conference odds and money,” said Superbook Director Jay Kornegay. “It’s a division that obviously isn’t getting much respect.”

Only the Washington Redskins and Carolina Panthers have garnered less action to win the NFC than the four teams in the West, according to Kornegay.

The NFC East is on the other side of the spectrum, with three of the four teams in the division attracting major attention. Plenty of bettors have shown their faith in the Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles by placing wagers on them to win the conference or the Super Bowl.

“Even the Redskins have some supporters,” Kornegay joked. “I don’t know why, but the ticket count is pretty balanced.”

Click through below for a betting breakdown for each of the eight teams in the two divisions.

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Dallas Cowboys

2010 Against-the-spread record: 7-9 (6-10 straight)

Odds to win the Super Bowl: 20-to-1

Over/under win total: 9 (over +115, under -135)

Cantor Gaming’s full season lines: Favored in nine of 16 games

Kornegay’s thoughts: "Overall, the Cowboys are right on that second-tier. They aren't far away from being one of the best teams in the league...We have the most tickets on the Cowboys (to win the NFC East), and as far as money, we have the most money on the Cowboys as well."

Overview: Let others argue whether Dallas is still "America's Team." In Las Vegas, the title holds true. The Cowboys are getting plenty of action in the Hilton's future book and likely everywhere else in town. It's a similar story to last year, when Dallas' preseason hype translated far short of its goal to play the Super Bowl in its home stadium. Dallas should be improved this year with Jason Garrett at the helm, Tony Romo healthy at quarterback and Rob Ryan directing the defense.
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New York Giants

2010 Against-the-spread record: 7-9 (10-6 straight)

Odds to win the Super Bowl: 30-to-1

Over/under win total: 9 (over Even, under -120)

Cantor Gaming’s full season lines: Favored in nine of 16 games

Kornegay’s thoughts: "They have some question marks because they do at times implode. I don’t know what it is. I don’t know if it's Eli Manning — he can look like the best QB in the league and the next week look lost — or what the issue is there, but something’s wrong."

Overview: Bettors have figured out how to approach the Giants by now. Play on them during the first half of the season. Play against them in the second half of the season. In the last three seasons, New York is 16-8 against the spread in the first eight games of the season as opposed to 10-14 in the final eight. Fittingly, the Giants schedule gets tougher as the season goes on this year as they are favored in six of their first eight games and only three the rest of the way.
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Philadelphia Eagles

2010 Against-the-spread record: 7-10 (10-7 straight)

Odds to win the Super Bowl: 8-to-1

Over/under win total: 10.5 (over -150, under +130)

Cantor Gaming’s full season lines: Favored in 15 of 16 games

Kornegay’s thoughts: "The only weakness I see is being able to stop the run at the end of the game and being able to run the clock out at the end of the game. Almost every champion has had that quality and that’s where they have some concern...(Bettors) love the Eagles. They certainly swallowed that hype and supported it with their wallets."

Overview: The action bettors poured into Michael Vick last season caught up to them at the end of the year. The Eagles went 1-3 against-the-spread in their final four games and lost the public a fair amount of money. Bettors are undeterred heading into 2011, though. The love for Philadelphia makes sense. It has more than an explosive offense led by Vick — Philadelphia is a complete team. The Eagles could have one of the best pass defenses in the history of the league with Nnamdi Asomugha, Asante Samuel and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie all at cornerback.
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Washington Redskins

2010 Against-the-spread record: 8-6-1 (6-10 straight)

Odds to win the Super Bowl: 100-to-1

Over/under win total: 6 (over -120, under Even)

Cantor Gaming’s full season lines: Underdog in 12 of 16 games

Kornegay’s thoughts: "Everybody knows that the Redskins are going to struggle. They can't find an answer at quarterback or several other positions. It looks like they're sinking. They're the only team in the division not making progress to contend."

Overview: Washington's reputation as one of the worst-run franchises in the NFL follows it into local sports books. Last year was the first time in four seasons that the Redskins posted a winning record against the spread. They aren't getting much action this preseason. Even though Kornegay mentioned the existence of some supporters, Washington is still a distant fourth in NFC East future wagers.
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Arizona Cardinals

2010 Against-the-spread record: 5-11 (5-11 straight)

Odds to win the Super Bowl: 50-to-1

Over/under win total: 7.5 (over -110, under -110)

Cantor Gaming’s full season lines: Underdog in 12 of 16 games

Kornegay’s thoughts: "I look at Arizona as one of the two teams in the division that has improved, at least in the skill positions. I'm not sold on Kevin Kolb, because some of the gaudy statistics he put up in Philadelphia were against bad teams. I'm not sure he can do the same with not as much talent around him."

Overview: In some shops, the Cardinals win total opened as low as six and was bet up to a minimum of seven. A flurry of betting activity arose when the Cardinals traded for quarterback Kevin Kolb. But the action has died down. That's understandable considering the Cardinals have other questions, namely who's going to run the ball and who's going to stop the pass. Beanie Wells has been an unreliable rushing option at best and the aging secondary — led by Adrian Wilson and Kerry Rhodes — took significant strides backwards a season ago.
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St. Louis Rams

2010 Against-the-spread record: 10-6 (7-9 straight)

Odds to win the Super Bowl: 40-to-1

Over/under win total: 7.5 (over -110, under -110)

Cantor Gaming’s full season lines: Underdog in 10 of 16 games

Kornegay’s thoughts: "I'm not saying the Rams are head and shoulders above the rest of the teams in the West division, but I'd say they are probably the best team out of those four."

Overview: The public loves the Rams to go over their win total and take the NFC West crown. Their hype in sports books could have to do with last year when they surprised everyone en route to becoming one of the most profitable teams in the NFL. St. Louis, however, let bettors down in the final week of the season by dropping a game to Seattle for a playoff berth. Most sports books reported lopsided action on St. Louis in the game.
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San Francisco 49ers

2010 Against-the-spread record: 6-10 (6-10 straight)

Odds to win the Super Bowl: 60-to-1

Over/under win total: 7.5 (over +130, under -150)

Cantor Gaming’s full season lines: Underdog in nine of 16 games

Kornegay’s thoughts: "The 49ers haven't accepted that Alex Smith cannot play in the NFL. Their offensive line has been in shambles for years now and they haven't addressed that problem...Actually, the bigger money has been on the 49ers, but the least amount of tickets."

Overview: "Bigger money, but least amount of tickets" could indicate that sharp bettors see something in this San Francisco team. Maybe the 49ers are the best alternative in a dreadful division. New coach Jim Harbaugh is expected to inject some life into a listless offense and perhaps even work with quarterback Alex Smith to the point where he's serviceable. No one can deny the 49ers have one of the singular best defensive players in the league in linebacker Patrick Willis.
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Seattle Seahawks

2010 Against-the-spread record: 8-10 (8-10 straight)

Odds to win the Super Bowl: 100-to-1

Over/under win total: 6 (over +135, under -150)

Cantor Gaming’s full season lines: Underdog in 12 of 16 games

Kornegay’s thoughts: "We call them Minnesota West with the additions of Tavaris Jackson and (Sidney) Rice. I'm not sure that was the right answer. I don't look at them as a team that can win the division."

Overview: Where's the betting hype for a Seattle team that won its division and a first-round playoff game a year ago? Nonexistent, and for good reason. Its win total hasn't shifted from the six posted at the beginning of the summer and next to no future tickets have been punched calling for the Seahawks to do anything positive. Seattle is an underdog of at least five points in five of its first six games.