NFL Over/Unders 2017, Best Picks: NFC West

Its time to make your bets. The NFL Over/Under lines are out for 2017 and the NFC West is a crap shoot. We know who’s good and bad, but what about the lines?

NFL minicamps have been done for some time, but training camps don’t start until later in July. We are officially out of the offseason and into the preseason. With that, it is time to speculate wildly on everything from depth charts to position battles to standings to signings.

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We put a slew of position battles up for debate, including the quarterback battles in Cleveland, Chicago, Denver, and New York. But the 2017 NFL Over/Under lines are out, meaning its time to make your bets with our best picks.

Based on opening Over/Unders (per Westgate Las Vegas, via ESPN), we have an idea of how each division is expected to finish. The oddsmakers aren’t always correct with their assessment, though. There are flaws to exploit in its projections. The final division under the microscope is the NFC West, where the lines feel like a crap shoot.

Two brothers from New York, Dan Salem and Todd Salem, discuss the 2017 NFL Over/Under lines in today’s NFL Sports Debate.

NFC West Over/Unders

Seattle Seahawks: 10.5 wins
Arizona Cardinals: 8 wins
Los Angeles Rams: 6 wins
San Francisco 49ers: 5 wins

Verdict

Todd Salem: Everyone knows the Rams and 49ers are terrible. The Los Angeles defense could propel it to six wins I suppose. Sheer luck could push San Francisco to five. I have no major issue with those over/unders. This is especially true since one of the divisions the NFC West matches up with this season is the AFC South.

Why are Vegas and the public so down on the Arizona Cardinals, though? Remember way back when the Cards were Super Bowl contenders and divisional favorites over the Seahawks? Can you think back all the way to the beginning of last season?

Coming off a 13-win season, Arizona had a bad year last year. But there is still loads of talent on this roster. 2015 was better than normal Carson Palmer, but 2016 felt so blah. A performance somewhere in the middle should propel this offense to great heights.

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I wish Calais Campbell was still around on defense, but the unit should still be fantastic regardless. Arizona has spent its top two picks on defenders each of the past two seasons.

Arizona also has what appears to be a pretty easy first-half schedule. I can’t imagine this team falling below eight wins. The line feels incredibly generous. I don’t have a problem with Seattle being projected ahead of Arizona, but the gap is much too large. The Cardinals’ over is my best bet of this division.

Dan Salem: I like Arizona to bounce back and would certainly predict nine wins for the Cardinals, rather than seven. But one injury can mess up the over bet, so they are not my best pick of this lopsided division.

The best pick in the NFC West is the San Francisco 49ers. Go under on the 49ers and throw as much money as you can at it. San Francisco is so obviously tanking this season to get a franchise quarterback. They have no legitimate passer on their roster at the moment, at least not one that instills anything resembling confidence. The team is very young and coming off an awful year. I fully expect them to compete for the number one pick in 2018, meaning under five wins.

I’d have to go with the Cardinals’ over bet as my second best pick, mainly because I don’t trust Seattle or Los Angeles one way or the other. The Seahawks might be very good, or might just be the best team in the NFC West. That could mean a mere nine or 10 wins for Seattle. Yet they made offseason moves to solidify their core and play the Rams and 49ers each twice. Could Seattle get 11 or more wins? Yes, but I’m not putting money on it either way.

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As for the Los Angeles Rams, they have the talent to be a .500 team this season. But much of that success hinges on the development of quarterback Jared Goff and his ability to wield the Rams offense. Improvement from Goff and consistency on defense makes Los Angeles better than six wins. They are my sleeper pick to go from “worst to first”, so to speak, or from second-to-last to second. I’d go over on the Rams, because five wins feels like a slap in the face to this franchise. Yet, history has not been kind to this team, so temper your excitement and money accordingly.