NFL Futures – Win Totals

With the World Cup wrapping up this past weekend, football bettors can turn their attention to another form of “football” with NFL betting.

Sportsbooks have posted win totals for all 32 teams and here are a couple to keep an eye on as the NFL season inches closer:

Minnesota Vikings (9.5 wins)

It’s tough to seriously cap the Vikings with Brett Favre’s future still up in the air.

However, the greybeard quarterback was back on the field this week, testing his surgically repaired ankle.

Albeit, Favre was on a high school football field in Mississippi and not Minnesota’s training facility, but it does give the purple and gold hope that No. 4 will be back under center in 2010.

If Favre does decide to call it a career, the starting job would go to Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels, and drop the Vikings’ win total substantially.

Favre played a huge role in the team’s 12-4 season, contending for the NFL MVP award. With or without Favre, Minnesota returns Adrian Peterson at running back and one of the best defenses in the league.

But a budding receiving corps featuring Sidney Rice and Percy Harvin could go to waste with a lesser arm throwing the passes.

The Vikes are in the middle of the pack when it comes to strength of schedule and are front-loaded in terms of big games.

Minnesota plays New Orleans, Miami, the New York Jets, Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay, and New England in the first two months of the season.

It could struggle to stay above .500 during that stretch, even with Favre on the field.

New England Patriots (9.5 wins)

You can never count out Tom Brady and the Patriots, but 2010 will be a challenge for the three-time Super Bowl champs.

The AFC East is an improved division with the New York Jets currently wearing the crown. New York proved it was for real with the NFL’s top defense and inspired playoff run last year.

The Miami Dolphins will pose more of a threat and the Buffalo Bills will also make improvements. Pats fans can realistically see New England winning four of those six divisional matchups.

However, the rest of the Patriots’ schedule is tougher to handicap.

New England has the sixth toughest calendar in the league, featuring games against Cincinnati, New York, Baltimore, San Diego, and Minnesota – all of which won their division or a wild card last season – in the first two months of the season.

Brady is over his knee injuries and has one of the best receiving corps in the league around him, but an over-the-hill Torry Holt and injury-prone Wes Welker could be out of the equation by mid-season.

Outside of the offensive veterans, New England’s defense is very young.

They showed their inexperience on the road last season and must grow up fast if the Patriots want to get back to the playoffs – let alone win more than nine games.