Preseason NFL means it's back to the futures

The NFL preseason got underway on Thursday night with the Hall of Fame Game from Canton, Ohio, and although it was cut short due to weather, just the sight of football on our screens got us juiced up for the regular season. So juiced up, in fact, that we did some digging on NFL win totals and plucked out two alternate lines we're interested in targeting for the 2024-25 season.

Let's break 'em down.

Getting spicy with some NFL alt win totals

Seattle Seahawks over 8.5 wins (+148 FanDuel )

We're all in on Mike Macdonald as a head football coach. The defensive mastermind earned his first DC job in 2021 when he joined Michigan's coaching staff, and all he did was transform the Wolverines from the 93rd-ranked scoring defense in the country to the seventh in just one year. Under Macdonald last season, the Baltimore Ravens were ranked No. 1 in the NFL in defensive DVOA.

Ryan Grubb also joins the coaching staff as the OC after leading the Washington Huskies' dynamic offense last year. Don't be fooled by Pete Carroll's departure. This is going to be one of the top coaching staffs in the league sooner than later, and the Seahawks are sneakily loaded with talent on both sides of the ball. This is a team that will surprise some people in 2024-25.

Philadelphia Eagles over 11.5 wins (+138 FD )

The Eagles collapsed after a 10-1 start last season, but blowing the division actually helped set up an easier schedule in 2024. Philadelphia gets to play the Carolina Panthers, the New Orleans Saints, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Los Angeles Rams with no Aaron Donald and the New York Giants and Washington Commanders twice each. By the end of the season, the Eagles might close as underdogs only three or four times.

This is going to be a dynamic offense with Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Dallas Goedert and Saquon Barkley now in the fold, and new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore will help this group put up monster numbers. On the other side, veteran defensive coordinator Vic Fangio is a considerable upgrade over Matt Patricia and Sean Desai. The Eagles can contend for the No. 1 seed in the NFC.

In the news ...

Simone Biles wins gold medal in individual all-around final — Biles continues to stack up Olympic medals. A few days after leading the United States to a gold medal in the women's team competition, Biles won another gold in the individual all-around final . She's only the third woman in Olympic history to win the event twice. American Suni Lee also took home the bronze. Team USA is now -280 to win the most gold medals in Paris.

Justin Herbert suffers foot injury, expected to be back for Week 1 — The Jim Harbaugh era in La La Land is off to a concerning start. On Thursday, the Los Angeles Chargers announced that Herbert has been diagnosed with a plantar fascia injury in his right foot. The star quarterback will spend the next two weeks in a walking boot, but he's expected to be back for the season opener against the Las Vegas Raiders next month. Herbert is +2200 to win the MVP award this season.

Mike Trout out for remainder of the season with meniscus tear — Herbert wasn't the only Los Angeles athlete to suffer an injury this week. Trout, who was already rehabbing from surgery on his left knee, suffered a torn meniscus in the same knee . The three-time AL MVP will undergo yet another surgery and won't be able to play the rest of the season. Trout has played more than 82 games just once in the last five seasons, and he will turn 33 this month.

Today's Bark Bets is written by Jack Dougherty