ESPN: New York Giants over/under win total at 8.5

The 2016 NFL season is finally upon us! After an exciting offseason with a new head coach, new players and new draft picks, it is time for everything to come together. This is optimism for the first time in awhile for the New York Giants a ESPN's Mike Clay projects the New York Giants to win the NFC East crown with a projected finish of roughly 9.2 wins. He also sets the Over/Under on number of Giants victories at 8.5. His confidence however, is mostly tied to their weak strength of schedule.

The Giants might not be the best team in the NFC East, but an extremely light schedule makes them the favorite to take the division. New York's non-divisional home slate includes matchups with New Orleans, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Chicago and Detroit. On the road, the Giants face Minnesota, Green Bay, Los Angeles (in London), Cleveland and Pittsburgh. That's the league's lightest schedule and their wideouts will also benefit from an easy slate of opposing cornerbacks.

Clay has a high opinion on the offense but thinks the defense still has some holes that can be patched up. Despite this, they are his pick  to win the NFC East. The Dallas Cowboys are projected to win 8.1 games but are also set with the same over/under as the Giants. Meanwhile the division champions, the Washington Redskins, have an over/under set at 7.5 wins. Clay's protection model has them winning eight games. And in the basement of the NFC East, this dubious honor belongs to the Philadelphia Eagles with an over/under win total of 6.5.