NFL Handicapping Articles

Key Offseason Storylines for NFL Handicappers
by Trevor Whenham - 2/12/2013

There really is no real time off for bettors who want to be serious about winning in the NFL. It’s a long time until we will be able to watch another game, but there is no shortage of things to pay close attention to until then. Coaching shuffles, free agency, the Combine, the draft, mini camps — it never ends. As we head into the very busy offseason, here are five key storylines for bettors on the hunt for value to pay close attention to.

2013 NFL Draft: Players That Will Make Immediate Impact
by Trevor Whenham - 2/11/2013

Now that the Super Bowl is behind us, it is time to turn our attention to the NFL Draft. It is a bit of a different draft this year because there quite possibly won’t be a quarterback taken in the Top 10 picks, and there isn’t a QB certain to be a star this year. In recent years we have been spoiled by the rookie classes of QBs, but now we need to look deeper for real impact in this draft.

2014 Super Bowl Handicapping: Can Ravens Repeat?
by Trevor Whenham - 2/4/2013

I have written a whole lot of articles over the years. Thousands. This one could be the shortest one yet. Will the Ravens win the Super Bowl again next year? No. I could leave it there, and I am pretty confident that I would be right. Since I have the time, though — football doesn’t start up for seven months after all — I’ll go a little deeper. The Ravens are going to be very hard pressed to repeat their hard earned Super Bowl next year because of at least five reasons:

Grading the 2013 NFL Coaching Hires
by Trevor Whenham - 1/21/2013

Eight NFL teams — fully a quarter of the league — fired their coaches last year, which is yet more proof of how thankless the job of NFL head coach has become. All eight vacancies have now been filled, which means it is a good time to grade the hires. Before we look at each team and grade their coaching hire in turn, let me just say that this is an impressive group of new coaches. Most years there are a couple of picks that leave you scratching your head — or imagining how soon the team will be hiring again. This year, though, it’s hard to find major fault with any of the picks. Teams did a far worse job filling GM vacancies, but on the coaching front the early returns are that this was a strong offseason.

NFL Conference Championship Player Props Odds and Betting Picks
by Alan Matthews - 1/18/2013

Well, as has been the case for most of the past decade, both No. 1 seeds failed to make it to conference championship weekend in the NFL playoffs. In fact, we came only about 31 seconds from both failing to do so this season, but Atlanta’s Matt Ryan showed why his nickname is “Matty Ice” with last week’s game-winning field goal drive against Seattle for the NFC’s top-seeded Falcons.

Ravens at Patriots Picks and NFL Betting Odds
by Trevor Whenham - 1/17/2013

The Ravens should not be able to beat the Patriots. Not on the road, and not when they are facing a future Hall of Fame quarterback playing at the peak of his abilities. Of course, the exact same thing could have been said last week, and after one of the craziest games in memory the Ravens were left standing, and Peyton Manning was left to consider what could have been. Now Baltimore needs to get their emotions in charge, reload their luck, and give it another try as we await the next chapter of their unlikely run.

Potential Super Bowl Matchups: Odds and Analysis
by Trevor Whenham - 1/15/2013

We don’t yet know which two teams will be playing in the Super Bowl, but at this point there are only four possibilities. It seems like a good idea to rank each of those four possibilities in terms of betting attractiveness (odds of each matchup occurring are from Bovada):

NFL Divisional Round Weekend Player Props Odds and Betting Picks
by Alan Matthews - 1/11/2013

Well, that was a disappointing NFL wild-card weekend. Every game went under the total and every game was pretty ugly offensively. They say pitching wins championships in baseball, and considering the offensively-challenged but pitching-rich San Francisco Giants have won two titles in the past three years, it’s true. And maybe defense and a running game are still the most important things in the NFL’s postseason. That was the case last weekend, with no team scoring more than 24 points. Thus I did technically win the highest-scoring team prop as I went with the Packers; the Ravens and Seahawks also put up 24 points.

Packers at 49ers Picks and NFL Betting Odds
by Robert Ferringo - 1/9/2013

When listing the top playoff rivalries in the NFL, it might take someone a long time before they get to Green Bay vs. San Francisco. But when the Packers and 49ers square off this weekend, it will be reminiscent of some of the most epic postseason battles of the last quarter-century.

NFL Totals Betting: Divisional Round Over and Under Predictions
by Dave Schwab - 1/9/2013

This season’s NFL Super Bowl derby kicked off last weekend with the Wild-Card Round of the playoffs. Not only did all four favorites win their game both straight up and against the spread, the total stayed “under” in all four games. After a successful regular season, I carried my winning ways into the postseason with a 2-1 record on last week’s picks.

NFL Teasers: Divisional Playoffs Basic Strategy Teases
by George Monroy - 1/9/2013

The divisional round of the NFL playoffs is finally here. Now is the point where we separate the men from the boys. This weekend fans will be treated to four fantastic playoff matchups, all of which have no shortage of interesting storylines and drama. On the AFC side of things, both the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots are favored by anywhere from nine to 10 points (depending on the sportsbook). Over in the NFC, the games are a bit closer as both home teams are 2.5-point favorites, which mean two things for fans: the possibility of an exciting game, and, most importantly, the chance to bet basic strategy teaser games. Let’s take a look at the two basic strategy teaser games on the docket and try and see if they are worth a bet.

NFL Divisional Playoffs: Ranking the Games
by Trevor Whenham - 1/9/2013

The NFL Wild-Card Round this year was, in a word, horrible. The matchups largely weren’t intriguing, and even when they were the games didn’t turn out well. There wasn’t a game played last weekend that would rank in the Top 20 all year. Or even the Top 50. That’s not what the playoffs are supposed to be about. Thankfully, things should be much better this weekend. The teams are better, the matchups are more intriguing, and surely we can’t have such bad luck two weeks in a row. Here’s a look at how the four divisional playoff games rank this weekend from a betting perspective:

NFL Wild-Card Weekend Player Props Odds and Betting Picks
by Alan Matthews - 1/4/2013

I had some moderate success picking the “mosts” during the regular season in terms of rushing, passing and receiving yards and highest-scoring teams each week. But I will have no excuse for not hitting at least two of those each of the next two weeks during the NFL playoffs with only four games each weekend.

This Week in NFL Betting by the Numbers
by Ricky Dimon - 1/4/2013

And then there were 12…. Eight will be in action this weekend, with the Broncos, Patriots, Falcons, and 49ers enjoying the luxury of sitting back and relaxing. The 2013 playoff action will begin with a team that was favored to win the Super Bowl as recently as mid-November (Houston), and the wild-card round will end with two rookie quarterbacks going head-to-head. In between we’ll be treated to the favorite for NFL MVP (Adrian Peterson) paying a visit to the Frozen Tundra, plus an encounter that has more storylines than “The NeverEnding Story” (Colts at Ravens).

Seahawks at Redskins Picks: NFL Odds and Betting Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 1/3/2013

Two of the hottest teams in the NFL are on a collision course this Sunday at FedEx Field. The Seattle Seahawks (11-5) and the Washington Redskins (10-6) will bang heads at 4:30 p.m. EST on Sunday in Washington. The Redskins, the NFC East Champions, are the No. 4 seed in the conference and, therefore, earned the right to host the top wild card team, No. 5 seed Seattle.

Colts at Ravens Picks and NFL Betting Odds
by Trevor Whenham - 1/3/2013

The team that was in Baltimore until 1984 travels to their former home to play the team that now hails from Baltimore. That’s an interesting tidbit for NFL historians, but isn’t likely to be a factor here since most of the players on both sides weren’t born when the move was made. What will motivate those players, though, is that the season will end for one of these teams at the final whistle of the game.

College Coaches Who Might Make Jump to NFL
by Trevor Whenham - 1/3/2013

The NFC West was, for once, a very entertaining division to watch this year. The biggest reason for that is the developing rivalry between Pete Carroll and Jim Harbaugh. The two coaches are establishing themselves as among the best in the NFL, and they both do it after growing their reputations in the Pac-12. Their success has made it more popular than ever before for NFL teams with coaching openings — and there are a lot of them this year — to consider someone from the coaching ranks to take the helm.

An NFL Handicapper’s Look at Black Monday
by Trevor Whenham - 1/2/2013

I don’t necessarily think all of the dust has settled yet, but already we have seen seven NFL coaches lose their jobs since the end of the regular season on Sunday night. Most weren’t particularly shocking — though Lovie Smith was definitely more surprising than most. In fact, it was really more notable that some people managed to keep their jobs — Rex Ryan, Mike Mularkey, and Kansas City GM Scott Pioli chief among them.

NFL Totals Betting: Wild Card Round Over and Under Predictions
by Dave Schwab - 12/31/2012

The NFL regular season came to a close this past Sunday, and staying true to a trend that has been the norm over the last 11 weeks is a balanced result on the total line with nine games going “over” the total and seven staying “under”. The overall record on the total line during this extended stretch of games is now 80-81-4. I managed to go 2-1 with my top three picks last week to finish the regular season 26-20-2. With the playoffs at hand, it is time to dial things up in an effort to unearth the value in the total line for this weekend’s Wild Card Round.

This Week in NFL Betting by the Numbers
by Ricky Dimon - 12/28/2012

Well, it all comes down to this. The Cowboys and Redskins aren’t the only ones who can say that on Sunday, although they certainly can preach it louder and prouder than every other team. Fellow NFC East rival New York is clinging to life as the NFL turns the page to Chapter 17 of the regular season. Minnesota and Chicago are also in contention for the sixth and final playoff spot in a conference that should be completely up for grabs during postseason play.