NFL Handicapping Articles

2011 NFC East Predictions and NFL Betting Odds
by Robert Ferringo - 8/19/2011

Separating Hype from Hope in the NFC East can be a dicey proposition. The four teams that comprise this venerable division are four of the most successful, proud, storied organizations in the sport. And no matter what the offseason give-and-take produces there is always the belief that these teams are among the best in the conference and in the sport.

NFL Handicapping: First-Year NFL Coaches
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 8/19/2011

There are eight first-year head coaches in the NFL this season. Rarely has there been an incoming class of head coaches this big and this obscure. There is the former head coach people are well aware of like John Fox, who is taking over at Denver, and the interim coaches from last season now taking the reins like Jason Garrett in Dallas and Leslie Frazier in Minnesota. There is the former collegiate head coach, Jim Harbaugh at San Francisco and the elite coordinator like Ron Rivera, now in Carolina.

2011 New York Giants Predictions and NFC East Futures Odds
by David Schwab - 8/19/2011

No matter what happens during the offseason, the New York Giants have made a habit out of being one of the most mysterious teams in the league. Just when you think things are going to implode, they circle the wagons and go on a run that leads to an improbable Super Bowl Championship, as was the case in 2007. Just when you think this team has its act together, things quickly come unraveled as they did in 2009, when the Giants started the season 5-0 only to wind-up 8-8 and out of the playoffs. The bottom line is that New York has managed to win at least 10 games in four of its last six seasons and has not finished under .500 since 2004.

2011 Cincinnati Bengals Predictions and Super Bowl Futures Odds
by Aaron Smith - 8/19/2011

A year ago hopes were high in Cincinnati as the three-headed monster of Carson Palmer, Chad Ocho Cinco, and Terrell Owens made Bengals fans believe their team could do something special. After a dreadful 4-12 campaign where essentially nothing went right, the Bengals will start this season without any of those three players on the squad.

NFL Preseason Betting: Top Storylines
by T.O. Whenham - 8/18/2011

I hate the NFL Preseason. I would rather watch a peewee team practice than sit through most preseason games — especially in the first week. Still, as painful as it can be you have to pay attention to what is going on. The betting public loves to overreact, and these preseason games give them a whole lot to overreact to. By keeping an eye on what is going on you can spot places where they are likely to read too much into things, and that can create opportunities for value down the road. Here’s a look at six of the most interesting storylines to emerge from this first week of action:

NFL Predictions: Rookie Quarterbacks
by T.O. Whenham - 8/18/2011

The NFL Draft this year turned into a Year of the Quarterback. That wasn’t necessarily because of overwhelming talent, but because of a whole lot of need and several viable prospects. There were five quarterbacks picked in the first 36 picks in the draft. A sixth QB, Ryan Mallett, had first-round talent, but attitude issues dropped him down to the third round — 74th overall.

2011 New England Patriots Predictions and Futures Betting Odds
by Darin Zank - 8/18/2011

The New England Patriots haven't won a Super Bowl in a while, but they're still one of the NFL's elite teams. Last year New England rolled to the best record in the league at 14-2, and then got upset by the Jets in a home playoff game. In fact, come to think of it, the Patriots haven't won a playoff game since 2007, and they haven't won a Super Bowl since the Spygate case hit.

2011 Miami Dolphins Predictions and NFL Betting Odds
by Darin Zank - 8/18/2011

The Miami Dolphins have most of the ingredients necessary to be a playoff contender. They can run the ball, they've got a pretty good offensive line, some nice receivers and one of the better defenses in the league. But Miami, like a handful of other NFL teams in similar situations, is lacking at one very important position; of course, we're talking about the quarterback.

2011 Philadelphia Eagles Predictions and Super Bowl Futures Odds
by David Schwab - 8/18/2011

When Jeff Fisher was let go by the Titans, Philadelphia’s Andy Reid assumed the dubious title of being the longest tenured head coach in the NFL. In his 12 previous seasons with the Eagles he has led them to five NFC Championship Games and one Super Bowl, but he is still searching for that elusive world title. With team owner Jeff Lurie opening up the purse strings and 36-year old General Manager Howie Roseman wasting little time in spending every penny he could find, this could be the season that Reid finally adds the Lombardi Trophy to his long and illustrious resume.

2011 New York Jets Predictions and Betting Odds
by Darin Zank - 8/18/2011

The New York Jets were a trendy pick to click last year, mainly because of their defense, their running game and Coach Rex Ryan's bluster. And while they had some ups and downs, they did reach the AFC Championship Game for the second straight season. But they also lost that game again, in part because it's difficult to win three consecutive playoff games on the road. So this season the New Yorkers continue their search for, at the very least, some home playoff games.

2011 Detroit Lions Predictions and NFL Futures Odds
by Alan Matthews - 8/18/2011

A 6-10 record isn’t often a promising sign of hope for an NFL franchise – but then again most NFL franchises didn’t hire Matt Millen to drive it into the ground for nearly a decade. Of course, I am speaking of the Detroit Lions, who fired Millen three games into the 2008 season but not before he made the franchise essentially the Bengals of the NFC. Detroit went on to infamy in that ’08 campaign by becoming the only franchise to have an 0-16 season. The club took a baby step in 2009 under first-year coach Jim Schwartz, the former Titans defensive coordinator, by winning two games.

2011 Cleveland Browns Predictions and NFL Futures Odds
by Aaron Smith - 8/18/2011

Mike Holmgren and Tom Heckert have decided to take the Cleveland Browns in a different direction. Eric Mangini is out and Pat Shurmur is in as the new head coach of this team. Shurmur runs the same system on both offense and defense that Holmgren used when he was a successful head coach in the league. The Browns are hoping this change at the top will lead to a real turnaround in the years ahead. Browns fans are passionate about football, but they haven’t had much to cheer about in the last few years.

2011 Dallas Cowboys Predictions and Super Bowl Futures Odds
by David Schwab - 8/16/2011

Coming off an 11-5 record, NFC East title, and the first win in the playoffs since 1996, the 2010 season was supposed to be a dream season for the Cowboys. Team Owner Jerry Jones had vision of his team being the first in NFL history to ever host a Super Bowl with the game already scheduled to be played in his billion dollar stadium. The dream quickly turned into a nightmare with a 1-6 start, a season-ending injury to quarterback Tony Romo, and a mid-season firing of head coach Wade Phillips. With some of the most optimistic fans in the world, the expectations are rising that the return of Romo to the lineup will mark a return to the top of the NFC.

2011 Washington Redskins Predictions and Futures Odds
by David Schwab - 8/16/2011

Prior to the start of the 2010 season, the betting public was bullish on Washington’s chances to claim the NFC East title behind a Mike Shanahan-led team that had Albert Haynesworth anchoring the defense and quarterback Donovan McNabb leading the way on offense. The climb to get on the bandwagon was short lived as Haynesworth never even factored into the defensive scheme and McNabb’s early season success gave way to being sent to the bench by the season’s end. This year expectations have been kept a bit more in perspective as Shanahan goes back to the drawing board to try and turn things around.

NFL Handicapping: Best and Worst Against the Point Spread
by T.O. Whenham - 8/15/2011

As we eagerly await the chance to plunge into yet another NFL season, this is a good chance to look back at last season to see what we can learn in order to improve our NFL handicapping. Here’s a look at the four best and four worst teams against the spread in the league last year. Will they stay where they were, or are their betting fates due for a change?

NFL Handicapping: Tips for Betting the First Preseason Games
by T.O. Whenham - 8/11/2011

If I had to choose I would say that my favorite of the four weeks of NFL Preseason games is the last one. The logic behind that is simple — I really, really hate the preseason, and the last week means we are almost at the regular season. Finally.

NFL Player Props and Picks: Sidney Rice and Matt Hasselbeck
by Alan Matthews - 8/6/2011

In quarterback Matt Hasselbeck’s 10-year career in Seattle, it seemed he rarely had an elite receiver to throw to. Just look at the Seahawks’ top receiving threats the past three seasons, for example: retread Mike Williams in 2010: 65 catches 751 yards, 2 TDs; a past-his-prime T.J. Houshmandzadeh in 2009: 79 catches, 911 yards, 3 TDs; a tight end who isn’t exactly Antonio Gates or Tony Gonzalez in John Carlson in 2008: 55 catches, 627 yards and 5 TDs.

NFL Player Props and Picks: Kevin Kolb and Donovan McNabb
by Alan Matthews - 8/5/2011

Can you blame Kevin Kolb for the apparent downfall of Donovan McNabb’s career? I’m sure McNabb doesn’t, but it was because of Kolb that McNabb was dealt from the Eagles to the Redskins before last season. You may remember that early in the 2009 season, McNabb, a six-time Pro Bowler who had been the Eagles’ starter since 1999, missed Weeks 2 and 3 with an injury and Kolb saw his first real action.

NFL Predictions for Playoff Teams from Last Season
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 8/4/2011

On average, five NFL teams that reached the playoffs one season end up missing the postseason the following year. The reverse of that is that the NFL Playoffs will usually feature five teams who were not postseason-bound the year before. With only 12 total playoff spots, that equates to plenty of turnover.

Overrated NFL Free Agent Pickups
by T.O. Whenham - 8/3/2011

The craziness of this NFL free agency season has led to some serious hype by the media. Bandwagons are being jumped onto and off of at a record pace as the media writes and talks about the high-profile moves with great excitement. Some of the excitement is warranted, but for every move worthy of the hype there are a couple which are quite possibly heading towards disaster. Here are six moves that are getting more attention — and generating more excitement in the betting public — than they should be: