NFL Handicapping Articles

NFL Betting Predictions: Week 15 Opening Line Report and Picks
by Alan Matthews - 12/11/2017

This writer has no love for the sports teams from the City of Brotherly Love, but wow do I feel bad for Eagles fans right now. Sunday was supposed to be a great day of celebration surrounding the team as it won a terrific game at the Los Angeles Rams in a potential playoff preview. Not only did the Eagles clinch the NFC East for the first time since 2013, but the Minnesota Vikings also lost - putting Philly back in the driver's seat for the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs.

NFL Betting Odds: Week 14 Line Movements & Last-Minute News
by Alan Matthews - 12/8/2017

I am growing tired of talking about the inept New York Giants and their quarterback/coaching/general manager situation, and you have my word this is the last time I speak of them for the 2017 season. But I'm a sucker for special coaching props, and BookMaker has one up.

NFL Expert Picks Against the Spread: Green Bay Packers at Cleveland Browns
by Alan Matthews - 12/6/2017

For my Sunday preview in Week 13, I went with an NFC North team (Chicago) against one of the NFL's worst teams (San Francisco) and hit on my top recommendation for that one, the under on a small total. Let's stick with that NFC North vs. Worst theme this Sunday as the Green Bay Packers visit the Cleveland Browns in what sure feels like one of the biggest trap games of the season. More on that shortly.

NFL Expert Picks Against the Spread: New Orleans Saints at Atlanta Falcons
by Alan Matthews - 12/5/2017

It's fitting that this week's NFC South matchup between the Saints and Falcons is one of the best Thursday night games of the season in what has been a very blah slate that night. It's also the second-to-last one, although I'd prefer to simply ignore the Week 15 matchup between the Broncos and Colts with how bad those two are. There are no Thursday games in Week 16, instead two on Saturday. And there's never one in Week 17 as the NFL doesn't want teams playing on a short week with all the playoff potential on the line.

Expert NFL Handicapping: Competitive Divisional Races
by Trevor Whenham - 12/5/2017

As is often the case at this point three-quarters of the way through the season, there are some division races that are over and some that are still very much up in the air. The Patriots and Steelers are running away with things as usual, and Philadelphia and Minnesota are ahead by daylight as well. That leaves four other divisions, and those are much more competitive. Here's a look at how each of the four break down:

Expert NFL Betting Advice: Odds to Win NFC with Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 12/5/2017

Just one game can make such a difference when it comes to a playoff race. It seems unlikely when every team plays 16 games over a season that goes on for months, but almost always you can look at one game that really shaped how a race turned out. And it's quite possible that we will look back to this past Sunday when we are thinking about the race to win the NFC, or at least to have a bye week. If Philadelphia had beaten Seattle - as many people expected - then they would have maintained their cushion atop the conference and would have been in very good shape.

NFL Betting Predictions: Week 14 Opening Line Report and Picks
by Alan Matthews - 12/4/2017

If you bet the Tennessee Titans on the spread each week, you are now officially obligated to have a giant man crush on running back Derrick Henry, the former Heisman winner from Alabama. He has single-handedly turned an ATS loss into a victory twice - but really screwed up both times.

NFL Betting Odds: Week 13 Line Movements & Last-Minute News
by Alan Matthews - 12/1/2017

A bad New York football team decided to bench its past-its-prime veteran quarterback this week to get a look at a younger guy with an eye toward the future - and perhaps assist in tanking to land the highest pick possible in the 2018 draft. I fully expected to type that above sentence at some point this season, but talking about the Jets and Josh McCown. Instead, the big news in the NFL this week was the Giants sitting franchise icon Eli Manning, who most likely has played his final game with the Big Blue.

Expert NFL Handicapping: Possibility of Cleveland Browns Winless Season
by Trevor Whenham - 12/1/2017

We are getting into impressive, potentially historical territory here for the Cleveland Browns. Just one team - the 2008 Detroit Lions - have run the table, managing to lose every game they played. It's hard to be that bad in the NFL. A lot of truly awful teams still have managed to trip into a win, so the Lions should really and truly be proud of what they did. At the time it was painful, but it was a true feat.

NFL Expert Picks Against the Spread: San Francisco 49ers at Chicago Bears
by Alan Matthews - 11/29/2017

I'll grant you that from a national perspective in Week 13, the marquee matchups are Vikings at Falcons, Panthers at Saints, and Eagles at Seahawks. But what fun is writing the obvious? Take the playoffs out of the equation, and I'm not sure there's a game with more storylines than the otherwise putrid matchup between the 49ers and Bears.

NFL Expert Picks Against the Spread: Washington Redskins at Dallas Cowboys
by Alan Matthews - 11/28/2017

That indigestion you may have felt Thanksgiving night? Perhaps it was the mother-in-law's candied yams or maybe due to watching a full day of pretty ugly NFL action. In case you didn't get enough of the Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys from Turkey Day, they play this Thursday night in what can be called a wild-card eliminator - although I doubt the winner is good enough to earn a playoff spot. The loser is surely done.

NFL Week 12 Betting Results: Las Vegas Sportsbooks Take One on the Chin
by Doc's Sports - 11/28/2017

In what turned out to be one of the biggest winning weeks in the NFL for Las Vegas sports bettors in recent memory with 12 of 16 favorites covering against the spread, Doc's Sports will try to put things in perspective in a special interview with expert handicapper Raphael Esparza.

NFL Betting Predictions: Week 13 Opening Line Report and Picks
by Alan Matthews - 11/27/2017

It's very rare for a team to start 5-0 and miss the playoffs - since the playoff field expanded to 12 teams in 1990, better than 90 percent of 5-0 teams made the postseason. The 2016 Minnesota Vikings were the last to not, losing eight of their last 11. It's also rare these days for a quarterback drafted in the first round to not play at least some in his rookie season.

NFL Betting Odds: Week 12 Line Movements & Last-Minute News
by Alan Matthews - 11/24/2017

Some in the NFL were surprised that the Denver Broncos hired Vance Joseph as their head coach this past season. After all, the guy had been a coordinator for just one season, leading the Miami Dolphins defense in 2016. And it's not like that defense was all that great. Miami ranked 29th in yards allowed and 18th in points. The Broncos already had two young quarterbacks on their roster in Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch, so the thinking was that boss and Hall of Famer John Elway, a fair QB in his day, would hire an offensive mind.

NFL Expert Picks Against the Spread: Buffalo Bills at Kansas City Chiefs
by Alan Matthews - 11/22/2017

So, explain to me how contracts for head coaches in the NFL are guaranteed but those belonging to the guys who go out and risk their immediate and long-term health on the field are not? Well, I know why: the players' union in the NFL isn't nearly as strong as the ones in MLB or the NBA. But that's a story for another day.

Expert NFL Handicapping: Six Reasons the New Orleans Saints are a Super Bowl Contender
by Trevor Whenham - 11/22/2017

I'll admit that I was wrong about the New Orleans Saints this year. That's not particularly shocking - being wrong a lot is a part of this job whether you like it or not. But I really thought that the Saints would be much like they have been for a few years now - an exciting team that isn't very good at winning games because their high-potency offense isn't matched with a defense of any sort.

NFL Expert Picks Against the Spread: Minnesota Vikings at Detroit Lions
by Alan Matthews - 11/21/2017

It's arguably the greatest day of the year on Thursday because we Americans get to stuff our faces full of turkey and all the fixins while watching three NFL games in between naps. There's no question that this Thanksgiving the best game if the first one as Minnesota visits Detroit. The middle matchup between the Chargers and Cowboys would be interesting if Ezekiel Elliott was active, but Dallas looks lost without the suspended 2016 rushing king. In 2006, the NFL added a night game to the holiday to pimp the NFL Network as it used to be showed only on that channel. This year's Giants-Redskins matchup is a bore and on NBC.

Thanksgiving NFL Betting: Odds and Analysis for All Three Games
by Trevor Whenham - 11/21/2017

This is the week every year when I have Thanksgiving envy. As a Canadian I get to celebrate Thanksgiving, but ours comes on a Monday in October. It's not the major holiday that the American version is, and we don't get a smorgasbord of football or a shopping frenzy or anything. Don't get me wrong, I love our Thanksgiving - but it may be the one Canadian thing that is second-best. Of course, I don't have to be an American to eat too much and watch football all day on Thursday. Let's look at each of the three games and what they have to offer us:

Expert NFL Handicapping: Teams in Need of QB Change
by Trevor Whenham - 11/21/2017

We are at the time in the NFL season when it has become very clear which teams are not happy with their quarterback situations. You can see the changes coming a mile off right now. So too can the players on the teams, and that can have a big impact on how they finish out the seasons - and not typically a positive impact. There are at least seven teams - and likely more than that - that are going to be looking to shake up their quarterback rooms significantly next year. Here's a look at them:

NFL Betting Predictions: Week 12 Opening Line Report and Picks
by Alan Matthews - 11/20/2017

Perhaps I'm just paying closer attention, but I truly can't remember an NFL season with so many crazy bad beats - and my condolences if you parlayed the Miami Dolphins at +7 on a 6-point teaser along with the "under" 44 for Sunday's game against visiting Tampa Bay in one postponed from Week 1 due to Hurricane Irma.