NFL Handicapping Articles

2017 Los Angeles Rams Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/16/2017

If HBO's "Hard Knocks" did anything last year it was pull back the curtain on the fact that the Rams were going to be awful in their first season in Los Angeles. They were exactly that, winning just four times and being outscored by nearly 11 points per game. That debacle led to the firing of coach Jeff Fisher, and now the Rams are attempting to sell a fresh start to their fractured fan base for the second season in a row.

2017 Atlanta Falcons Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/14/2017

It is going to be there through every snap and every second of their season this year. Every fan is thinking about it. Every commentator is talking about it. There is no escaping the fact that the Atlanta Falcons should be entering this 2017 season as surprise Super Bowl champions. Instead they are entering it as the victims of the biggest choke in NFL history.

2017 Carolina Panthers Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/14/2017

We've all fallen victim to a savage hangover before. And one of sports' worst hangovers bit the Panthers last year: the Super Bowl hangover. Carolina saw its 2015 win total reduced by more than half, tumbling from 15 wins down to just six. The Panthers had their streak of three straight division titles snapped last year and were essentially a nonfactor just months after falling in the Super Bowl.

2017 New York Giants Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/14/2017

The Giants have traditionally been one of the easiest teams in the NFL to handicap. When they are posted as an underdog or not expected to do anything they always show up and overperform. And when they are faced with expectations and heaped with hype they always manage to underachieve.

2017 New Orleans Saints Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/14/2017

Sean Payton is moving dangerously close to Jeff Fisher territory. Payton, owner of a 94-66 career record and a Super Bowl title, has now led the Saints to a 7-9 record in three straight seasons, and, if you include the 2012 season in which Payton was banned, New Orleans has suffered a losing mark in four of the last five years.

2017 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/14/2017

I was ahead of the curve last year, jumping on the value of the Tampa Bay Bucs as an under-the-radar money team in 2016. They proved me sage, finishing 9-7 on the season and easily eclipsing their 2016 Las Vegas season win total. Now the word is out on the Bucs. Some splashy free agent signings and a tour on HBO's "Hard Knocks" has cast an even brighter spotlight on this squad.

2017 Seattle Seahawks Home Schedule Odds with Expert Picks and Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 8/11/2017

Can you call a team underachieving if it makes the playoffs five years in a row and has won a Super Bowl in that stretch? I suppose not, but it sure feels like the Seahawks should have more than one ring - we all know they should but for one fateful play call in Super Bowl XLIX. It seems to me that this team's championship window is closer to shutting than remaining open for the rest of the decade. But it could have one more run in it.

2017 Kansas City Chiefs Home Schedule Odds with Expert Picks and Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 8/10/2017

Interesting offseason for the defending AFC West champion Kansas City Chiefs. Did the club overpay to re-sign Pro Bowl safety Eric Berry? Sure, but it's not my money. Berry got a six-year deal worth $78 million with $40 million of it guaranteed that makes Berry the NFL's richest safety. He's the heart-and-soul of that defense and a guy you simply have to root for after missing the 2014 season due to Hodgkin's lymphoma.

2017 New England Patriots Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/10/2017

Somehow, the Patriots actually got better in the offseason following their thrilling Super Bowl victory last February. And not just a little better; the Patriots got a lot better. Brandin Cooks was added to bolster an already loaded receiving corps. Stephon Gilmore is a stud cornerback set to take over opposite Malcolm Butler. Tony Ealy was picked up on the cheap to rush the passer. Mike Gillislee jumped over from Buffalo to give the running game some thump. And then the Patriots absolutely stole David Harris from the rival Jets.

2017 Dallas Cowboys Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/10/2017

Never forget that the Dallas Cowboys have been seeped in the stench of loser for most of the Jerry Jones era. Sure, they had a nice little five-year run back when VCRs were still a thing. But over the last 30 years the Cowboys have had a winning record less than half of the time. Dallas is coming off 13 wins last year, their best regular season since 1992. But they have won 10 or more games just five times in the last 18 years, and I don't see them doing it in back-to-back seasons.

2017 Washington Redskins Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/10/2017

By finishing 8-7-1 last year, Washington finished above .500 in back-to-back seasons for the first time in 20 years. In 1996-97 they went 9-7 and then 8-7-1, the same records that they posted nearly two decades later. The Redskins haven't posted three straight winning years since the end of the Joe Gibbs era in 1992, and the last time they won two straight years they followed up with a 6-10 stinker.

2017 Philadelphia Eagles Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/10/2017

Philadelphia overperformed in the first year of their post-Chip Kelly rebuilding season. Carson Wentz exceeded expectations, and new defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz - one of the most underrated DCs in the NFL - was able to stabilize a defense that had finished No. 28 or worse in three straight seasons. The Eagles beat three playoff teams - Pittsburgh, Atlanta and Dallas - and six of their losses came by a touchdown or less.

2017 Miami Dolphins Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/10/2017

The Dolphins were a surprise playoff team last year, winning 10 games and sneaking into the Wild Card round. But their preseason has been a disaster so far, losing quarterback Ryan Tannehill to a knee injury and then grabbing Jay Cutler out of the broadcast booth. They've had to deal with other injuries (Ted Larsen) and off-field scandal (Jarvis Landry), and things appear to be resetting to the norm for this lackluster franchise.

NFL Preseason Betting Advice and Tips
by Robert Ferringo - 8/9/2017

I'm here today to give you some tips, tricks, indicators, and strategies for betting the NFL exhibition season. Obviously, preseason football betting is a bit different than how you would approach a regular-season wager. It is the same sport, but preseason football is a different game. The motivational factors are different. The way the numbers are set and what the movements mean are different. Even how much you should wager on these games is different.

2017 Oakland Raiders Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/9/2017

The Raiders entered last season as Everybody's Sleeper Team. Normally that's the kiss of death. Those "sleepers" generally enter the year overhyped and overvalued, shackled by the weight of unrealistic expectations, only to watch it all crumble. Shockingly, the Raiders didn't just live up to the hype - they surpassed it. They won 12 games, the franchise's most since 2000, and tied for the most wins by a Raider team in 40 years. And now it is time for an encore.

2017 Atlanta Falcons Home Schedule Odds with Expert Picks and Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 8/9/2017

For the second year in a row, we have an NFL team playing in a sparkling new stadium. Last year, it was the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium, although it didn't help that team make the playoffs. In 2017, the Atlanta Falcons move into the spectacular Mercedes-Benz Stadium, a retractable roof building right in downtown. I urge you to check out some video tours of that place. It's quite something and it will host this season's College Football Playoff National Championship Game (and certainly future Final Fours and Super Bowls).

2017 Kansas City Chiefs Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/9/2017

Andy Reid has won over 60 percent of his games as a head coach in the NFL. He's had just three losing seasons in 18 years and has won 10 or more games 11 times. Reid is yet to have a losing season since taking over the Chiefs, and he's increased Kansas City's win total each of the past two years.

2017 Denver Broncos Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/9/2017

Denver's follow-up campaign after their Super Bowl season left a lot to be desired. Well, not a lot, really. Just a quarterback. Denver won nine games last year on the back of its devastating defense. The Broncos fielded a Top 5 total defense for the third year in a row, and, despite some offseason personnel shuffling, they should be in that neighborhood yet again. Von Miller is a force, and Denver's secondary is the best in football. They did lose Wade Phillips, but the scheme should remain under new coordinator Joe Woods.

2017 Los Angeles Chargers Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/9/2017

When is a five-win season progress? When you won only four games the season before. The Los Angeles Chargers (that still doesn't sound right) are just 9-23 in their last two seasons, squandering what were likely the final two years of Phil Rivers' prime. The soon-to-be-36-year-old quarterback has a new city and a new coach. But he's still weighted down by the same shoddy roster that's only made the playoffs once in the last seven years.

NFL Props Odds and Expert Betting Predictions: Wide Receiver Yardage
by Trevor Whenham - 8/7/2017

The receivers who score a lot of touchdowns are the flashy guys, but it's the guys who pile up a lot of yards that are really doing the work for their teams. They do what it takes to move the ball all the time - not just when they are close to the goal line. A highly-productive receiver is the best friend a quarterback can have, and the confidence that can give a QB has a profound impact on a team in general. BetOnline has a long list of potential receivers who could lead the league in this category and their odds of doing so. Our job here is to assess the favorites for possible betting value: