NFL Handicapping Articles

Basic Strategy NFL Teasers: Best Options for Week 15
by George Monroy - 12/13/2013

As the NFL regular season comes to a close, the one constant for bettors has been basic strategy teasers. The wager has won at an 80 percent rate all year and would have brought in a profit for anyone wagering on each teaser week-in and week-out. Last week the teasers went 1-2 and had their first losing week of the season. The wager made bettors a profit for 14 straight weeks of the season.

NFL Playoffs Wild-Card Scenarios
by Trevor Whenham - 12/12/2013

As we get closer to the NFL Playoffs, there is a bit of clarity emerging in the wild-card races. There are still a lot of things that can happen, but at least we are at the point where we can begin to understand what is at stake and what is likely to happen. Teams embroiled in wild-card races can elevate their game or crumble under the pressure depending on their makeup. Bettors need to know which teams are in races, and what they need to do, so they can assess the meaning of games and the potential for motivation.

NFL Handicapping: Colts Down the Stretch and Playoffs
by Trevor Whenham - 12/12/2013

The Indianapolis Colts are an odd case at this point in the season. Last week they became the first team in the league to clinch their division, but if they keep playing like they are then they could wind up being the least inspiring division winner of all. They started out with such promise, and they won some big games. Lately, though, the bottom has fallen out of their year.

NFC East Weekly NFL Betting Picks: Week 15
by Dave Schwab - 12/11/2013

The Philadelphia Eagles sledded their way to a 34-20 victory over Detroit on Sunday to take the outright lead in the NFC East at 8-5 after Dallas started another December on a losing note in a 45-28 loss to Chicago this past Monday night. Both New York and Washington continue to go through the motions as the losses continue to pile up. I went with the “under” in the Redskins 45-10 loss to Kansas City as my pick of the week instead of just going against the Redskins, which has been a profitable strategy the past several weeks.

NFL Totals Betting: Week 15 Over and Under Predictions
by Dave Schwab - 12/11/2013

Despite cold and snowy weather all across the country last Sunday, a play on the “over” was still the way to go in the NFL. The total ended up going over in 10 of the 16 games on Week 14’s schedule. I had bad weather on my side in all three “under” picks last week, but all three games went way over the closing line. This unfortunate turn of events dropped my record on the year to 22-19-1, so it is back to the drawing board for Week 15 in the NFL.

NFL Betting and Handicapping: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 12/10/2013

Was Week 14 the best regular season Sunday in NFL history? That's saying a lot, but I'd argue that it was the best slate of 1 p.m. games that I can remember. The winter weather played a big role in several East Coast games, so let's hope that's what happens at the Super Bowl. Here's what we saw Sunday in the early games:

Basic Strategy Teasers: Best Options for Week 14
by George Monroy - 12/6/2013

The big NFL game of the week will be a huge NFC West divisional matchup between the one-loss Seattle Seahawks and heated rival San Francisco 49ers. Luckily for bettors, the game is a basic strategy teaser matchup that will give the visiting Seahawks six extra points to play with. The matchup is a likely candidate to decide the NFC’s representative in this season’s Super Bowl, and it could go a long way in helping either the New Orleans Saints or Carolina Panthers steal the top seed in the conference.

NFL Handicapping: Houston and the Gary Kubiak Firing
by Trevor Whenham - 12/6/2013

There was a mercy killing in Houston this morning. Gary Kubiak’s days had long been numbered, but this loss to Jacksonville last time out was the final straw, and he was put out of his suffering. He was fired this morning, and defensive coordinator Wade Phillips has been named interim coach for the rest of the season. Phillips has already filled that role for one game this season when Kubiak was out recovering from his mini-stroke.

Week 14 NFL Line Movement – Shrinking Spreads for Denver, San Fran
by CarbonSports - 12/6/2013

Three games are creating mayhem in the sportsbook already and they all involve curious Week 14 NFL line movement. By now we have a vague idea of how good and bad certain teams are given the circumstances of a particular matchup. Is it time to trust your instincts or the lead of the oddsmakers? The answers may surprise you.

NFL Week 14 Special Props Odds and Betting Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 12/5/2013

I was feeling rather brilliant for a minute there in last week's Cardinals-Eagles game. I predicted in this space a week ago that I thought Nick Foles' streak of not getting picked off would end against Arizona and that Cards star Patrick Peterson would be the guy to do it. And indeed Peterson did snag a Foles pass in the fourth quarter, but it was wiped out because of a holding call on safety Tyrann Mathieu. Arizona may have won had that stood.

NFL Handicapping: Kansas City Chiefs
by Trevor Whenham - 12/5/2013

The Kansas City Chiefs have been a perfect example this year of how fickle fans and public bettors can be. Before the season they were getting very little attention at all, and they would have been getting absolutely none if it weren’t for Andy Reid and some interest around the raw deal Alex Smith got in San Francisco. After they started winning some games, though, and were the last unbeaten standing, people started jumping on the bandwagon.

NFC East Weekly NFL Betting Picks: Week 14
by Dave Schwab - 12/4/2013

Dallas and Philadelphia kept pace with one another atop the NFC East with victories last week, and New York remained in the race with a crucial win over Washington. I had the Giants last week as my ‘pick of the week’ in a game that closed with the Redskins favored by a point. It was one of my biggest plays of the year, and with another five units my total profit for the year is now $3,250 on a $100-per-unit wager. My overall record for the season with these picks is a sterling 11-2 as things continue to fall into place.

NFL Totals Betting: Week 14 Over and Under Predictions
by Dave Schwab - 12/4/2013

A play on the “under” in Week 13 of the NFL regular season proved to be profitable with 10 of the 16 games on the schedule staying under the closing total line. This cost me in two games I had going “over” the total for a final record of 1-2 in my top picks. Heading into this week’s game, my record for the year is now 22-16-1.

Race to the First Pick in 2014 NFL Draft
by Trevor Whenham - 12/4/2013

The race for the most hotly-contested spot in the NFL this year is intense, deep, and constantly shifting. I’m talking, of course, about the No. 1 overall pick in next year’s draft. There are a lot of teams that are giving their all to prove that there is no worse team than them and that they deserve to be on the clock starting in January. Five squads have the inside track at this point. Here’s how the race breaks out:

NFL Betting and Handicapping: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 12/3/2013

It's now clear that the road to the Super Bowl runs through Seattle in the NFC and Denver in the AFC, and what a perfect title game that would be. Two teams who are used to the elements playing in the first outdoor cold-weather Super Bowl. Arguably the NFL's best defense against clearly its best offense. Predictably, Seahawks vs. Broncos is the big Super Bowl matchup favorite at +150 on Sportsbook.ag.

NFL Week 13 Special Props Odds and Betting Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 11/27/2013

I did not do NFL rushing or receiving 2013 leaders stories this summer -- I incorporated individual leaders props into team previews -- but my Doc's colleague Dave Schwab did. Let's revisit what he had, because Bovada has released its updated props on the leaders in each category as part of the sites NFL Week 13 specials.

NFL Totals Betting: Week 13 Over and Under Predictions
by Dave Schwab - 11/27/2013

For the second week in a row the oddsmakers kept the total lines razor-sharp in the NFL, with seven games going “over” the closing line and seven staying “under”. I was also able to duplicate my record on my top three plays at 2-1 to raise my overall mark on the year to 21-14-1. This in turn took my winning percentage back over 58 percent.

NFL Betting and Handicapping: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 11/26/2013

Is there any doubt at this point that the NFC North is the worst division in the NFL and that the NFC West is the best? I don't think so after what happened in Week 12. Let's start with the “NFC Norris,” as Chris Berman likes to call it. Being that the Detroit Lions were nine-point home favorites against a bad Tampa Bay team, the Bears were only one-point underdogs at a Rams team starting Kellen Clemens at QB, and that the Packers and Vikings were playing one another, well, the division seemed a lock for at least two wins on Sunday.

NFC East Weekly NFL Betting Picks: Week 13
by Dave Schwab - 11/26/2013

It took 12 weeks of games, but we are finally starting to get some separation in the race for the NFC East Division title. Dallas and Philadelphia are both over .500 at 6-5, but the Cowboys currently hold the tie-breaker because of an earlier win over the Eagles. New York is two games back at 4-7 after this past Sunday’s loss to Dallas, and Washington’s third loss in a row has it in last place at 3-8.

NFL Week 12 Special Props Odds and Betting Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 11/22/2013

It was a pretty good Week 11 in terms of Bovada specials that were immediately decided on Sunday. Percy Harvin made his Seahawks debut last week, fittingly against Minnesota, and as I expected his snap count was kept very limited. He did have one nice 58-yard kickoff return that almost ruined my recommendation, but I thought there was no way Harvin would find the end zone, and that paid off at -200. I bet the farm on that.