NFL Handicapping Articles

NFL Picks: Browns at Ravens Betting Predictions and Football Odds
by T.O. Whenham - 9/26/2012

The first edition of the Modell Bowl this year has some added significance — it’s the first one played since Art Modell died earlier this month. Most Cleveland fans probably won’t miss him. Unfortunately, the fans in Cleveland haven’t had much to cheer for since Modell left town, and this year so far has been more of the same. Cleveland is one of only two teams in the league that hasn’t won a game yet.

NFL Betting: Handicapping Jay Cutler and the Bears
by T.O. Whenham - 9/20/2012

Jay Cutler is... unique. He’s far from the best quarterback in the league (with Jason Campbell as his backup I don’t even think he’s the best QB on his team), but the league would unquestionably be less interesting if he wasn’t in it. Of course, I can say that because I have no emotional attachment to the Bears whatsoever, and I rarely feel the need to bet on them.

NFL Handicapping: Are Arizona Cardinals a Contender?
by T.O. Whenham - 9/20/2012

If you tell me that you predicted that the Cardinals would be at 2-0 at this point in the season, and that one of those wins would be at New England, then even though I probably don’t know you I am going to call you a liar. You would have to be a really committed Arizona fan or a pill popper to have seen this one coming. Yet, there are only six unbeaten teams remaining, and one of them is based in Phoenix. Truly bizarre.

NFL Picks: Giants at Panthers Odds and Betting Predictions
by T.O. Whenham - 9/19/2012

This game should be a lot more than it is. You have the defending Super Bowl Champion playing last season’s Rookie of the Year -- one of the most exciting players in the league in years. It should be a thrilling game, and a great way to start the third week of the NFL season.

Weekly Philadelphia Eagles Betting Picks: Week 3 vs. Cardinals
by David Schwab - 9/19/2012

The Philadelphia Eagles renew an old division rivalry this Sunday afternoon when they travel to University of Phoenix Stadium to square off against the Arizona Cardinals. The game is scheduled to kick off at 4:05 p.m. (ET) and it will be broadcast nationally on FOX. This betting preview is part of an ongoing series that started with Game 1 of the preseason where I take an in-depth look at each and every Eagles game this year and offer a free NFL pick using Doc’s Sports Unit Betting System.

NFL Betting: Are Washington Redskins a Super Bowl Contender?
by T.O. Whenham - 9/13/2012

I have now had four days to digest what I saw on opening Sunday of the NFL season in New Orleans when the Redskins manhandled the Saints, but it still doesn’t make any sense. The story of the game heading in was pretty much universally shared. New Orleans was an elite team coming off a tough season that had galvanized them, and they were ready to prove they were among the class of the NFC. Washington had an exciting young QB, but he was still a raw rookie and he had a shocking shortage of depth around him, so it was likely to take time for him to find his wings.

NFL Week 2 Quarterback Performance Special Props and Picks
by Alan Matthews - 9/13/2012

Bovada has always been great about releasing some NFL player/team special props each week of the season, and there are several out for Week 2. Here is a look at the ones involving a few quarterbacks because, let’s face it, the NFL is a quarterback league. That is what the public likes to bet on.

NFL Picks: Bears at Packers Predictions and Betting Odds
by T.O. Whenham - 9/12/2012

The NFC North should be a three-team dogfight this year, so this bitter rivalry has particular importance. A loss would be a real blow for either team — and especially the Packers after their opening setback. After losing only once all of last year, starting off 0-2 would definitely not be the way things were supposed to start out.

NFL Totals Betting: Week 2 Over and Under Predictions
by David Schwab - 9/12/2012

The 2012 NFL regular season got underway with a bang last week as the average number of points scored was the most in Week 1 since 1970. Nine of the games went “over” the total, with six of the games covering by double-digits. I missed the mark on two of my three picks last week, so it is back to the drawing board for Week 2.

NFL Handicapping: Week 1 Bad Quarterback Performances
by T.O. Whenham - 9/11/2012

The opening week of the NFL season was defined by two contrasting themes this year. On one hand there was some shockingly good offensive production on display — five teams scored 40 or more points, and that has never happened before in the opening week. For teams that weren’t so lucky, though, there was some shockingly bad QB play on display.

NFL Handicapping: First Head Coach Fired Props and Prediction
by Alan Matthews - 9/7/2012

The NFL is not Major League Baseball, the NBA or the NHL. Those leagues’ seasons drag on for months and months, with 162 regular-season games in MLB and 82 in the NBA and NHL. Because of the length of those seasons and the possibility that a team can turn its fortunes around as late as midseason, you often see coaches/managers fired during the season.

NFL Rookie Quarterbacks Week 1 Props and Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 9/7/2012

The 1983 NFL Draft has long been considered the “quarterback draft” as six signal-callers were drafted in the first round that year, oddly all by AFC teams: No. 1 John Elway (Colts, but then traded to Denver; Hall of Famer), No. 7 Todd Blackledge (Chiefs – big mistake), No. 14 Jim Kelly (Bills, Hall of Famer), No. 15 Tony Eason (Patriots, mostly a bust but did lead Pats to a Super Bowl), No. 24 Ken O’Brien (Jets, major reach but was decent for a while) and No. 27 Dan Marino (Dolphins, you may have heard of him; Hall of Famer).

NFL Odds: Line Movement for Week 1
by Robert Ferringo - 9/5/2012

I have been staring at these NFL Week 1 odds long enough to make my eyes bleed. Now its time to make the books bleed. The sportsbooks, both online and in Las Vegas, posted early NFL lines back in May. They do this to generate interest and stoke the flame of the biggest moneymaker in gambling. Then the NFL Week 1 spreads hit the board in earnest back in July, with most of the early action on these games came from sharp, professional bettors.

Weekly Philadelphia Eagles Betting Picks: Week 1 vs. Browns
by David Schwab - 9/5/2012

The Philadelphia Eagles will open their regular season this Sunday afternoon with an interconference matchup against the Cleveland Browns at Cleveland Browns Stadium. The game is set to kick off at 1 p.m. (EST) and it will be broadcast locally on FOX. This betting preview is part of an ongoing series that started with Game 1 of the preseason where I take an in-depth look at each and every Eagles game this year and offer a free NFL pick using Doc’s Sports Unit Betting System.

NFL Handicapping: Don’t Put Too Much Stock in Preseason
by T.O. Whenham - 9/4/2012

NFL Preseason records are notoriously hard to trust. Every year we see good teams that don’t care about their preseason performance, and we also see bad teams that shine in August. During the heyday of the Manning Colts, the team was notoriously weak in the preseason but managed to move on and dominate the regular season consistently. The reason for that was simple — neither Manning nor Tony Dungy seemed to care even slightly about the scoreboard until September rolled around. By contrast, in 2008 when the Lions compiled the only 0-16 season in league history they were the only undefeated team in the preseason.

This Week in NFL Betting by the Numbers
by Adam Richard - 9/4/2012

The first game this season falls on a Wednesday and it is a legitimate battle of two squads with high hopes every season. Dallas against the New York Giants in a heated, early division fight that will likely have major implications on the division late in the season.

NFL Handicapping: Keys to Success for Every Team
by T.O. Whenham - 9/4/2012

As we get ready for the start of the much-anticipated NFL season, it’s a good time to look at the biggest key to success for each of the 32 teams in the league. It oversimplifies things to say that just one thing can make the difference between a good season and a disappointing one, but each of these factors will have a big impact on how things turn out:

Overrated NFL Handicapping Storylines for Week 1
by T.O. Whenham - 9/4/2012

As we get closer to the start of the NFL season, the media goes crazy writing, talking about, and examining every possible storyline. Some storylines in particular get a whole lot of attention — far more than they deserve. They sound good and they seem important, so they get talked about much more than they deserve. And as a result the betting public attaches more significance to them than they deserve.

Dallas Cowboys Player Props Odds and Betting Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 8/31/2012

Give Jerry Jones credit: He keeps the Dallas Cowboys in the national conversation. You could argue that the Cowboys remain “America’s Team” even though they have exactly one playoff victory in the past 15 years: a 2009 wild-card victory over the Eagles. Yet Cowboys games usually are among the highest-rated each season on NFL telecasts. Dallas will have a minimum of five nationally televised games this season (four prime-time, Thanksgiving Day) starting with Wednesday’s season opener at the Super Bowl Champion Giants.

NFL Handicapping: Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks
by T.O. Whenham - 8/30/2012

One of the more interesting developments in this NFL Preseason has been the announcement out of Seattle that Russell Wilson won the three-way race for the starting quarterback gig over free agent addition Matt Flynn and incumbent Tarvaris Jackson. The degree to which people are surprised by this development is directly related to how much they have watched Wilson play. As a Big Ten fan I watched him play a lot at Wisconsin last year. As such, the only thing I was surprised about was that it took him three preseason games to win the job. I thought he might have won the job sooner.