NFL Handicapping Articles

NFL Picks: Raiders at Chargers Odds and Betting Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 11/8/2011

You know it’s starting to get near the stretch run of the NFL season when the games start arriving weekly on Thursday night’s on the NFL Network (which I don’t get!!), and that’s the case here in Week 10 as the Oakland Raiders visit the San Diego Chargers in a big AFC West matchup.

This Week in NFL Betting By the Numbers
by Darin Zank - 11/2/2011

It's hard to believe, but the NFL regular-season will be half-over by this time next week. One team remains undefeated, while two teams remain winless. And seven divisions are being led by teams that did not win them last year. Here are a few more interesting numbers we found while sifting through the debris of NFL Week 8.

NFL Week 8 Player Props Odds and Betting Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 10/27/2011

I focused mostly on quarterbacks making their first starts of the season last week when addressing Week 7 betting props in the NFL. The lead-in to that story was about the Oakland Raider starting Carson Palmer despite the fact he had been sitting on his couch only a week previous after holding out from the Bengals.

This Week in NFL Betting By the Numbers
by Darin Zank - 10/25/2011

Week 7 in the NFL saw Tim Tebow rally the Denver Broncos to a victory, the San Diego Chargers implode in defeat, the debut of a new quarterback in Minnesota, the New Orleans Saints hitting the 60-point mark, and probably the ugliest game of the year (so far) played up in Cleveland. After perusing the sports pages here are a few of the more interesting numbers we found from Week 7.

This Week in NFL Betting By the Numbers
by Darin Zank - 10/18/2011

Another week of NFL betting action is in the books, and another trend reveals itself. This one has to do with time off, and how teams react to it. Here's a quick look at some of the more interesting numbers we've come across the last few days.

NFL Predictions: Week 6 Player Props and Betting Picks
by Alan Matthews - 10/14/2011

I did recommend taking Megatron to catch two touchdown passes for the fifth week in a row at +200 and things looked good with him catching an early long score from Matthew Stafford. But then the Bears’ defense went and made Jahvid Best look like Barry Sanders, so the Lions didn’t really need to throw deep to Johnson much after that. So Johnson finished with just one.

This Week in NFL Betting By the Numbers
by Darin Zank - 10/13/2011

Football betting is a numbers game, from the standings to the stats to the point spreads to the totals to your bankroll. And in that spirit we've been keeping track of some of what we think are the more important numbers, as far as bettors should be concerned, in the early-going of this NFL season. Here are a few of those numbers, and some explanation of what they might mean.

NFL Totals Betting: Week 6 Over and Under Predictions
by David Schwab - 10/12/2011

Points were once again plentiful in the NFL in Week 5 as the total went ‘over’ in nine of the 13 games. This mirrored the trend for the first two weeks of the season when 71.8 percent of the games went ‘over’ as well. For the fifth-straight week we were correct on two-of-three of our NFL totals betting predictions, bringing our year-to-date record to 10-5.

NFL Handicapping: Second-Half Comebacks
by T.O. Whenham - 10/7/2011

It was a strange week in the NFL last week. Of course, part of the joy of the NFL is that pretty much every week finds some way to be strange and unique. This time, though, it was because of the number of big second-half comebacks that there were.

NFL Week 5 Player Props and Betting Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 10/7/2011

It was a fairly good week in terms of recommending Bodog’s NFL player props in Week 4. Just 2-2 overall for those that were strictly for last week, but if you look at the prices you came out ahead if you happened to bet on all four.

NFL Betting Advice: Home Underdogs
by Darin Zank - 10/7/2011

Home underdogs have long been popular NFL picks among bettors both sharp and not-so-sharp. Home-field advantage may not be as big a factor as it's sometimes made out to be, but home teams do win most games. And the idea of getting points with a home team is often appealing.

NFL Predictions – Which Team Will Be Last to Win a Game?
by T.O. Whenham - 10/6/2011

We are a quarter of the way through the NFL schedule, and we have four teams — Indianapolis, Minnesota, Miami, and St. Louis — that haven’t won a game yet. It’s always interesting to watch which team stays winless the longest. Tracking futility is especially significant this year, though, since the worst team in the league will have a chance to draft Stanford’s Andrew Luck — the most highly-regarded QB prospect in years.

NFL Handicapping: Biggest Surprises
by T.O. Whenham - 10/6/2011

We’re a quarter of the way through the NFL season. As with most years, a good portion of the teams in the league are performing pretty much as you would expect them to based on how they looked coming into the season. They might be a bit better or a bit worse, but they are within range. There are some teams, though, that are either much better or much worse than seemed likely. Here’s a look at five such teams so far this season:

NFL Totals Betting: Week 5 Over and Under Predictions
by David Schwab - 10/5/2011

It was one way or the other with the total line in the first three weeks of the season, but the oddsmakers sharpened things up last week as nine games went ‘over’ the total and seven games stayed ‘under’. For the fourth week in a row we cashed in on our ‘NFL totals betting picks, bringing our year-to-date record to 8-4.

NFL Predictions for Week 4 Player Props
by Alan Matthews - 9/29/2011

We’re back with our weekly look at some special Bodog NFL props, and we have had some success so far. For example, last week in the ‘last team to be unbeaten prop,’ I recommended against the favored Patriots, suggesting they might lose to the Bills. And they did. I also said the Washington Redskins would lose at Dallas, and that happened. “The Jets, I believe, will go down this week in Oakland.” Correct! Houston wasn’t supposed to win in New Orleans and didn’t.

NFL Odds: Steelers and Big Ben Rare Sunday Underdog
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 9/29/2011

The Pittsburgh Steelers (2-1) head to Houston to take on the Texans (2-1) this Sunday. The Steelers are four-point underdogs. While Pittsburgh is rarely getting points, it’s not completely unheard of. As recent as the Super Bowl this past February they were getting three points against the Green Bay Packers.

NFL Predictions: Week 3 Team Props and Football Picks
by Alan Matthews - 9/23/2011

We could write about quarterback props every week because obviously no position has as many betting options as QB. But we focused on quarterbacks in Week 2, and hopefully you followed my advice and took the ‘over’ on the number of QBs to throw for at least 300 yards last week, which was six at Bodog. I said the ‘over’ was a lock and it was, with nine signal-callers hitting that mark, including, amazingly, Tom Brady and Cam Newton each going over 400 again (you can bet on their totals this week at Bodog).

NFL Futures Betting: Value in 2-0 and 0-2 Teams
by Darin Zank - 9/21/2011

This NFL season may be headed into Week 3, but that doesn't mean we can't continue to search out value in the NFL futures betting market. There have been a few early surprises this season, such as the Buffalo Bills and Washington Redskins, and some early disappointments, like the Kansas City Chiefs. The trick now is to figure out if there's any long-term value in any of these surprise 2-0 outfits, or if they're just fly-by-night pretenders, or if there's an 0-2 team worth a gamble.

NFL Betting Predictions: Week 2 Quarterback Props Odds and Picks
by Alan Matthews - 9/15/2011

Let’s not kid ourselves: Quarterback is the most important position in sports and if you don’t have a good one, you aren’t winning a Super Bowl. Honestly, name the last team that won it all with an average quarterback. You have to go back to the Bucs with Brad Johnson when they beat the Raiders in SB XXXVII (yes, I’m giving the Giants’ Eli Manning the benefit of the doubt). With that said, let’s take a look at some quarterback Week 2 props offered by Bodog along with some NFL predictions for betting.

NFL Handicapping Tips: Don’t Overreact To Week 1 Results
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 9/15/2011

Week 1 of the NFL regular season, aka “overreaction week,” is in the books and already the first 16 games of the 256-game regular season are being overly analyzed for hints for the remaining three months of games. Tom Brady is on pace to shatter every passing record in football history