NFL Handicapping Articles

NFL Playoff Line Movement – Divisional Round
by T.O. Whenham - 1/15/2010

The second round of the NFL playoffs start Saturday. This is when things really start to get interesting. The further we get into the playoffs, the more attention the general public pays to the games, and the more money they bet on the games. That means that the lines are going to be under more pressure now than they are in a regular season game.

NFL Free Prop Predictions – Divisional Playoffs Edition
by Jay Horne - 1/15/2010

The NFL Playoffs kicked off in a big way with a number of storylines last week. The Dallas Cowboys ended a 13-year drought when they took down the Eagles for the second straight week in a row. The Ravens dominated the Patriots and it seems the New England dynasty may have finally come crumbling down.

NFL Handicapping: Kurt Warner’s History Against the Spread
by T.O. Whenham - 1/14/2010

Kurt Warner made quite a splash before his playoff game against the Packers last week when news leaked out that Warner was likely eyeing retirement after this season. He made an even bigger splash wen he didn't let the distraction of that news bother him and went out and played close to a perfect game.

NFC Divisional Round Preview: Dallas Cowboys at Minnesota Vikings
by Robert Ferringo - 1/13/2010

The Cowboys (12-5) will line up to crunch skulls with the Vikings (12-4) at 1 p.m. on Sunday in the Metrodome. This game will match up two of the most physically imposing, most bloodthirsty, most rage-filled teams in the NFL and will be a contest of attrition. With two punishing running games and mountainous offensive lines clashing with a pair of maniacal and abusive defenses this game should be more of a throwback to the type of Playoff Football that we’ve come to expect from the NFL.

NFC Divisional Round Preview: Arizona Cardinals at New Orleans Saints
by Matt Severance - 1/13/2010

Let’s see, if the Arizona Cardinals can score 51 points – with Kurt Warner throwing more touchdown passes (five) than incompletions (four) -- against a Green Bay defense that was second in the NFL in the regular season, what can Arizona do against a New Orleans unit that fell off big time at the end of the year?

AFC Divisional Round Preview: New York Jets at San Diego Chargers
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 1/12/2010

If the Jets backed into the playoffs then the Chargers made a dead out sprint into the postseason, running the table after their 34-23 loss to Denver back on Oct. 19. This may be the ugly duckling of the divisional round of the NFL Playoffs with the underwhelming Jets headed into San Diego as nine-point underdogs.

NFL Divisional Playoffs: Examining the Coaches
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 1/12/2010

There are certain NFL Playoff rules every bettor has in the back of his or her mind. They pertain to road teams or rookie quarterbacks or warm climate teams playing in the cold or dome teams playing on real grass. But there seems to be one constant year in and year out with NFL playoff football and those are the guys with the headsets on.

AFC Divisional Round Preview: Baltimore Ravens at Indianapolis Colts
by Robert Ferringo - 1/11/2010

About four years ago the idea of a team, in the playoffs, heading to New England and beating Tom Brady one week and then going to Indianapolis and beating Peyton Manning the next would be about as likely as me sleeping with Alessandra Ambrosio one weekend and Megan Fox the next.

NFL Handicapping: Wild Card Line Movements
by T.O. Whenham - 1/8/2010

The wild card round gets underway on Saturday. The betting volume is always huge for the playoffs - more casual bettors pay attention when the playoffs roll around, and fewer games on offer mean that bettors have more to spend on each game. Because the volumes are higher, the lines are under more pressure than normal, and we need to be more aware of how they are moving and what that can tell us.

NFL Free Prop Predictions – Wildcard Weekend Playoffs Edition
by Jay Horne - 1/8/2010

A week after the regular season concluded, the postseason will get started with NFL Wild Card Weekend this Saturday. One of the interesting facts about the opening round of the playoffs is that three of the four games will feature Week 17 rematches. With so many interesting games on the table, we look to narrow in on a couple of profitable NFL betting lines and cash in big.

AFC Wild Card Preview: Ravens at Patriots
by Matt Severance - 1/7/2010

The one thing that makes Sunday’s AFC wild-card round game between Baltimore and New England stand out from the other three playoff games is that Ravens-Pats is the only matchup of the four that wasn’t also played in Week 17 – New England is a 3.5-point favorite on Bodog.

NFL Playoff Betting Adjustments
by T.O. Whenham - 1/7/2010

The NFL playoffs are finally here. Anyone who has been sports betting for a while knows that the NFL playoffs are a very different animal from the regular season. If you approach the games in January in the same way you handicapped games in October then you are going to be in trouble. Here's a collection of some of the adjustments you'll want to think about making before you make your first bet:

Chris Johnson vs. Usain Bolt: Who’s Faster?
by Matt Severance - 1/7/2010

Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson is no doubt fast. He ran a 4.24 at the 2008 NFL Scouting Combine for the best time that year (supposedly the best ever is Deion Sanders’ 4.17, but timing systems have changed dramatically over the years). Johnson’s speed was on display often this year as he became the sixth back to top 2,000 yards rushing in a season, set an NFL record for yards from scrimmage and he had three touchdown runs of 85 yards or longer – no other player has managed that in a career.

AFC Wild Card Preview: Jets at Bengals
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 1/6/2010

If we are to believe Marvin Lewis that his team approached last Sunday night’s game against the Jets as any other game and that they were trying to win, then logic says this should be as lopsided as an NFL playoff game can be.

NFC Wild Card Preview: Packers at Cardinals
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 1/6/2010

Yet another Wild Card game rematch of a Week 17 blowout, the Packers return to the playoffs as a much different team than when we last saw them in the postseason (in 2007) and the Cardinals do too. Last time we saw the Packers in the playoffs without Brett Favre under center was 1982.

NFL Playoff Predictions
by T.O. Whenham - 1/6/2010

With the NFL Playoffs just around the corner, now is the time to make some fearless predictions. NFL Playoff predictions are incredibly difficult to make accurately. Though there are only 12 teams in the tournament it always seems like what happens is precisely what no one expects. Regardless, here are eight NFL Playoff predictions that I feel pretty good about. For now.

NFC Wild Card Preview: Eagles at Cowboys
by Robert Ferringo - 1/5/2010

Wade Phillips and the Dallas Cowboys are hosting Philadelphia at 8 p.m. on Saturday in the Wild Card Round of the NFL playoffs. The Cowboys are four-point favorites while searching for their first playoff win since 1996. In that time they have lost six consecutive postseason games, an NFL record, including a home loss to the Giants in 2007 under Phillips.

Sports Betting: Third Game Myth
by Hunter Price - 1/5/2010

For decades the common belief throughout the NFL has been that it’s extremely hard to beat a team three times in a single season. The 2010 NFL postseason brings with it a couple of potential rematches that will test this myth.

Week 17 NFL Betting Causes Handicappers Serious Headaches
by T.O. Whenham - 12/30/2009

Betting on the NFL in Week 17 is, for the most part, a fool's game. I don't want to suggest that you shouldn't bet on the last week of the football regular season (though I usually don't), but if you approach this week with strategies that you use to handicap the rest of the weeks of the season then you are doomed for failure.

AFC Playoff Picture
by T.O. Whenham - 12/29/2009

It's a wild and crazy playoff picture in the AFC heading into week 17. The playoff teams in the NFC are all set, and it's just a matter of jockeying for position. In the AFC, though, only the four division winners are set. The two wild card spots are wide open, and seven teams still have a shot at those spots. Here's a look at each team and what they need to do to play more than one game in January.