NFL Handicapping Articles

NFL Betting Odds: Week 3 Line Movements & Last-Minute News
by Alan Matthews - 9/22/2017

Most weeks in this space, I will address some Bovada weekly NFL specials as that site tends to have the most unique ones (caveat: I used to help create some). I'm not going to go into the statistics of how often 2-0 teams make the playoffs on average and how many 0-2 teams don't. That's been repeated often -- it's obviously more often than not and rare, respectively.

Basic Strategy Teasers: Best Week 3 NFL Betting Options
by Chris Vasile - 9/22/2017

Before I write 1,000 words explaining who I like and why I like them this week, let me take a moment to thank the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers for saving the NFL season and giving us something to be excited about heading into Week 3. Everywhere I turned and every expert who wrote or spoke words about this game expected it to be a sloppy, low-scoring, typical Thursday night football game like we've grown accustom to. Instead, the consensus pick of "under" 39 was basically toast at half time and that missed extra-point from Robbie Gould early in the fourth quarter came back to bite the Niners in the butt. It was also a fantasy owners dream, with Todd Gurley, Carlos Hyde, and Sammy Watkins all breaking 20 points. But that's a story for another day.

NFL Expert Picks Against the Spread: New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles
by Alan Matthews - 9/19/2017

I originally planned to look at Seattle-Tennessee as my Sunday intriguing matchup in Week 3 as that could be a potential Super Bowl preview (not saying it's going to happen, but it could). Plus, those clubs are a lot alike. However, after watching the New York Football Giants on Monday night and their inept offense against the Detroit Lions, I felt compelled to switch up to Giants-Eagles in Philadelphia's home opener.

NFL Expert Picks Against the Spread: Los Angeles Rams at San Francisco 49ers
by Alan Matthews - 9/19/2017

I'm not going to lie to you: This week's Rams-49ers matchup looks like the worst Thursday night game of the 2017 season. Perhaps the only one in the competition would be Bills at Jets on Nov. 2. But, you can bet on Rams-Niners, so here we are.

NFL Betting Predictions: Week 3 Opening Line Report and Picks
by Alan Matthews - 9/18/2017

I'm sure most of you sprint to your computers every Monday mid-afternoon during football season to check out my NFL Weekly Opening Line Report. Unfortunately, last week wasn't an option thanks to Hurricane Irma. If Hurricane Maria also hits my area, I'm definitely moving. But that's a story for another day.

Basic Strategy Teasers: Best Week 2 NFL Betting Options
by Chris Vasile - 9/15/2017

Week 2 of the National Football League got underway last night and proved to bettors that sometimes overreacting to a team's Week 1 performance is a good thing. Take last night's game for example; both Houston and Cincinnati were putrid offensively. As a bettor, we should have seen it coming though.

NFL Betting Odds: Week 1 Line Movements & Last-Minute News
by Alan Matthews - 9/8/2017

It was an absolute no-brainer for the NFL to postpone Sunday's Buccaneers at Dolphins game because it looks like Miami is going to get pummeled by incredibly dangerous Hurricane Irma. There's going to be major damage in South Florida - perhaps even to the Dolphins' Hard Rock Stadium, although when that was recently renovated it was strengthened against potential hurricanes.

Expert NFL Picks Against the Spread: Jacksonville Jaguars at Houston Texans
by Alan Matthews - 9/6/2017

Sometimes the marquee matchups aren't always the most interesting ones each week in the NFL. Sure, I could have previewed, say, Seahawks-Packers or Giants-Cowboys among Week 1 Sunday games as all four of those clubs made the playoffs last year and easily could again (I expect Seattle, Green Bay and Dallas to do so; maybe New York).

Basic Strategy Teasers: Best Week 1 NFL Betting Options
by Chris Vasile - 9/6/2017

With the NFL set to return tomorrow, bettors will be able to place their wagers on a plethora of betting options. Seasoned bettors tend to stick to sides and totals, while newbies or "square" bettors tend to play more parlays, props and teasers, all of which are options that play right into the house's advantage.

NFL Expert Picks Against the Spread: Kansas City Chiefs at New England Patriots
by Alan Matthews - 9/5/2017

Welcome to my first game prediction of the new season. I'll be here to look at every Thursday night game each week along with a marquee Sunday matchup and the Monday nighter (picking one of the two in Week 1). It should be quite an atmosphere at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro this Thursday as the Patriots unveil their fifth Super Bowl banner - certainly the most unlikely one in terms of how badly they were getting stomped in the big game before staging that epic comeback.

Expert NFL Handicapping: Five Reasons to Fade the Oakland Raiders in 2017
by Robert Ferringo - 9/5/2017

The NFL has always been a little more exciting when the Raiders have been prominently involved. Every good story needs a proper villain. And the Oakland Raiders have been professional football's reprobates through most of their existence. Yet during a prolonged period of pathetic football - they went 56-136 over a 12-year period from 2003-2014 - the Raiders had become a joke, an afterthought, and a relic of a bygone era.

NFL Key Betting Numbers: Business as Usual for Bookies after NFL Extra Point Rule Changes
by Jeremy Martin - 9/5/2017

When NFL owners approved the Competition Committee's proposal to move extra point attempts from the two-yard line back to the 15-yard line before the 2015 pro football season, suddenly traditional key betting numbers were in jeopardy. The long-established main key numbers of three and seven in NFL betting have long been the standard for bookies when setting and moving NFL lines. These key numbers are so important because they are the most common margins of victory in NFL games, with approximately 16 percent of pro football games landing on three for the past 20+ years and close to eight percent landing on seven.

NFL Betting Predictions: Week 1 Opening Line Report and Picks
by Alan Matthews - 9/4/2017

Just over seven months since the New England Patriots staged the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history - probably the greatest single-game comeback in sports history considering the stage - the NFL is finally back. As am I every Monday with an NFL opening line report. If you follow these stories, you know the drill: I'll touch on any major news or injuries from the previous week and how they might affect the coming week's lines - or a team's futures odds.

2017 Arizona Cardinals Home Schedule Odds with Expert Picks and Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 8/31/2017

There's simply no player quite like Cardinals running back David Johnson - not even Le'Veon Bell. I'm sure Johnson is going No.1 in all your fantasy leagues, and he expects to join the 1,000/1,000 club this season as in rushing and receiving yards. The only guys to do that in a single season are Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk (1,381 rushing and 1,048 receiving) in 1999 and Roger Craig (1,050 rushing and 1,016 receiving) in 1985.

Expert NFL Betting Advice: Best and Worst Week 1 Lines
by Trevor Whenham - 8/31/2017

As I write this, every team except Houston and Dallas, who have had their final preseason game cancelled due to Hurricane Harvey, still has one preseason game left. The last game of the preseason is so mind-numbingly pointless, though, that it only makes sense to look ahead to the first week of action. The public hasn't yet turned their full attention to the lines for the first week of games, so the numbers will move, significantly in some cases, between now and kickoff.

NFL Predictions: Best-Case Scenarios for all 32 Teams
by Trevor Whenham - 8/31/2017

Success means different things for different teams in the NFL. What would be spectacular to the point of being miraculous this year for the Browns would be so bad that it would cause the Patriots to consider folding. As we head into the new season, here is a look at the best-case scenario for each of the 32 teams in the league. It should go without saying that the fans of some teams will be happier with these than other.

2017 Oakland Raiders Home Schedule Odds with Expert Picks and Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 8/30/2017

Back in March, the NFL owners voted 31-1 - only Miami's Stephen Ross voted against - to allow the Raiders to move to Las Vegas even though that's a much smaller market. However, that new stadium in Sin City won't be ready for the Raiders until 2020. (Talk about the best NFL road trip for any fan base playing the Raiders!)

2017 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Home Schedule Odds with Expert Picks and Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 8/25/2017

We know there's a Super Bowl Loser Curse and a Madden Cover Curse, but I don't believe I've heard of a Hard Knocks Curse. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are featured on this season's always-entertaining HBO show "Hard Knocks". Most coaches around the NFL tell their owners that they don't want the cameras around. That's why the league instituted rules where teams can be forced. Recent history has shown mixed results for Hard Knocks teams.

2017 Tennessee Titans Home Schedule Odds with Expert Picks and Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 8/24/2017

The NFL is a copy-cat league, but sometimes if you go against the grain that can be successful because few teams do it. For example, the 2016 Tennessee Titans. I absolutely thought they made a mistake after a 3-13 season in 2015 by not hiring some offensive guru like a Chip Kelly to work with Marcus Mariota. Instead, the Titans gave the full-time job to Mike Mularkey, who took over midway through the '15 campaign for the fired Ken Whisenhunt.

2017 Detroit Lions Home Schedule Odds with Expert Picks and Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 8/23/2017

It's going to be a long sports season in Detroit. The Tigers are rebuilding and will only avoid last place in the AL Central Division because of the "more" rebuilding Chicago White Sox. The Detroit Red Wings' amazing 25-year playoff streak ended last season as they finished with 79 points, and things aren't likely to be much better in 2017-18. The Pistons are meh. They missed the playoffs last year and might sneak in as a No. 7 or 8 seed this season in the weak East only to get bounced quickly.