NFL – National Football League
Starting on NFL Betting
The National Football League might just be the most popular sports league in the history of American sports. Founded in 1920, the NFL started with just 10 teams and has since grown to 32 NFL teams after expansions and a notable merger with the AFL. Today, the NFL has a global presence, playing games in locations like London, Mexico City, and Toronto in addition to its games in 32 home stadiums across the United States.
Today’s NFL is made up of two conferences, the American Football Conference and the National Football Conference, better known as the AFC and the NFC. Each conference in the NFL is made up of 16 teams and four divisions: the East, West, North, and South divisions. As one would expect, these divisions break up teams into geographically convenient groups, though there are some exceptions like the Dallas Cowboys being in the NFC East.
The champion of each division and the teams with the three best records that did not win their division in each conference qualify for the NFL playoffs each season. The playoffs are a single-elimination tournament, where the top seed in each conference receives a first-round bye. The last team standing from each conference then plays in the Super Bowl, with the winner of that game being crowned champion for that season.
The Super Bowl: A Cultural Phenomenon and Ultimate Goal of NFL Teams The ultimate goal of each team in the NFL is to win the Super Bowl each season, which can bolster the legacy of the winner no matter their previous status in the game. The Super Bowl is the most-watched American sporting event each year, as over 100 million Americans tune in to the game each February. And with the game being played in a warm-weather city most years, and all of the pageantries of the halftime entertainment, the Super Bowl has become just as much a pop culture event as it is a sporting event.
The real beauty of the NFL Picks is that there are so many ways that teams can approach the game, with diverse game plans making teams look entirely unique from one another. Some teams prefer to run the ball to establish dominance over their opponent, while others prefer to pass the ball as often as they can to generate explosive plays. But as long as a team executes its game plan the way that they intend to, they have a chance to win no matter what strategy they choose to employ.
Keep on analyzing NFL odds, lines, and spreads, with football sports betting advice, expert NFL picks, and predictions to help you make more informed NFL bets and wagers.
American Football Conferences
AFC EAST
The American Football Conference – Eastern Division or AFC East is one of the four divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL).
AFC NORTH
The American Football Conference – Northern Division or AFC North is one of the four divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The division was adopted after the restructuring of the 2002 NFL season.
AFC SOUTH
The American Football Conference – Southern Division or AFC South is one of the four divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). It was created before the 2002 season when the league realigned divisions after expanding to 32 teams.
AFC WEST
The American Football Conference – Western Division or AFC West is one of the four divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL).
National Football Conferences
NFC EAST
The National Football Conference – Eastern Division or NFC East is one of the four divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL).
NFC NORTH
The National Football Conference – Northern Division or NFC North is one of the four divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). Nicknamed the “Black and Blue Division” for the rough and tough rivalry games between the teams.
NFC SOUTH
The National Football Conference – South Division or NFC South is one of the four divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). It was created prior to the 2002 NFL season when the league realigned divisions after expanding to 32 teams.
NFC WEST
The National Football Conference Western Division or NFC West is one of the four divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL).
Making Money through Futures Betting on Individual NFL Awards
A subcategory of futures betting is wagering on individual awards each year, with bettors able to put their money on who will win all of the major awards in the NFL. This includes awards such as the NFL MVP award, Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year, Coach of the Year, and Comeback Player of the Year. Those who are willing to think outside the box can make a substantial profit in some of these markets.
Sports Bettors can also wager on prop bets and novelty wagers throughout each year, bets that don’t fall into any of the above categories but pertain to other items of interest throughout the year in the NFL. Special events like the NFL Draft are able to be wagered on through props related to which players will go in which positions and which teams will draft players at various spots on the field. While there may not always be an edge in these types of bets, they can definitely make betting on pro football fun throughout the season.
Maximizing Profit in NFL Betting
The most important thing to think about when betting on NFL odds is getting the best possible value for each wager. To do this, bettors should utilize multiple sportsbooks, comparing the odds at each site for the bets that they are thinking about making. Doing so will give bettors the best chance to turn a profit over the long haul, even if there is only a small difference in odds from one sportsbook to the next.
The same thing can be said about point spreads and totals, where small differences from one sportsbook to the next can be the difference between winning and losing. For example, one sportsbook might list a team as a 2.5-point favorite, while another might list that same team as a 3.5-point favorite. If that team were to win by three points, playing 2.5 would result in a win, while playing 3.5 would result in a loss.
NFL Betting Stats
NFL stats are a bettor’s best friend, as they give a glimpse into what a team’s strengths and weaknesses are. But many bettors do not use statistics efficiently, setting themselves up to make misguided decisions in their NFL bets. Here is a look at some of the best ways to use NFL stats and why they are better than multiple alternatives.
Most importantly, bettors should be looking at statistics like yards per play on offense, and defense instead of yards per game. Per-play statistics focus on how efficient an offense or defense is on each play, while per-game statistics experience greater variation. Some teams run more plays per game or fewer plays per game, depending on the tempo of both teams, with per-play stats erasing those tempo-related differences from consideration.
Prioritizing Quarterback Efficiency
Also worth looking at is quarterback efficiency, which is a better indicator of the success of a passing offense than raw statistical numbers. A 5,000-yard passing season is no small accomplishment for a quarterback. But that mark is more impressive for a quarterback with fewer pass attempts than one who constantly puts the ball in the air. Instead of looking at full-season numbers, bettors should look at things like completion percentages and yardage numbers per pass attempt.
Bettors should also look at the turnover margin for each team, but not for the reasons that they might think. Turnovers can often be a function of luck in the NFL, as fumble recoveries and interceptions off of deflections are not sustainable ways to get stops on defense. Instead of assuming that teams will continue to force turnovers at the same rate they have been, bettors should expect teams on both sides of the turnover spectrum to regress to league average in the long run.
NFL Betting Trends
Betting trends are commonly referenced by bettors when they are making their picks ahead of each week of NFL action. Trends can often give bettors insight into spots where it is advantageous to bet on one side or the other in a game. Even when statistics or home-field advantage do not seem to provide a clear edge in one direction or the other. But there are good uses of trends and bad uses of trends, and bettors should be mindful of which trends fall into which category.
An example of a trend could be how a team performs coming off of their bye week. Bettors might see a trend that states that a team is 10-1 against the spread in their last 11 games after a bye. But in order to use that information as effectively as possible, bettors have to think about the sample size being used to cite how effective a team is under the circumstances being referenced by that trend.
How Annual Roster Turnover in the NFL Affects the Validity of Long-Term Trends
The most important thing to remember when dealing with trends is that NFL rosters experience massive amounts of turnover on an annual basis, let alone over a period of a decade or more. So a trend that references a team’s performance after their bye week dating back 11 years often deals with a team whose players and coaches are drastically different than they were at the beginning of that trend. That could render what sounds like a strong statistical trend completely useless, as that performance 11 years ago has nothing to do with this new group of personnel.
Instead, bettors would be best served to look at NFL Picks and NFL Trends that pertain to the last four or five seasons. That way, they are at least dealing with a time period where NFL rosters are as similar as possible to what they are now. And they should do so with the mindset that small sample sizes may not be a great predictor of what will happen in the future.
How to Bet NFL
To bet on the NFL, the goal of bettors has to be to compare their projection of a game’s outcome to what the betting lines are from each sportsbook. The goal is then to wager on the games where there are the biggest advantages between a bettor’s projections and the actual betting line. An important part of doing so is to not be afraid to bet on NFL games early in the week before lines have moved.
Betting lines are shifted throughout each week leading up to each game, based on factors like injuries along with the amount of money wagered on each side of every betting market. Sharp bettors wager on games early in the week, when their projected lines show the biggest advantages against the lines made by the books. This gives them the buffer needed to cover the spread and beat as much on-field variance as they can each week.
It is also key to come into any NFL betting with realistic goals and the best NFL Picks. No NFL bettor is going to win every time that they place a bet, with the best bettors in the world only hitting roughly 54-60% of their bets at -110 odds. Therefore, bettors should not fret over any individual losses and focus on the bigger picture of turning a profit in the long run.
Now that you know more about the Sports Betting options you are ready to place smart bets with our NFL Picks, Free Expert NFL Predictions for NFL’s Games.
If you love sports and want more sports betting information follow us as @InsidersBetDig on Twitter and sign up to our mailing list for free betting picks.
The legal status of NFL betting and all sports betting in America is decided on a state by state basis. Bettors should look into the legal status of football betting in their state before attempting to place any NFL wagers.
Where a bettor can wager on the NFL depends on which state they are in. Different states have different sports betting laws, with some states allowing in-person betting, online betting, both or neither.
To bet on the NFL, bettors have to go to a sportsbook that is legal in their state. From there, they can look through the betting options and decide which they want to take advantage of and how much they want to risk on each one.
The best way to win at NFL betting long term is to make your own betting lines and to study each team religiously, to use those items to identify market inefficiencies.
Which sportsbook is the best to use for NFL betting is a matter of the personal preferences of each bettor. Priorities like the speed of the app, frequency of bonuses, or even site design could take a bettor in a number of different directions. The most important thing is to find the sportsbook that provides the best value on each bet.
Yes, many states allow online sports betting to take place. This depends on the laws in the state that a bettor is in.