There are many different ways to handicap a NFL Football game. However, there are very few places that will attempt to lay-out a step by step guide as to how to properly handicap a NFL football game. The below is a skeleton guideline as to how to handicap a NFL football game. You should use the below as a guide and then make changes as it suits your style. This system is set up to be completed on Sunday Night or Monday Night preceding the upcoming week. Nfl Football Lines
Step One:
Use a lined piece of paper or a computer screen in column mode and write the visiting team on the left and the home team on the right.
Step Two:
This is one of the most important steps. Prior to looking at the lines for the week write down your own line. For Example if Tennessee is playing at Carolina, you would just from your general knowledge come up with what you think the line should be. (IMPORTANT: do not write down what you think the line will be, write down what you think the line should be, in other words if you were setting the lines in Tennessee at Carolina, what would you make the line be). You must do this before you look at the actual lines. So for our example, lets say we think that Tennessee should be favored by 4 points, we would write down next to Tennessee -4 and next to Carolina +4. (Note you can do the same thing for the Over/Under).
Step Three:
Without Looking at the actual line, underneath Tennessee write down AT LEAST three reasons (preferably six) why you think Tennessee will win by four or more points, some examples are:
*OLT for Carolina is out: matchup favors Tennessee DL
*Carolina will not be able to run well against Tennesse DL
*QB for Carolina is dinged up and listed as probable
*Carolina has not rushed for more than 100 yards against worse defenses
Step Four:
Without looking at the actual line, underneath Carolina write down AT LEAST three reasons why Carolina will cover the line (lose by 3 or less or win straight up):
*Carolina is at home and Tennessee is 5-0 at home but 1-3 on the road
*RCB of Tennessee is doubtful and backup is rookie
*Carolina has a considerably better special teams than Tennessee
Step Five:
Consider the date, location and time of the game:
*If it is a west coast team traveling to an EST location and playing at 1pm EST, then the West Coast team is likely to lose straight up
*Who is the home team on a prime-time game. Road Favorites do not do well in prime-time games, in particular if the line is more than 7 points. If one or both teams are on a short week or off a bye, make a note of this. Remember that if both teams are on a short week and one team is coming off the road and is on the road in this game, the situation favors the home team. Look for three straight home games or three straight road games. If a team lost the first two of three straight home games, look for them to win the third, or if a team won the first two of three straight road games, look for them to lose the third. Write down all the notes regarding each team. Read the rest of this entry »
Are you sick and tired of weather being the deciphering factor in your fantasy football matchup? Stuck between two running backs and can’t decide which one to play? Wouldn’t it be nice if there were a service that delivered the local forecast for all NFL cities to help owners out before setting the lineup? Now there is.