The weekly NFL schedule ends with two highly watched games each and every week, and Sunday and Monday nights can be tough for football handicappers.
That’s because these are two of the most watched games of the week, hyped up by a ton of media attention and broadcasted on national television, in turn attracting a lot more interest from the betting public, making these games ones that everyone watches and bets on.
All of this makes betting on these games more difficult for handicappers, unless they follow a few basic rules.
For starters, handicappers need to ignore the hype that often surrounds these games, especially when it comes from the network broadcasting the game.
Networks obviously want to attract as many viewers as they can to pay off the awful amount of money they shell out for the broadcasting rights of these games. Meaning, they often times they spend a lot of time hyping up players that are not performing to expectations, inaccurately reporting injuries, or flat out speculating who is going to win the game.
In all cases, it’s best for NFL bettors to ignore every pre-game show, promo, or anything else the networks air about these games.
Next, handicappers need not make these games bigger than they really are.
Many football bettors have a tendency to over think things, like the importance of home field advantage, insignificant injuries and the pressure placed on teams to break a losing skid or extend a winning streak.
Fact is, players in the NFL are professionals, and unlike their collegiate counterparts, are not often, if at all, rattled by media pressure, playing on the road or performing to the public’s expectations.
Nevertheless, it’s easy to get caught up in the little things, losing sight of the basics. So it’s extremely important when handicapping these games to relax, think about what is really important and never overreact.
On the other hand, it is important that NFL handicappers take into consideration the public betting action on these games, as the volume is high and oddsmakers will adjust their lines accordingly. This means handicappers will have to shop the books, sniffing out the best values.
These will usually present themselves not as the favorite bet, but as the underdog bet, as well as the occasional over/under.
If NFL handicappers can find these values, and quickly determine the winning team based on solid statistics, they could lock in good value before the lines are adjusted.
In the end, Sunday and Monday night football games are just like any other game.
The rules are the same, the ball and field are the same size, and the teams field just as many players.
If handicappers treat these games like Sunday afternoons or Thursday nights, they will be much happier with the outcomes on Tuesday morning.
