NFL Trends
All Teams - General Angles
Play the 'over' in September games if a team went 'under' in its last two games (82-53-1, 60.7%): Bettors are quite impressionable early in the season and they tend to overreact if a team has the same result two weeks in a row. This applies to teams coming off of consecutive 'unders', as bettors may underrate the offenses or overrate the defenses of these teams based on two results that might be entirely due to variance, something that the oddsmakers adjust to as well. Qualifying 'overs': San Francisco at St. Louis (Thursday), Arizona at Tampa Bay, Baltimore at Buffalo, Dallas at San Diego, Chicago at Detroit, N.Y. Giants at Kansas City, New England at Atlanta and Miami at New Orleans (Monday).
Play against September home favorites coming off an ATS loss (82-55-8, 59.9% ATS): Many times, teams that are favored following an ATS loss are favored more because of reputation than because of performance on the field, and that makes the chalk vulnerable in these situations. Of course there will be situations where these teams bounce back well, but as you can see by the September record, the teams have been overvalued much more often than not. Qualifiers: New England +1 at Atlanta and Arizona +3 at Tampa Bay.
Play on September conference underdogs that were favored in their last game (90-61-9, 59.6% ATS): Novice bettors almost always prefer to bet favorites, and in their minds, when they see a team is an underdog after being favored the prior week, their general feeling is that either the team was overrated to begin the year or the team is now going up against a superior team. Qualifiers: Chicago +2½ and N.Y. Jets +3½.
Good Teams - At Least 10 Wins in the Last 16 Games
Play the 'over' in September when Good Teams are coming off of a straight up double-digit win (59-33-1, 64.1%): There is a direct correlation between winning by 10 points or more and games going 'over', and Good Teams are more apt to repeat good performances the following week. This even applied to defensive minded teams as they too tend to go 'over' in double-digit wins as their fine defense usually leads to good field position. Qualifying 'overs': Baltimore at Buffalo, Chicago at Detroit, Philadelphia at Denver, Indianapolis at Jacksonville, New England at Atlanta, Seattle at Houston and Miami at New Orleans (Monday).
Play against Good Teams as September road underdogs (49-31-7, 61.2% ATS): Sometimes bettors can get too stuck on the previous season and they automatically flock to teams coming off of double-digit-win seasons when they turn up as underdogs early the following year. Oddsmakers are quite aware of this, so when those previous winners turn up as underdogs early, there is usually a good reason for it. Qualifiers: Detroit -2½ and Atlanta -1.
Play against Good Teams in September coming off of an ATS loss (70-50-4, 58.3% ATS): Bettors are usually more forgiving when a Good Team fails to cover the spread than when a Bad Team fails to do so, as they believe the Good Teams have a better chance to bounce back stronger next game. However, a lot of times the team is simply not as good as it was the previous year, and the oddsmakers are a tad slow to adjust to that. Qualifiers: St. Louis +3 (Thursday), New England +1 and Seattle -3.
Bad Teams - At Least 10 Losses in the Last 16 Games
Play on Bad Teams as September road underdogs (114-79-12, 59.1% ATS): Perception is a wonderful thing, and novice bettors almost always shy away from teams that looked awful the previous year when they are road underdogs early on the following season. Thus, the books can pad the lines of these games a bit, inherently giving value to the dirty dogs. This is also a fantastic winning percentage for this size of a sampling. Qualifiers: Arizona +3, N.Y. Jets +3½ and Philadelphia +10½.
Play against Bad Teams as September conference favorites (61-38-3, 61.6% ATS): Now when teams that were bad last year are suddenly thrust into the favorite role vs. somewhat familiar conference opponents, it is a totally different mindset. These are teams usually not accustomed to being favored and they often wilt when being expected to win. Qualifiers: Chicago +2½ and Arizona +3.
Play on the underdog when two Bad Teams face each other in September (52-26-4, 66.7% ATS): This has always been one of our favorite angles and it goes back to the theory we just mentioned in the previous trend, that being that bad teams that are suddenly expected to win often crack. Meanwhile, the underdogs often feel disrespected by being underdogs vs. such weak opponents, and they usually use that for inspiration. Qualifier: Arizona +3.
All Teams - General Angles
Play the 'over' in September games if a team went 'under' in its last two games (82-53-1, 60.7%): Bettors are quite impressionable early in the season and they tend to overreact if a team has the same result two weeks in a row. This applies to teams coming off of consecutive 'unders', as bettors may underrate the offenses or overrate the defenses of these teams based on two results that might be entirely due to variance, something that the oddsmakers adjust to as well. Qualifying 'overs': San Francisco at St. Louis (Thursday), Arizona at Tampa Bay, Baltimore at Buffalo, Dallas at San Diego, Chicago at Detroit, N.Y. Giants at Kansas City, New England at Atlanta and Miami at New Orleans (Monday).
Play against September home favorites coming off an ATS loss (82-55-8, 59.9% ATS): Many times, teams that are favored following an ATS loss are favored more because of reputation than because of performance on the field, and that makes the chalk vulnerable in these situations. Of course there will be situations where these teams bounce back well, but as you can see by the September record, the teams have been overvalued much more often than not. Qualifiers: New England +1 at Atlanta and Arizona +3 at Tampa Bay.
Play on September conference underdogs that were favored in their last game (90-61-9, 59.6% ATS): Novice bettors almost always prefer to bet favorites, and in their minds, when they see a team is an underdog after being favored the prior week, their general feeling is that either the team was overrated to begin the year or the team is now going up against a superior team. Qualifiers: Chicago +2½ and N.Y. Jets +3½.
Good Teams - At Least 10 Wins in the Last 16 Games
Play the 'over' in September when Good Teams are coming off of a straight up double-digit win (59-33-1, 64.1%): There is a direct correlation between winning by 10 points or more and games going 'over', and Good Teams are more apt to repeat good performances the following week. This even applied to defensive minded teams as they too tend to go 'over' in double-digit wins as their fine defense usually leads to good field position. Qualifying 'overs': Baltimore at Buffalo, Chicago at Detroit, Philadelphia at Denver, Indianapolis at Jacksonville, New England at Atlanta, Seattle at Houston and Miami at New Orleans (Monday).
Play against Good Teams as September road underdogs (49-31-7, 61.2% ATS): Sometimes bettors can get too stuck on the previous season and they automatically flock to teams coming off of double-digit-win seasons when they turn up as underdogs early the following year. Oddsmakers are quite aware of this, so when those previous winners turn up as underdogs early, there is usually a good reason for it. Qualifiers: Detroit -2½ and Atlanta -1.
Play against Good Teams in September coming off of an ATS loss (70-50-4, 58.3% ATS): Bettors are usually more forgiving when a Good Team fails to cover the spread than when a Bad Team fails to do so, as they believe the Good Teams have a better chance to bounce back stronger next game. However, a lot of times the team is simply not as good as it was the previous year, and the oddsmakers are a tad slow to adjust to that. Qualifiers: St. Louis +3 (Thursday), New England +1 and Seattle -3.
Bad Teams - At Least 10 Losses in the Last 16 Games
Play on Bad Teams as September road underdogs (114-79-12, 59.1% ATS): Perception is a wonderful thing, and novice bettors almost always shy away from teams that looked awful the previous year when they are road underdogs early on the following season. Thus, the books can pad the lines of these games a bit, inherently giving value to the dirty dogs. This is also a fantastic winning percentage for this size of a sampling. Qualifiers: Arizona +3, N.Y. Jets +3½ and Philadelphia +10½.
Play against Bad Teams as September conference favorites (61-38-3, 61.6% ATS): Now when teams that were bad last year are suddenly thrust into the favorite role vs. somewhat familiar conference opponents, it is a totally different mindset. These are teams usually not accustomed to being favored and they often wilt when being expected to win. Qualifiers: Chicago +2½ and Arizona +3.
Play on the underdog when two Bad Teams face each other in September (52-26-4, 66.7% ATS): This has always been one of our favorite angles and it goes back to the theory we just mentioned in the previous trend, that being that bad teams that are suddenly expected to win often crack. Meanwhile, the underdogs often feel disrespected by being underdogs vs. such weak opponents, and they usually use that for inspiration. Qualifier: Arizona +3.
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