The NFL Preseason gives sports bettors their first shot at getting back into to the game they are so passionate about. The SportsCenter highlights and countless team reports being blogged with up to the minute information has the football bettor foaming at the mouth to make first game wager. Never mind the fact that most of the teams don’t truly care whether they win or lose, it’s about getting ready for the regular season. With that thought in mind, nobody bets to lose, so like any other investment plan, it helps to have a strategy, do your homework, and be disciplined in your approach to betting the NFL preseason. This article is designed to map out a game plan of specific tactics that have been successful over the years.
Obviously the game is different in the preseason. The most important thing to always remember is NEVER handicap the games using regular season strategies. Often, preseason lines may be set by the public’s perception of a team’s chances for regular season, but this only serves to trap the uninformed bettor. Use statistics and trends that represent a team’s or coaches past preseason performances. Anything else is a mistake in my less than humble opinion. Once you’re comfortable with a place to get your stats and trends from, utilize these following general week-by-week strategies to build your bankroll for the NFL season, which will be here in a matter of time.
Pre-Preseason
Just like in the regular season, it is important to know your NFL teams. I am not talking about reading hours of information about every given team, rather to know the coaches and the tendencies of the teams. Coaching blunders and superior game plans can alter the outcomes of contests during the regular season. A missed tackle by the opposition or unexpected turnovers can change the final score, no matter what a coach does. In the preseason, a coach can directly impact the scoreboard by substitution patterns and what his goal is for the team beforehand. Throughout the internet or in many preseason publications, interesting fact-based cold data is available for you to learn from. For example, New Orleans is harrowing favorite at 11-22 ATS, yet is quite profitable 29-18 ATS as an underdog. Take a look at a team like Jacksonville who wears the underdog hat comfortably at 16-7-1 ATS.
Week 1 - Know your Coaches
This is extremely important if you have a desire to have extra money before the regular season starts. Be assured all the oddsmakers know these numbers also, it is your duty as well if you expect to profit. Coach Bill Belichick has always placed a strong emphasis on winning period. The Patriots are 21-13 ATS as favorites and 12-4 against the spread as home faves versus incoming teams with losing records. New England is 5-1 ATS the first week of preseason, as Belichick wants the hard work of training camp to pay off for the players as an immediate benefit.
Philadelphia’s Andy Reid is big on preparation when it counts and uses a different approach. The Eagles are 14-26 SU under Reid in the during exhibition encounters with 19-21 ATS record. What is noteworthy about following Philly is they have lost and failed to cover last five opening preseason games. Reid has used this time wisely to evaluate his large squad and is not bothered by the outcome. He in turn uses the loss as motivational tool and is 5-0 SU and ATS in week 2.
Another important factor is first year coaches. This year we have eight coaches that are taking over new teams and two others that were mid-season replacements running their first camps. Not one is a retread, meaning they all have to earn the players respect and vise-versa. After going through grueling training camps, each coach will want to prove to his players that the work has been worth the trouble. Nothing pays off like winning. Historically, these coaches can bring a nice profit. However, with so many coaches with new teams it would appear very difficult to make a profit because of the volume of games.
The potential path of least resistance would be to Play On first time head coaches (When not matched against other teams with same circumstance), coaching teams off bad season or seasons, when facing veteran or playoff teams. These new head masters will want to make a strong impression and establish credibility. Their job is to show the team who is boss, the direction is correct and the right players will be on board to make it happen. As baseball manager Casey Stengel once said “We’ll win soon, just not with these players.”
Oakland’s Tom Cable and San Francisco’s Mike Singletary started to set the wheels in motion as replacements last season, however will want to place a stamp on what they expect. Jim Mora Jr. and Jim Caldwell were part of succession planning at respective franchises and this makes their situation a tougher call.
Week 2 - Be ready to pounce
This is one of the two weeks you can really take advantage of the lines and make large profits with proper preparation. The most important factors this week are prior performance and motivation. These are largely tied together of which you can take advantage. I’ve already made mention of how Philadelphia fits into a week like this and Minnesota is another example for last season. The Vikings were awful in losing first game at home to Seattle, 34-17 as three-point favorites. After a week of Brad Childress cracking the whip, Minnesota was at Baltimore for next contest, which was off win over New England. The Vikes gave a much more focused performance and whipped the Ravens 23-15, catching a point.
Another example from 2008 was New Orleans, which fits the mold. The Saints started with a crisp 24-10 effort at Arizona, on the receiving end of a couple of points. They returned home maybe a little satisfied, maybe Sean Payton lightened the reins and with a total of 36 set, New Orleans lost a 31-27 shootout. With how long training camp is to the players, a coach can’t pound on them every day, thus all teams will have flat spots after solid efforts. Show me a coach that wants to go undefeated in August and I’ll show you a team with a losing record in early January.
This time around, be sure to watch for teams that may have put up less than admirable efforts in the first week, and grab those that you feel will be better motivated for week two outing.
Week 3 –Dress Rehearsal
Previously, the last week of the preseason was the time when teams played the starters at least two-thirds of the game, to give the coaches a real sense of where the team was and if they were on schedule. Because of the number of injuries that occur, Week 3 has become the important week to gauge each club’s progress. Many of the same principles still apply about motivation, with a few variations of note.
The coaches and players place additional importance on this week, thus giving a good showing does matter. In the preseason, situational handicapping has relevance, especially for teams losing by 10 or more points the week before. This is noteworthy, with back-ups playing and the games should be fairly evenly matched. Once again coaches will create further accountability through motivational and psychological tactics. The 2007 campaign ended in disappointment for Green Bay in the NFC title game against eventual Super Bowl champion the New York Giants. The Brett Favre circus was just leaving town last year and the coaching staff was desperate to establish Aaron Rodgers as quarterback, after losing first two preseason games. Mike McCarthy wanted excellence from his squad and they pulled off a 27-24 upset in Denver, who has traditionally been a very good preseason squad under now former coach Mike Shanahan.
How different situations can work to your advantage is maybe the coach feels the team is coming along too fast and wants to dial it back. We all know coaches are control freaks. Coaches want to build you up to tear you down and vise-versa. In the preseason, any coach loves to put the team thru strenuous practices after a weak effort. This is part of the other aspect of analyzing situations, teams off blow-out losses. The players are sick of training camp and played poorly. The coach runs them ragged and the players want the head-man off their backs, thus they respond in a positive manner and win and cover the next game.
Week 4 – Pick your spots and be ready for the regular season
The last week of the preseason is nothing more than final preparation for most teams trying only to avoid injury and making final cuts. Under Shanahan, Denver always was strong closer, having covered last nine this week, will it continue with new coach? Marvin Lewis is on 4-0 ATS run, with Houston 0-6 ATS and Washington one behind at 0-5 against the linemaker in Week 4. It is wise to be cautious in your plays the last week. If you are having a winning preseason, a game or two that you really are sure of is worth the risk to find a couple more winners. If you are having a mediocre or below average time in picking winners before the start of the season, save your money for what you care about most, the beginning of the start of the NFL regular season. This is what you have been looking forward to anyways.
Final Thoughts
Take the time to review the box scores in the preseason. Do not do this for traditional reasons as you might believe. Looking at stats and trying to figure out your fantasy team has nothing to do with the preseason games. What this is for is future reference and the next week’s opportunity to cash with productive results. Studying can lead to insights about any team’s depth or possible motivation based on outcome. Every NFL team is going to have injuries. By reviewing the box scores this time of year, you might find a team that has built up 17-0 or 20-3 leads with the first team players in two different games and ends up losing both contests in the 2nd half. This could well be a red flag that when this team has injuries during the 16-game season, the drop-off will be precipitous.
Don’t handicap the pre-season the same as the regular season. These are truly two completely different animals. Don’t over-analyze, keep it simple. If you are going to watch these games, focus on Week 3, when it matters more to a certain degree. Most importantly, have fun and enjoy the fact that you are that much closer to September 10th, the kickoff of the regular season.
The Monday night game matches a pair of NFC East divisional rivals coming off bitter losses as significant favorites. Washington lost at home to Kansas City 14-6 as 6.5-point home favorites to fall to 2-4 on the season, and this will actually be the first time since Week 1 that they are matched against a quality opponent. That is a questionable description of Philadelphia though coming off the 13-9 loss at Oakland as two touchdown road chalk.
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