Betting NFL Playoff Favorites

Since we know that favorites do better in the NFL playoffs we should begin our handicapping by looking at them. Usually the opposite is the case during the regular season when looking at the dog first is the way to go. See how playoff betting is different already? Throughout the years in the NFL the better teams usually win in the playoffs. With parity becoming ever apparent though, sometimes it is not always easy to figure out who the better team is. This gets more difficult every year because even the best teams are not that far ahead of the lower run teams, and in the playoffs the margin is even smaller.

I think one of the bigger reasons that favorites do better in the playoffs than during the regular season is the one-game factor. There is nothing to look ahead to in the playoffs. You have to win the current game to advance and there can't be any taking a game off, which sometimes happens during the regular season. There is no loss of focus during the playoffs. Every game is do or die, and many of the handicapping factors that applied during the regular season don't apply during the playoffs.

Another thing to consider is the home field advantage. This is much more of a factor during the playoffs than during the regular season. Home teams have regularly won and covered the spread over 60% of the time in the playoffs.

Now that we know that favorites and home teams do well in the playoffs I want to say not to totally ignore the road teams and underdogs. Just because history has shown us that home teams do well, we can't just automatically discount the underdogs. We also have to remember what I said earlier about parity. Each year it gets tougher to separate these teams and just because favorites and home teams were strong during past years, we can't automatically assume that that will be the case this year. I want you to start though, by looking at the home team and the favorite. It doesn't mean that you have to bet them, but start your handicapping in that direction.

There are no secrets when it comes to betting the NFL playoffs, but we now know that looking at the favorites and the home teams are a good place to start, and that definitely can help our NFL playoff betting become more profitable.