Read This Before Making Your NFL Predictions

Every season, NFL fans and sports writers try to predict each game’s outcome in the league’s regular season. Many times, it’s simply a matter of which team has the better record, which one’s better on the road, and which players will be healthy enough to play that week. Other times, it comes down to predicting whether certain players will have career games or off years and which coaches are better at preparing their teams than others. Keep these tips in mind when making your NFL predictions this year!

• Know the situation

Knowing the situation will help you better predict how your players will play. When watching games, it’s also a good idea to have in-depth knowledge of each team, player and coach to know what to expect. A few popular methods of predicting the outcome of a game include professional point spread predictions, win/loss records of each team and offensive vs defensive matchups. These systems don’t work all the time – they are estimates only. It’s still important to prepare yourself with knowledge before making any predictions.

• Get familiar with the key players.

The New England Patriots are among the few teams in the league to enter this season with all their key players from last year, minus a few key players who retired and moved on to other careers. The Dolphins, who missed the playoffs by just a game, are banking on Jay Cutler this year to lead them back into contention. Despite their difficult injury situation, the Buffalo Bills will also be expected to make it back into the postseason after showing glimpses of promise last year. All these three teams enter as favourites in their divisions and have as good a chance as any team in their respective conferences.

• Understand the basics

Predicting the winner of a sporting event is never easy, and football is no exception. But one thing you can do to improve your chances of picking the right team is to understand how the odds work. It’s important to know that when betting on a favourite (teams with high odds), you are risking less money for a potentially greater reward, while when betting on an underdog (teams with low odds), you are risking more money for potentially greater reward. Ultimately, winning predictions requires accurate analysis of factors such as the strength of schedule, recent performance and injury status. 

• Watch out for injuries.

Know the stars on your favourite team that might not be healthy come game day. Know when your team plays and who they’re playing. These are the variables you can control to help ensure an accurate prediction. Even if there is no injury, teams can have a significant or terrible week of practice for any number of reasons that could change their predicted outcome, so keep an eye on your team throughout the week to stay informed about everything that could affect their performance this weekend.

Conclusion

Why should you take the time to read this? Because it will help you make educated predictions. Whether or not that’s your goal, doing your research can be beneficial. You’ll get an idea of who to watch out for and which teams are a little off the radar, but it may surprise everyone. And if you’re in a fantasy league, knowing this information is crucial to having a successful season!