Gambling on the over/under in the NFL can be a challenge for fans. While not having to pick a winner is great for some, others will find a challenging to predict whether the offenses or defenses will play well in a game.
Trends form in every sport, but what about the NFL? Are there any trends with over/unders?
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Do Most NFL Games Go Over or Under?
Sportsbooks have everything so precise these days that it generally ends up as a 50-50 split. If anything, betting lines might move up slightly since the betting public tends to bet on offense over defense. When that happens, sportsbooks will increase the over/under by a point or two so that they can get similar action on both sides.
What are the Extremes for the Over/Under in the NFL?
Sportsbooks tend to not go any lower than 30 or higher than 60 for the over/under. Take a look at the average week of games in the league, and maybe 1-2 games will fall outside of this range.
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Offenses are opening up more than ever in the NFL, but defenses are sophisticated enough to keep them under wraps for the most part. Matchups dictate what type of freedom an offense can have
Is Over/Under Betting in the NFL Smart?
With the unpredictability of the NFL thanks to parity, a lot of gamblers have made the pivot towards Over/Unders more than anything. They don’t have to necessarily pick the winner, as they are just rooting for or against points.
There’s still a lot of guesswork with the over/under, but gamblers can feel confident that they are making the right move after being in the game for a while. Some balance of betting the over/under, moneylines, and point spreads work as well.
Why Does The Public Money Trend Towards Offense?
Most casual football fans root for points in a game. Everyone enjoys seeing touchdowns, so they are usually thrown off by how low the over/under is. What they don’t realize is that sportsbooks have infinite resources to make smart decisions on where to place the over/under.
Say a game between two teams starts with 38.5 as the over/under. If the betting public goes hard on the over, there might be an opportunity for a smart gambler to gain an edge with the under. That’s because the line could move up to 39.5 or even 40.5 for sportsbooks to entice people to bet on the under and even things out.
All of this happens without the general public even factoring in weather and other unknown variables until the day of the game. While a game can play out either way, variables tend to keep scoring down for the most part.
Final Thoughts on NFL Over/Unders
The simplicity of the over/under in the NFL has a lot of people paying attention to them as a variation to standard betting. It’s a smart bet with enough research going into the process. Don’t expect to hit big on an over/under, but a slow and steady winning percentage can build a bankroll up. It’s just one of a few options out there that NFL fans can utilize to win consistently in gambling.