When it comes to betting on the NFL, there are a number of ways to bet on the games. While the most popular way is to bet on the outcome of the weekly games either on the spread, moneyline or total, there is a whole host of other ways to have a piece of the action. While the aforementioned bets focus on who will win the game, propositional bets – or NFL props, as they are known for short – offer betting lines on all sorts of other happenings.
It could be related to a player’s performance in a game or a team’s performance in an entire season. Whatever the case, NFL props give you a wide variety of betting options in case you don’t feel like betting on just one specific game.
If you’re new to NFL props, here is at how they work:
Understanding NFL Props And The Betting Odds
If you’re looking at the NFL betting lines when it comes to props, you’re going to see a few different types of odds. It’s important you understand the betting lines before placing your bet as the payouts can differ greatly. Let’s take a look at an example:
Odds To Win AFC East
New England Patriots -1000
Buffalo Bills +800
Miami Dolphins +1200
New York Jets +1500
In this case, you see four teams with numbers next to their name. When the number has a minus sign, that indicates the amount of money you would have to bet to win $100. In this case, it’s $1000 if you want to win $100 on the Patriots. On the other hand, if the number has a plus sign, then that’s the amount you would win if you bet $100. So if you bet $100 on the Bills or Dolphins, you’d win either $800 or $1200. Of course, you don’t have to bet in $100 increments. You’re free to bet whatever number you like.
It’s important to note that the smallest number – including if it goes into negatives – is the biggest favorite on the board. As the numbers grow larger and larger into the positives, those teams are bigger and bigger underdogs.
NFL Player Props
Player props relate to how players will perform in a given period of time. Generally speaking, player props focus on an individual game. That could relate to whether or not a player will score a touchdown, whether a player will have over or under a certain amount of yards or whether a player will be named MVP of the Super Bowl.
There are season-long player props but those are typically only offered before the season starts. Some examples of those would be which player would lead the NFL in receiving yards or which player will have the most passing touchdowns? These give you the opportunity to make the prediction in the preseason and then watch as they play out from week to week. For some props, like who will be the league MVP, you might see them posted in the preseason and then updated each week as the action happens.
Strategy Of Betting NFL Player Props
One of the benefits of betting NFL player props is it gives you action on the games without having to decide who wins. Sometimes games are hard to handicap and you’re not exactly sure who will win. Player props give you an opportunity to still make a prediction without having to decide on the outcome of the game.
Bettors who also play fantasy sports tend to succeed betting on NFL player props.
NFL Team Props
Team props refer to any type of bet that focuses on a team’s performance rather than the individual player. Some common examples of team performance are betting on a team’s regular season win total, betting on a team to win the division or conference, or betting on a team to win the Super Bowl.
Strategy Of Betting Team Props
These bets are prediction on how a team will perform. Generally speaking, it’s belief that the team will do well. For example, if you’re betting on the Green Bay Packers to win the division or win the Super Bowl, you believe they’ll have a good season and achieve a lot.
The benefit of betting an NFL team prop versus just backing the team week-to-week is you’ll receive a better payout. A team might be 20/1 or 30/1 to win their conference in the beginning of the year. If you back them because you did your homework, studied them and realized they’ll be good, you’ll get rewarded for betting them so early. That’s a big advantage to betting these types of team props.
One of the ways to bet against a team would be to bet on their under for their regular season win total, which means you believe they’ll win less games than the oddsmakers expect. However, for the most part, these types of team props are more focused on which team you think will do well versus which team you believe will fail.
Other NFL Props
You’ll often find that BetDSI Sportsbook has a number of other NFL props on the board outside of just the usual player, team and league props. They might be related to trades, key storylines or other interesting happenings around the NFL. For example, a prop you might see would be “who is the first head coach to be fired?” or “Will a player holdout?” – if those are hot topics in the media.
These are really fun to bet on as it shows that BetDSI has their finger on the pulse of the storylines of the season. Almost all sportsbooks have the basic spreads for the games but these NFL props really separate the best books from the rest.
Super Bowl Props
If you like betting NFL props, the Super Bowl – the NFL’s championship game – is the ultimate day for you. It’s the one game of the year where there are props posted on literally every single possible event in the football game. There are the usual player performance props, team performance and game events, but then BetDSI opens up the lines to offer up a wide range of wacky stuff. For example, you’ll see a betting line on which color the Gatorade bath will be for the winning coach or how long it will take to sing the national anthem? This is one of the aspects that makes the Super Bowl such a big mega event.
Strategy Of Betting Super Bowl Props
The strategy of betting Super Bowl props is that it gives you another avenue of betting on the big game. Often times, the Super Bowl matchup
Futures
Futures are a type of prop bet that is settled at some time in the future. Whereas the regular day-to-day betting lines are settled on a nightly basis as the games happen, futures are projections of things that will happen in the coming weeks, months or season.
Some of the bets that we’ve detailed above would fit under the category of futures. That would include things like who will win the Super Bowl, who will win the MVP award and regular season win totals.
Strategy Of Betting Futures
Futures are often viewed as a double-edged sword. The downside to futures is that usually, the bets take a long time to be decided. For example, if you bet on the Seattle Seahawks to win the Super Bowl in the preseason, it could take about six months before you win or lose your bet. That’s a long time for many people to wait. At the same time, the benefit to futures – and as a reward for investing so early – you will get a much bigger payday. To bet the Seahawks so early, you might get a line like 35/1. If they in fact play well, make their way to the Super Bowl and you bet them at that point, you’re payout will be a small percentage point of what you’d win had you invested early.
Futures are a good way to diversify your sports betting portfolio. You can have your day-to-day bets for things happening now and also have your futures investments and aim for a big hit should your projections pan out.
Here are some NFL Prop bets for the 2018-19 season presented by BetDSI:
What head coach will be fired first?
No head coach fired: +250
Dirk Koetter, Tampa Bay: +300
Hue Jackson, Cleveland: +400
Jason Garrett, Dallas: +600
Todd Bowles, NY Jets: +700
Vance Joseph, Denver: +1,000
Jay Gruden, Washington: +1,000
Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati: +1,000
Adam Gase, Miami: +1,200
Sean McDermott, Buffalo: +1,500
Anthony Lynn, LA Chargers: +1,500
John Harbaugh, Baltimore: +2,000
Matt Patricia, Detroit: +2,000
Doug Marrone, Jacksonville: +2,500
Bill O’Brien, Houston: +2,500
Pete Carroll, Seattle: +2,500
Dan Quinn, Atlanta: +2,500
Ron Rivera, Carolina: +2,500
Steve Wilks, Arizona: +2,500
Matt Nagy, Chicago: +2,500
Frank Reich, Indianapolis: +2,500
Pat Shurmur, NY Giants: +2,500
Mike Vrable, Tennessee: +2,500
Jon Gruden, Oakland: +3,000
Mike Zimmer, Minnesota: +3,000
Mike McCarthy, Green Bay: +3,000
Kyle Shanahan, San Francisco: +3,000
Andy Reid, Kansas City: +3,500
Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh: +3,500
Sean Payton, New Orleans: +3,500
Doug Pederson, Philadelphia: +5,000
Bill Belichick, New England: +10,000
Who will be the Super Bowl Halftime Show performer?
Other: +150
The Chainsmokers: +250
Pink: +500
Rihanna: +600
Ludacris: +800
Taylor Swift: +800
Britney Spears: +1,000
Outkast: +1,000
Carrie Underwood: +1,200
Bruno Mars: +1,200
TI: +1,500
Gucci Mane: +1,800
Kendrick Lamar: +1,800
Nicki Minaj: +2,000
Ed Sheeran: +2,200
Eminem: +2,200
Childish Gambino: +2,500
Adele: +2,500
Macklemore: +2,800
How many players won’t stand for the anthem in Week 1?
Over/Under 34.5: -115
Team with most players to not stand for the anthem Week 1?
Seattle: -200
San Francisco: +175
Other Team: +300
Miami: +400
Total players suspended during the season:
Over/Under 16.5: -115
Longest suspension during the season:
Over/Under 6.5: -115
Starts for rookie quarterbacks:
Josh Allen, Buffalo: Over/Under 8.5 (-115)
Baker Mayfield, Cleveland: Over/Under 4.5 (-115)
Sam Darnold, NY Jets: Over/Under 6.5 (-130/+100)
Josh Rosen, Arizona: Over/Under 4.5 (-160/+130)
Will a game end in a tie?
Yes: -250
No: +200
Will all Division winners have at least nine wins?
Yes: -260
No: +210
Will a team go 16-0 or 0-16?
Yes: +1,700
No: -3,700
Most wins by a team:
Over/Under: 13.5 (-110/-120)
Most losses by a team:
Over/Under: 13.5 (-190/+150)