When you bet on the NFL regular season, then you are adding excitement to your life that you couldn’t get in any other way. If you don’t bet on the NFL regular season, then you would only be very interested in games involving your favorite team. By betting, you get to watch more games while having something at stake in them. So, even if they are a blowout or if they include teams that you generally don’t care about, you can still derive excitement from watching them. On top of gaining excitement, you can also win money. Betting on the NFL regular season can be a profitable experience if you learn about your options as a bettor and follow wise advice from experienced bettors.
Regarding those options, the sportsbooks offer a large menu for any given regular season game. The spread and total will be available to bet on. You can also take a narrower route and bet on how individual players will perform. Furthermore, you can engage in live betting, which means betting on games after they’ve begun.
Divisional Odds
You can bet on which team will win a given division. My first piece of advice is to try to resist betting on favorites. This is because it is easiest to bet on them and, by giving into the temptation of betting on what seems to be easy, you’ll fail to foresee less expected outcomes. You should take a hard look at less favored teams. If you still like favored teams after giving alternative teams a hard look, then maybe you can still bet on them.
You have to recognize that the NFL is a parity league. It doesn’t take long for a team to go from last place in a division to first place in a division. Recently, for example, it took Jacksonville one year to make this leap. Last year, Houston made the same leap.
Because teams in the NFL are capable of making these great changes, there are normally going to be opportunities to cash in on teams that offer a great payout potential because they’ll be so underrated by oddsmakers based on the previous season that their prices will be very attractive. Oddsmakers are counting on bettors to attach exaggerated importance to the previous season, so you have to appreciate the extent to which things are liable to change from one year to the next.
So, don’t force yourself to avoid favored teams, but do give due consideration to less-favored options.
Historical Indicators
To continue my point, you should study the things that, historically, lead teams to take the last-to-first leap that Jacksonville and Houston have recently accomplished. Jacksonville took the leap after it got a competent head coach. Houston had an incredible rookie class. So, take a look at teams that acquired a new head coach and teams that have an intriguing rookie class.
I can already mention the Chargers as a really interesting option. They’ve always had a talented roster but a notoriously inept head coach. With Jim Harbaugh, this proven winner who knows how to get the best out of his guys, they are going to be a very interesting threat in the AFC West.
Current Favored Teams for Each Division
Here are the favored teams for each division:
- Buffalo at +170 for the AFC East
- Baltimore at +125 for the AFC North
- Houston at +110 for the AFC South
- Kansas City at -250 for the AFC West
- Philadelphia at -125 for the NFC East
- Detroit at +140 for the NFC North
- Atlanta at -120 for the NFC South
- San Francisco at -210 for the NFC West
Conference Odds
When betting on the respective winners of the AFC and NFC, you should apply the thinking that you used when betting on division winners but in an adjusted manner. What I mean is that you should give less favored teams a hard look. However, you need to recognize that that winning a conference will involve beating multiple very good teams. In order to win these games, the team itself will have to be very good.
So, the quality that a team will need to have to win its conference will be higher than the quality that a team needs just to win its division. While you can bet on a team like the Chargers to win the AFC West, for example, you couldn’t bet on them to win their conference because there is no way that they are that good.
So, I recommend searching for teams that you consider to be very good but still underrated by oddsmakers. An example of such a team might be Houston, which has a great pass attack and a defense that should be better this year.
This being said, the Chiefs are favored to win the AFC at +325. The 49ers are favored to win the NFC at +240.
2024-25 conference winners odds
AFC WINNER
FUTURES ODDS
| Team | Caeasars | Bet365 |
|---|---|---|
| Kansas City Chiefs | +220 | +250 |
| Baltimore Ravens | +325 | +325 |
| Buffalo Bills | +500 | +450 |
| Houston Texans | +480 | +500 |
NFC WINNER
FUTURES ODDS
| Team | Caesars | Bet365 |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco 49ers | +330 | +325 |
| Detroit Lions | +400 | +500 |
| Minnesota Vikings | +550 | +550 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | +750 | +650 |
| Green Bay Packers | +900 | +800 |
Win Totals
Another betting option is to predict how many wins a team will have in the regular season. Each team will get assigned a win total – such as 7.5, maybe, for an allegedly mediocre team. You can bet on the “over” or the “under,” meaning that you think the team will get, respectively, more or fewer wins.
The best way to get into betting on win totals is to look at each team’s schedule. Take a look at its opponents. Formulate a win total in your mind and then compare the win total in your mind with the one that oddsmakers have assigned. If there is a significant discrepancy, then you should consider betting on that team’s win total.
Season Awards
The NFL hands out multiple player awards at the end of the season, such as MVP, Rookie of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, and so on.
My best piece of advice is to resist the temptation to bet on the best players. It is likely, every year, that these awards are not given to the best individual players. This is because some players just don’t get the opportunity to show how good they really are. Football is, after all, a team sport. Some elite players get stuck on bad teams or on teams that are good but are not a good fit for them scheme-wise.
By betting on individual players or coaches, you are also betting on their team. So, look for teams that you think are good, and consider the players or coaches who you like on that team. Consider how they fit in with the team.
Also consider their competition on that team. You might really like a wide receiver but avoid investing in his award potential because he’s on a run-heavy team and you worry that the running back will take a lot of touches. Maybe you worry that there are too many other good wide receivers on that team.
Analyzing the Contenders for Super Bowl LIX
AFC Top Contenders
Kansas City Chiefs
The AFC’s top contender is the Chiefs, who are listed at +325 to emerge out of the AFC and +550 to win the Super Bowl. We all know who Patrick Mahomes is, the superstar quarterback who is a regular Houdini, as he’ll make things happen even when a given play seems broken.
The Chiefs won the Super Bowl last year despite the struggles that Mahomes had with what often looked to be an inept group of wide receivers.
Mahomes didn’t – and this year, too, doesn’t – have to do it all himself, though. The Chiefs have one of the best defensive coordinators, if not the best, in Steve Spagnuolo, who will ensure the quality of their defense. Their pass-catching crew should, moreover, be better this year with the acquisition of Marquise Brown, who was Baltimore’s top wide receiver, and promising rookie Xavier Worthy.
Baltimore Ravens
The second-most favored contender out of the AFC is Baltimore, which is listed at +475 to win the AFC and +900 to win the Super Bowl. Baltimore might have an even better defense than Kansas City this year, with the latter’s top cornerback having moved onto a different team.
The Ravens have elite players in their front seven and strong secondary play. Their secondary will be even better this year than it was last year with the acquisition of All-Pro safety Eddie Jackson from the Bears and of rookie cornerback Nate Wiggins out of Clemson. Baltimore allowed nearly one point fewer than any other team last year and can do even better this year. Super-mobile quarterback Lamar Jackson, regularly an MVP candidate, and his team’s rush attack won’t need too many points to win games.
Houston Texans
Though not as heavily favored, I think Houston is worth taking a look. The Texans are listed at +800 to win the AFC and +1600 to win the Super Bowl. With CJ Stroud and an amazingly well-selected group of wide receivers, Houston already had an elite pass attack last year, and now the Texans add All-Pro selection Stefon Diggs.
The defense needs to improve, but the young talent, again, has been amazingly well-selected in what was a terrific draft for the team last year. It’s famously said that this is a passing league and for good reason. Houston has the passing attack, and its defense will not need to be that good in order for the team to go far in the postseason.
NFC Top Contenders
San Francisco 49ers
As for the NFC, the top contender is San Francisco, posted at +240 to win the NFC and +550 to win the Super Bowl. The 49ers have been a consistent contender in recent years, but last year saw a major development for them, as they finally found a good quarterback.
Brock Purdy went so far as to emerge in the MVP conversation. Purdy is surrounded by dangerous weapons at running back, wide receiver, and tight end. San Francisco’s defense should, like last year, rank top five at limiting points per game.
Detroit Lions
Detroit is the next-most favored NFC team. You can find the Lions at +550 to win the NFC and +1200 to win the Super Bowl.
Detroit is a lot like Houston: a dangerous vertical pass attack. If its wide receiver crew isn’t quite as deep as Houston’s, its running back and tight end groups are certainly better. The Lions might not have as good of a quarterback, but they do have a more well-rounded offense because they can run very well in addition to passing prolifically.
Detroit’s defense has promising young talent led by their young defensive lineman Aidan Hutchinson, who is proving to be an excellent draft pick. The Lions used free agency to bolster their back seven, although they’ll already benefit from having their top cornerback healthy again.
Must-Watch Games in the 2024 NFL Season
Chiefs vs. 49ers in Week 7
Can any game be more emotional than a rematch of the game in which everything was on the line? This was last year’s Super Bowl, and now we get to see the 49ers try to get revenge. Plus, these are two of the best teams, with excellent coaches and talent-laden rosters. Each team is currently favored to win its respective conference.
Bills vs. Texans in Week 5
This game will be exciting for its offense. Buffalo’s Josh Allen and Houston’s CJ Stroud are two of the NFL’s best quarterbacks. Both have great arms. While Stroud’s passing is better, Allen is also a dangerous runner. This game also has an emotional component with Stefon Diggs, now a Texan, facing his former squad.
Lions vs. 49ers in Week 17
This game will have a lot of emotion in play because these teams met in the playoffs last year. Detroit will be out for revenge. This game is going to feature some of the game’s most dynamic weapons, such as Deebo Samuel for San Francisco and Jahmyr Gibbs for Detroit. Both players reliably gain a lot of yards both as ball-carriers out of the backfield and as pass-catchers. With these weapons, both teams finished top-two in total offense last year. They are poised to be as dangerous this year.
Eagles vs. Buccaneers in Week 4
We have another playoff rematch. Philadelphia was one of the more favored NFC contenders last year, but the Eagles suffered from inept coaching and depleted player morale down the stretch. Those issues have been resolved, so the Eagles are going to be back in business this year. They are going to be extra focused on this game, as they’ll want revenge both for the sake of revenge and in order to regain confidence after last year’s demise.
Ravens vs. Chiefs in Week 1
NFL fans are always dying for the regular season to start. Their desire will be addressed by this game, which is the opening game of the regular season. It features two of the best quarterbacks and two of the best defenses. Baltimore will be out for revenge, but the Chiefs will want to show that they have what it takes to win yet another Super Bowl.
Players to Watch Next Season
Can the Chiefs Pull Off a Legendary Three-Peat?
The winner of a given year’s Super Bowl is going to be one of the NFL’s best teams. It takes top-caliber quarterback play, great coaching, and great defense.
No matter how unlikely it might seem for a team to win three Super Bowls in a row, Kansas City has what it takes to do so. No team has ever done so before, but consider the uniqueness of what the Chiefs have to offer. Mahomes is uniquely good – he’s also experienced and clutch – and he has one of the top defenses to help him out.
There will be a lot of competition for the Chiefs to potentially deal with in the playoffs. People can make good cases for teams like Baltimore and Houston. The Ravens have a defense that might be even better than Kansas City’s, and a great quarterback, too.
But the Chiefs are certainly capable of beating those teams. What those teams lack are winners. Lamar Jackson, as good as he is, has a reputation for having disappointing performances in the playoffs. CJ Stroud is still very young. Josh Allen, likewise, lacks Mahomes’ ability to win big games. You can make similar points about potential NFC contenders, as well.
So, we have something of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it seems so unlikely for a team to beat the necessary competition to win a Super Bowl three times in a row. And history confirms the unlikelihood of this happening. On the other hand, it’s the very fact of winning a lot that makes Kansas City likely to three-peat because experience breeds a higher likelihood of success.
