It’s no secret that the most popular sport to bet on is football, specifically the NFL. Most NFL bettors bet on the spread and on game totals. Another market NFL bettors should consider is NFL team totals.
Success in betting NFL team totals comes from understanding the bet itself and then applying some simple strategies to ensure success.
Understanding the NFL Team Total Bet
When making a wager on an NFL team total, you are making an Over/Under bet on the point total of one team regardless of what the other team scores. For example, let’s say the Buffalo Bills are playing the Kansas City Chiefs. The Team Total bet would look like this:
Buffalo Bills Team Total:
Over 21 (-120)
Under 21 (+110)
Kansas City Chiefs Team Total:
Over 24.5 (-110)
Under 24.5 (+115)
You can infer that the Chiefs are favored to win in this example. Bettors wagering on Kansas City scoring more than 24.5 points would win $100 on a $110 bet if the Chiefs did score 25 or more points.
If a bettor thought the Chiefs wouldn’t reach 25 points, a $100 bet would win $115 if K.C. scored 24 or fewer points.
If you already know how to bet on over/under bets, you’ll understand how team totals work.
Tips and Strategies for Winning NFL Team Total Bets
Understanding how the NFL team totals bet works, a bettor can then go to work on selecting the best bets on a weekly basis. It first helps to understand key numbers in NFL final scores.
The most common game total in the NFL is 41. Both teams combine for 41 points. The most common final score in an NFL game is 20-17. The next two most common final scores are 27-24 and 24-20. Knowing these common scores can help in betting team totals.
Next, bettors need to take a look at team scoring statistics. Scoring has been on the rise in the NFL over the past several years. The scoring average of an NFL team checks in at roughly 23 to 24 points per game.
Some teams, of course, are well-known for their abilities to score points. In a given season, not many teams average more than 30 points per game. On the other end, not many teams average fewer than 17 points a game.
Having a solid understanding of a team’s point potential then leads a bettor to examine the matchup. Using the Buffalo-Kansas City matchup from above, let’s assume that the Chiefs are one of the better scoring offenses in the NFL.
On the other side, they are playing a Bills defense that gives up over 22 points per game. Betting on Kansas City to go Over 24.5 seems more likely than the Under bet.
Now, if the Bills defense was the best in the league and gave up only 15 points per game, the Under might be the more attractive wager.
The key to success with NFL team totals bets is finding the matchups. Bettors need a basic understanding of common final scores as well as team performances on offense and defense during a given season. Putting this information to use and then shopping for the best lines is a strategy that can yield success in NFL team total betting.
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