NFL Odds & Lines

Overview

The NFL has a long history that dates back to its founding in 1920 in Canton, Ohio, as the American Professional Football Association. The league would change its name in 1922 to the National Football League, or as most people today know it as the NFL. Since then, the NFL has made many changes throughout its existence.

The NFL’s Early Years 1922-1932

After the name change in 1922, the NFL season would have a total of 18 teams, four of which were new to the NFL that year. At the end of the season, the team with the best record was declared the NFL Champions. That format would be the format for determining the NFL Champion until 1933.

The 1932 season would see the NFL only field eight teams. By the end of the 1932 NFL season, two teams would be tied with the same record, prompting the first-ever playoff game to determine who the NFL Champion would be. The Portsmouth Spartans would go against the Chicago Bears for the title of NFL Champion, with the Bears winning the game by a score of 9-0. It was here that the NFL would make its first major change.

The NFL Evolves With Rule Changes, The Playoff Format, and The NFL Championship Game 1933-1965

With the first-ever playoff game in the NFL being widely successful, the NFL would divide their teams into two separate divisions. The leaders from each division would face each other in the NFL Championship game. By 1960, the NFL would have a playoff game between the runner-ups of both conferences, which would be called the Playoff Bowl. The game would be played after the NFL Championship game and would determine which team would be in third place in the NFL behind the winner and loser of the NFL Championship game.

These changes in the NFL also entailed rule changes in the league. These major rule changes included the following:

• Forward Passes became legal anywhere behind the line of scrimmage, changing the rule of needing to be five yards behind the line before the player could legally throw a pass.
• Hash marks and inbounds lines added.
• Moved the goalposts to the goal line of the endzone. The NFL would change the rule in 1974, placing the goalposts back to the end line of the endzone.
• Ruled a punt a touchback when the punt hits the goalpost before being touched by any player.
• Ruled a ball kicked behind the goal line that hits the goalpost and rolls back out of the endzone or is recovered by the kicking team a safety.
• Hand-to-hand forward passes made behind the line of scrimmage that is incomplete would be ruled a fumble.
• Incomplete passes no longer incurred a five-yard penalty.
• An illegal forward pass thrown beyond the line of scrimmage became a five-yard penalty from the spot of the foul.
• Introduced the NFL Draft in 1936.

NFL and AFL Merger 1966-1970

The NFL and the AFL would strike an agreement to merge the two football leagues into one league during a meeting they had in 1966. During the meeting, the NFL would change the NFL Championship game to the Super Bowl and have the game played against the playoff winner of the NFL Championship and the playoff winner of the AFL Championship. The NFL-AFL merger would be completed by the start of the 1970 season. The NFL became the namesake of both leagues, and the teams in the NFL were placed in the National Football Conference while the AFL teams were placed in the American Football Conference. The NFL also placed three teams from the 16 NFL teams into the AFC. Those teams were the Baltimore Colts, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Cleveland Browns.

The NFL Since Their Merger With The AFL 1971-Present Day

Since the 1970 merger and the two leagues being divided into two conferences with 13 teams each, the NFL had made changes and added additional teams to the league. What started as a 26-team league in 1970 has changed into a 32-team league. The NFL has also changed the number of games played from 14 games in 1971 to 17 games in 2021.

The playoff format has also been overhauled since 1971, where only three division winners and one wild card made the playoffs in each conference. In 2020, the NFL allowed for three wild card teams to make the playoffs to go along with the four division winners. The winner from each conference championship game still faces each other in the Super Bowl.

NFL games offer various betting options.

• Point spread betting on single games.
• Moneyline betting on single games.
• Over/Under betting on total points on a single game.
• Parlay betting on multiple games.
• Player prop betting.

Each betting option is different and has different betting strategies. BetUS has all these options for bettors along with promotions for new customers. BetUS also allows users to make deposits using one of four cryptocurrencies that they accept. BetUS also has additional bonuses for crypto users when making their first-time re-up deposit using crypto.

Point Spread Betting

Betting on the point spread is one of the most common bets made on NFL games. The spread allows people to take additional points when betting on the underdog or give away points when betting on the favorite. The spread has better odds for favorites than betting on them on a moneyline bet.

Point spreads usually have slightly negative odds or even odds, making it more appealing than a moneyline bet with less reward for the favorite and more risk with the underdog. When betting the point spread, one must ensure that the team they pick can “cover” the spread. For the underdog, this means losing by less than the points taken in the spread, while with the favorite, they will need to win by more than the points they are giving away.

Moneyline Betting

Moneyline betting is the simplest form of betting on NFL games. A bet on the moneyline means you are betting who the outright winner of the game will be. The favorite teams will have negative odds, while the underdog teams will have positive odds.

The moneyline has the least return for favorites, while the underdogs give the highest return. While underdogs winning outright isn’t as common as a favorite winning, they do win some of the time. A moneyline bet on an underdog can give a great return if they win but will require one to study the teams’ history to see if that underdog has a chance.

Over/Under Betting

Another common and straightforward form of betting is over/under betting. The over/under bet is a bet on whether the combined total points scored will be over or under the amount set. The odds are usually slightly negative on these bets.

Parlay Betting

Parlay betting is a bet on multiple games, with the odds determined by the number of games added plus the original betting odds on the games added. You can mix point spread and moneyline options on a multiple-game parlay. For example, you can put the Dolphins on the moneyline against the Saints as one game of the parlay while having the Chiefs with a -7 point spread against the Bengals as the second game of the parlay.

Player Prop Betting

One of the most popular side bets is player props. Player props can have negative, even, or positive odds. Player props are based on milestones for that player to hit. Some examples include the total number of passing yards, the total number of rushing yards, the total number of touchdowns made, or the total number of field goals made.