Football betting underdogs are not popular because it is hard for most gamblers to be oriented towards taking the points in NFL betting. Football betting is not all about taking the better team or the favored team each week. If you want to win at NFL betting you are going to have to develop a taste for underdogs. While you cannot beat the sportsbooks at NFL football betting by betting on home chalks you can often find that the path to profit and success is with underdogs.That is because of that first misconception about the dogs, which is that they are the lesser of the two teams. Often times in NFL betting, that is not at all the case.
The NFL betting lines are not set based on actual team merits or on a pure numeric basis that is based on one team’s superiority over another. Instead, the NFL football betting lines are based on public perception and how the oddsmakers think that the public will wager on a game one way or the other. This means that if the football betting oddsmakers, for example, think that the public is going to side with the home chalk even if the road dog is the better team, the host will still be favored. Again, and it bears repeating, the better team is not always favored in NFL betting.
Along those same lines, when the better team is favored in football betting, they may be favored by more than they actually should be as far as true merit and value, which makes the underdog a value-added play that is getting more points that what is truly merited in football betting. Ultimately also keep in mind that the National Football League’s very structure is set for competitive balance and to make the teams as even as possible. In most cases, as you look over the NFL football betting board, you will see matchups between teams in which either side has a decent shot at winning straight up. With that in mind it makes sense to first look at who is getting the points as, in many cases, you will be getting more than you deserve rather than less in football betting.
It also cannot be emphasized enough that the NFL football betting masses gravitate towards the home chalks, as it fits their comfort zone, which means that the road dogs are often bringing more and added value. Home dogs, however, especially in close matchups, can also be a strong play as they have the home crowd incentive that often makes the difference in football betting.