NFL Predictions

Making NFL predictions, and doing it well, requires time, objectivity, and the latest information. Fortunately, the last of those three items has never been easier to obtain. For bettors today, vital information for making NFL predictions is available on 24-hour sports TV, the Internet, and through various membership services.

Here are some tips for making successful NFL predictions.

As with anything in life, the success of your NFL predictions typically will depend on the amount of effort you put into them. If you spend a lot of productive time gathering and studying the information, you'll increase your chances of finding the key piece of data that can help you with your top nfl picks.

If you're spending a lot of time on your NFL predictions, be sure you're spending time with good information. An old computer programming saying fits well here: GIGO, short for "garbage in, garbage out." If you spend your time studying irrelevant, out-of-date, or bad information, you'll be putting "garbage" into your NFL predictions. And, when you use garbage data, you likely receive garbage results.

Make sure you're using the latest information. Few entities are as closely studied as NFL teams. Information on injuries, trends, and statistics is available from a variety of sources. When searching on the Internet, though, make sure you have the latest data. If you're studying injury expectations from Tuesday for a game on Sunday, your NFL predictions could struggle.

Use historical trends carefully. With all of the turnover on rosters and coaching staffs among NFL teams, trends that date back several years probably don't fit the configuration of today's teams. Try to stick with historical trends that rely on more current items, such as one defensive coordinat or's record against a particular quarterback. 

Allow professionals to give you free nfl picks because the NFL is a "parity" league, meaning the league is configured with rules that try to give teams that finish poorly one season the ability to improve quickly the following year. Salary caps, unbalanced schedules, and the draft all help contribute to teams approaching 8-8 records. This is especially true with records against the spread. Only five NFL teams in 2008 won 10 or more games ATS, and only seven won six or fewer games ATS. Twenty teams (almost two-thirds) won seven, eight, or nine ATS games in 2008. The rule of thumb: Most teams will end up close to the .500 mark ATS, so you should keep that in mind when making your NFL predictions. (In straight up wins and losses, 13 of the NFL's 32 teams won seven, eight, or nine games during the regular season.)

Try to keep emotions out of your NFL predictions, which, obviously, is easier said than done. After all, sports are all about emotion. However, making accurate NFL predictions requires you to look at the facts, and ignore feelings about your favorite players or teams. If you made a wrong pick on one team the previous week, try not to let that affect your future picks involving that team. Again, it's difficult to do, but it's important to look at all games objectively if you're going to be successful with your NFL predictions.

Nobody can be perfect when making pro football predictions, but you can improve your chances of moving well above the .500 mark by using some of the tips here.