This weekend after a busy pre-season, the 32 teams in the NFL will get their seasons officially 
underway. The action begins in the early hours of Friday morning as the current Superbowl holders, the Philadelphia Eagles, welcome the losing 2016 Superbowl finalists, the Atlanta Falcons to Lincoln Financial Field to begin the new season.
If you are a fan of betting on the NFL, then you will already know that there are a number of different types of bets typically available on these games over the course of the season. While the game may still be between two teams, as it is in soccer for example, the bets that tend to be available on the NFL are slightly different to your usual standard soccer bets.
So, if you have ever fancied enjoying a little NFL betting action but are not sure what the difference is between your Spread bets, Total Over/Under bets and the Money Line, then this article will explain what these different bets are, and how you can bet on them at bet365 Sport.
Remember, you do need to be a bet365 Sport customer to bet on the site and there is a valuable bet365 Sport New Player Bonus offer available for you when you sign up to get you started on the site.
So before we take a look at some of the top tips for this coming weekend, let’s take a quick look at how a typical NFL betting page looks on bet365 Sport.
NFL betting for Opening Weekend of the season
*Odds shown were correct as of 1.15pm GMT on Tuesday 4th September 2018 at bet365 Sport.
As you can see, there are three different types of bets on the front page of the American Football section on bet365 Sport and we will outline what each of these three bets are below.
- Spread
The Spread option is another word used, often in American sports, to determine a handicap value that will be applied to the selected teams score for the purposes of deciding the bet.
In the example above, you can see for the first game of the weekend, Atlanta Falcons at the Philadelphia Eagles, that the Spread bet for the Falcons is +2.5, while for the Eagles it is -2.5.
As with most forms of handicap bets, the aim of this handicap or spread is to offer the punter two roughly equal options (as you can see by the similar odds for each bet). Simply click on the odds for the team you want to back to win the game, with the handicap applied and place your bet in the usual way.
When the match is played and the final result is known, you need to then apply the handicap of the bet you chose to back.
If after your handicap is applied to the score for your selected team, they still win the game, then your bet is a winner.
In the example above, this means that even if the Atlanta Falcons were to lose the game against the Eagles by one or two points, with a +2.5 handicap, they would still be a winner for you if you backed them to win.
On the flip side of that, Â if you back the Eagles to win and they only win by one or two points, then with their handicap applied, they would lose the game and hence your bet on them would not win.
The greater the spread on each team, the greater the potential mismatch in ability between the two teams is.
- Total
The total bet refers to a bet on the total number of points that are going to be scored in that game. This is a simple choice between betting on over a selected number of points, or under a selected number of points.
In the case of the Falcons v Eagles game, this has been set at 45 points. If you back O 45.0 this means you are backing over 45 points to be scored in the game. If you back U 45.0, this means you are backing under 45 points to be scored in the game.
Total is simply a simplified way of saying Over/Under the Stated Total Points in the game.
- Money Line
The Money Line bet is simply a standard odds bet, with no handicap applied to the score, on which team will win the game. It is the NFL equivalent of a Full Time Result bet in soccer. The one big difference is that the chances of a drawn game in the NFL are very small indeed compared to soccer, hence that is not an option on the Money Line bet.
So now that we have a better appreciation of the different bets available on the NFL with bet365 over the course of the season, what are our tips for the opening weekend games on these markets?
Our NFL Opening Weekend Tips
Outlined below are our top tips for the three betting markets on the NFL we have looked at in detail.
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Spread Tips
Houston Texans +5.5 (v New England Patriots) – Evens
Last year the Texans almost beat the Patriots (and should have done) and I like their chances with a 5.5 point advantage. DeShaun Watson is back, their defence is fully healed and travelling to New England at the end of summer is much less daunting than in the depths of winter.
Miami Dolphins +1.5 (v Tennessee Titans) – 10/11
Don’t get me wrong, the Dolphins are not a great team but they are facing a Titans side that lost all four pre-season games and who are still rated as the slight favourite here by the bookies. The Titans record against the Dolphins isn’t great either, so I think the home team are the value bet here.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers +9.5 (v New Orleans Saints) – 10/11
I think the Buccaneers are going to be a new force in the NFC South this year as I feel Atlanta are on the wane and Carolina and New Orleans are also both in a transitional period. The Saints may win this one, but I feel the Bucs will run them very close and with a +9.5 points advantage here, I think that makes them a great bet.
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Total Tips
Cincinnatti Bengals v Indianapolis Colts – Under 47.0 – 10/11
Even with Andrew Luck returning for the Colts, neither of these teams packs an explosive offense at the moment and I think both are stronger on defence. As such, this is a game where I think points will be at a premium and as such, the Under 47.0 option here is a solid bet.
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Money Line Tips
Buffalo Bills v Baltimore Ravens – Bills – 5/2
I think everyone is jumping on the Ravens bandwagon a little after their decent pre-season but I am not convinced. I don’t think this Ravens team will finish anywhere near the playoffs and I think the Bills have steadily improved. This will be much closer than the odds suggest and at 5/2, this is a good value bet on the Bills.
Washington Redskins v Arizona Cardinals – Cardinals – 10/11
As the odds suggest, this is a very even contest and in games like this, home advantage can be crucial. Arizona may not be the force they once were but they still have some excellent players, notably on offense and I think they’ll do just enough to get the win here.
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