One of the things that many bettors try to do with totals is complicate them with things like points per quarter, total yards gained or some other factor that really has little to do with over-under. All you need to develop a decent over-under betting system in football is team and league scoring averages. If both teams involved in a game average more points per game than the league average, then bet the over. If both teams score below the league average, then bet the under. The trick comes when there is one team that does not follow the average.

If you run a hockey blog, then you know how unpredictable teams can be on any given night. But in football, teams tend to stick with their patterns. If you have a team that scores below the league average playing a team that scores above the league average, then you can average out their defensive and offensive numbers to get your totals bet. For example, if the league average is 20 points per game and one the teams in your game scores an average of 14 points per game, then you can average that out and get 17 as the points that team can expect to score. Plug that number into your system and you will get a more accurate totals bet for any football game.

When you read the Super Bowl odds each day, you will see a positive number associated with one team and an equal negative number associated with the other team. The team with the negative number is the favorite and that number is the point spread for the game. A little further down the line you will see a number that is often not marked as anything or it could be marked with a +/- indicator. That is the over-under and it is the bet that allows you to bet on the total number of points that will be scored in the game.

Hockey blog fans are familiar with the concept of over-under because it is used in hockey betting all of the time. If the over-under for the Super Bowl is 45, then you can either bet that the combined score will be 44 or less, or you can bet that the combined score will be 46 or more. If the combined score is 45, then it is a push. For example, the over-under for Super Bowl XLVI is 55 points, which means that the Patriots and the Giants would have to combine for 56 points or more for an over bet to win. Since the Pats and Giants are high-scoring teams, then an over bet may be a good one to make and another way to make money betting on the Super Bowl.

The bookie software sets the lines based on several conditions. But when a high-scoring team plays a low-scoring team, the line will almost always skew towards the high-scoring team. As a matter of fact, the five highest scoring teams in the league in any given season usually win at least 60 percent of their games against the spread. All you have to do is determine if a team is a top-five scoring team and then place your bet. It is that simple.

Another easy indicator of how a team will play is its home and away record. If you write or follow any other sports website such as a hockey blog, then you know that teams tend to establish patterns of winning and losing on the road. After the midway point of the season, you can use these tendencies to make some money. If a team has a winning record at home, then you can take the bet that it will win its next home game. More often than not, you will be right.

A proposition bet is not a typical bet to determine which team will win or which team will lose. It is a side bet that gives lines on things like who will win the coin toss, the over-under on how many yards a quarterback will throw for, who will be leading at halftime and who will score the winning touchdown. NFL fans like these proposition bets because they can be a great way to pad the winnings for a night. But proposition bets also have a challenging side that every bettor needs to be aware of.

There are no standard lines for proposition bets. That means that the line for who will win the coin toss on site A is different than the line on site B. That means that bettors may want to do a little looking to find the best lines on proposition bets to make sure they are getting the best possible odds. The danger in this for the betting websites is that the sites with the best odds will get all of the action and the sites with the lower lines will not see any additional revenue.

Many of the proposition lines are based on historical information. But, in many cases, it can just be a gut feeling that tells you which bet to take and how much you should put down.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Carolina Panthers

This is exactly the kind of game that the Carolina Panthers need to help build on next season. The inexplicable collapse of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will play into the hands of the constantly improving Panthers. With a couple of off-season changes, this Carolina team could be a playoff contender next year. This game will help kick-start that momentum.

Pick: Carolina Panthers

Minnesota Vikings @ Washington Redskins

The NFL fans in Washington have endured one of the most violent roller coaster rides in NFL history these last couple of years. But it may be time for the Washington train to get on track. Christian Ponder is not holding up to the pressure of being an NFL starting quarterback, which means that Joe Webb may start this game. Either way, this win will give the Redskins something to build on for next season.

Pick: Washington Redskins

Arizona Cardinals @ Cincinnati Bengals

In all reality, both of these teams are showing significant progress in the second half of the 2011 season. But the Bengals are much better than it was supposed to be as Cincinnati fights for a playoff spot. This game will be a stepping stone to being a playoff contender next season for the Bengals.

Pick: Cincinnati Bengals

New York Giants @ Dallas Cowboys

This week 14 matchup will complete the fall of the Giants and the rise of the Cowboys all in one week. This is the game where the Cowboys wrestle first place in the NFC East away from the Giants for good and crush the Giants’ playoff hopes.

Pick: Dallas Cowboys

San Francisco 49ers @ Arizona Cardinals

The San Francisco 49ers are a playoff contender while the Arizona Cardinals are not. But the pay head sports odds makers are still watching the race in the NFC for home field advantage throughout the playoffs. The 49ers have made significant improvements over last year’s team that finished 6-10. The 49ers will need this win to try and keep pace with the Packers in the NFC standings.

Pick: San Francisco 49ers

St. Louis Rams @ Seattle Seahawks

The Seahawks are trying to sneak into the playoffs for the second year in a row. Last year, the Seahawks finished 7-9 and made the playoffs as the worst divisional champion ever. The NFL scores that the Seahawks have been posting lately are starting to push the team into playoff contention. If the Seahawks can keep winning and the New York Giants keep losing, then the Seahawks could be in the post-season again.

Pick: Seattle Seahawks

The Patriots’ offense is on a roll that the Eagles could only dream of. Even without a key downfield receiver, the Patriots continue to score points. But that could be where the Eagles’ defense comes in. The Philadelphia defensive secondary is capable of taking away the short passes that Tom Brady loves so much and forcing the Patriots to throw the ball down field. That will bring Chad Ochocinco into the game more, and he has not played much this year at all.

New England Patriots

The price per head sports fans in New England know that the Patriots are all offense and no defense. The only defensive strategy the Patriots have is to keep the other team’s offense off of the field by holding on to the ball. But that may not work in this game and it could expose serious weaknesses in the Patriots’ game plan.

Philadelphia Eagles

The good news for NFL fans in Philadelphia is that the Patriots do not have a pass rush capable of putting Michael Vick back in the hospital. The Eagles have a shot at winning this game if it can get the ball past the New England linebackers. That is where Desean Jackson and the Eagles’ wide receivers come into play.

The Bottom Line

These teams are very similar, but the big difference is that the Eagles’ secondary can shut down the Patriots’ passing game. This may not be a pretty game to watch, but the Eagles’ fans will enjoy the outcome.

Pick: Philadelphia Eagles

Detroit Lions  (12 to one)  – Before the season started, the Detroit Lions were one of a handful of teams that nobody in their right mind would have considered a plausible Super Bowl threat in any year, especially coming out of a lockout. However, as Matthew Stafford and Megatron and their peers have shown, the Detroit Lions are for real, and they could be a contender for years to come. Entering week seven of the NFL season, the Lions are an impressive five and one. To put that into perspective, consider that from 2000 to 2009 the Lions were lucky if they could string three wins together for the entire season. Now with only eight weeks left, the Lions have an opportunity to show fans and critics alike, that they are for real and that unlike the Detroit Tigers, they can get the job done in the playoffs.

Buffalo Bills (25 to one) – Add the Buffalo Bills into the same category as Detroit for teams nobody in their right mind believed would ever make it to the Super Bowl in the next decade. The Bills have been men on a mission this season, as former Cincinnati Bengals whipping boy Ryan Fitzpatrick has looked like a younger version of Peyton Manning as he’s guided the Bills to an impressive record.

The 2011 NFL draft will be defensive heavy for the first couple of rounds. On paper, it appears that the three teams that won the honor of drafting in the first three spots will all be defensive heavy. Carolina Panthers finished in dead last this past season and unless they trade the first overall pick, appear destined to pick a defensive minded player, although that could change as there are some great offensive threats.

In our opinion, we feel that since Carolina’s defensive line ranked amongst the worst last season, we predict they will focus on grabbing a defensive tackle or a defensive end. While cornerback Patrick Peterson of LSU appears to be the consensus pick amongst our colleagues, as the top draft choice, we feel Da’Quan Bowers a defensive end from Clemson will move up in the draft. Bowers is projected by our colleagues to be a four, five or six pick, but the big defensive end has all the tools to be a number one. What’s more, Bowers is comparable to former Carolina Panther great Julius Peppers, and really if the Panthers have a chance to get another Peppers, you can guarantee they will do so.

What’s more, look for several veteran quarterbacks to be in play come draft time. With rumours coming out, that Carson Palmer of the Bengals and Donovan McNabb of the Redskins want to be traded, both of their clubs could move the disgruntled pivots for higher draft choices. Donovan McNabb in Buffalo could be the pivot the Bills have been waiting for since Doug Flutie left in 1998.

The 2010-11 NFL seasons, Championship Game was played at the new Cowboy’s Stadium in Arlington, Texas, with over 100,000 spectators taking the game in person, while over 100 million spectators watched the game on television. Entering this year’s playoffs, the Green Bay Packers, were narrowly able to get in, with a 10 to three victory over the rival Chicago Bears. However, once getting into the playoffs, the Green Bay Packers under the guidance of quarterback Aaron Rodgers and defensive Captain Clay Matthews were able to elevate their game to a whole new level.

On the contrary, the Pittsburgh Steelers were able to get into the playoffs as one of two teams with a bye. However, in their first game against Baltimore they narrowly escaped with a come from behind win. Meanwhile in the Steelers second game of the playoffs the AFC Championship game against the New York Jets, the Steelers jumped out to a giant lead before almost losing the game in the final minute. Fans around the league speculated that this may be the year, that the Steelers failed to win the biggest prize of them all.

Entering the Super Bowl game, the Green Bay Packers had a ton of momentum on their side, and the Pittsburgh Steelers looked to be on their last legs. Before the game was half way old, the Steelers were down 21 to 10. By the time the game concluded, it was evident, that the Packers momentum was far too much for the Steelers to handle.