Five Best Bets for the NFL’s Second Half of the Season

The first half of the NFL season has provided some twists, some turns, and re-affirmed other notions. At the time of publication, every club has played at least eight matches, some even nine. There are some great sides, some rather poor ones, and some that have question marks hovering over them like the sword of Damocles.

What are some of the best bets for the second half of the regular season and the playoffs? Let’s discuss.

Before we go any further, don’t forget to check out our NFL odds for plenty of football action.

The Minnesota Vikings Turnaround

Two seasons in a row the Minnesota Vikings have been a fascinating club to watch. In 2022 it had to do with their incredible run of one-score victories. This season, they stumbled out of the gate at 0-3 (in one-score games, ironically). Since then they lost their starting WR in Justin Jefferson and their starting QB in Kirk Cousins (albeit several weeks later) yet have won five of six matches to improve to 5-4. Oh and the RB they traded for, Cam Akers, has a torn ACL.

That the team is 5-4 is impressive., but can a Josh Dobbs-orchestrated attack lead this team to the playoffs? A better defence will help and the unit has looked considerably better for a month now. Both Jordan Hicks and Camryn Bynum already have 80 tackles each to their name.

Looking at the schedule, they genuinely have a shot. New Orleans is hit-and-miss, Denver hasn’t improved much, then come Chicago and Las Vegas. With so many players who didn’t think they’d be tasked with carrying the load suddenly in the spotlight, this feels like a big ask.

Minnesota Vikings Make the Playoffs: It could be close, but no.

Baltimore Ravens As a Roadblock in the ACF

Here’s an intriguing predicament for AFC Super Bowl contenders. The Baltimore Ravens flew under the radar to a degree during the offseason. Granted, the last couple of seasons ended in tatters, usually because of unfathomably long injury lists and inconsistent play.

But you know what? In a division where all four sides have winning records, Baltimore has the best at 7-2. Furthermore, they disintegrated the last two teams who visited them. Those opponents weren’t just anybody, but the NFC North-leading Lions and the Seahawks, who are in contention for the NFC West. And consider this: the Ravens give up the fewest amount of points per match (13.8).

Lamar Jackson is turning into the QB fans hoped he’d have been for a few seasons already. He’s extending plays these days as opposed to running off like mad every other down. As long as TE Mark Andrews, WR Zay Flowers, and RB Gus Edwards can stay healthy, and with their terrific defending, sleeping on Baltimore is a bad idea.

Baltimore Ravens Win the AFC: They’re currently pegged at +450. That’s an excellent bet.

Pump the Breaks on the Miami Dolphins

This one has festered in the author’s mind for weeks already. But when analyzing sports, one must sometimes proceed with caution. It was decided to let the Sunday Night game against the Eagles and the Frankfurt match against the Chiefs play out. The Miami Dolphins are 6-3, which is a solid record. All three defeats have come at the hands of rivals that would have otherwise demonstrated that the Dolphins are a more serious threat in the NFL.

They’ve still scored the most points out of all 32 NFL teams (285), but that 70-20 demolition of the Broncos helps a lot. The Bills game was huge, and they scored 20. The Eagles game was a litmus test and they put up 17. The Chiefs game was a mouth-watering proposition and they mustered 14 points. It’s not very good when they play the big boys.

No one doubts that Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, and Raheem Mostert will torch the bad, mediocre, and palatable sides. That’s when the Dolphins are fun to watch. When they play more serious opposition…suddenly they resemble a more muted operation.

The Miami Dolphins Win the AFC: At +650, betters will feel good about themselves if it ends up happening. It’s not a bad bet per se. The problem is there is not enough evidence suggesting that it will this year.

Uncertainty With San Francisco 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers enjoyed a bye week in Week 9, and it feels easy to say they needed it. For the first time in the Brock Purdy era – if two halves of two different seasons can be described as an “era” – there is turbulence in the Bay Area.

Losers of three straight, the one that hurt the most was Week 8 against the Bengals. It was a big home game versus a challenging opponent and an opportunity to wash away the bitterness of two losses in a row. Cincinnati thoroughly outplayed them en route to a 31-17 victory.

San Francisco still sports the fourth-best defence in the NFL (17.5 points conceded a game) but they are hurting on that side of the ball. DE Robert Beal Jr. and CB Samuel Womack III are on IR and CB Darrell Luter Jr. is just coming back from that list. WR Deebo Samuel remains questionable as of Tuesday, November 7.

The San Francisco 49ers win NFC and Super Bowl: The real question is do you bet against a Kyle Shanahan-led squad? Two years ago they lost to the Rams in the NFC Championship game in a nail-biter quarterbacked by Jimmy Garoppolo. Last year was a tire fire in Philly with Purdy breaking his arm early.

Consider those bets. The 49ers are too stacked and too well-coached.

Detroit Lions Roar

Speaking of teams on byes, so were the Detroit Lions, as they watched Week 9’s action from the couch. The previous week they bounced back from a hapless 38-6 performance in Baltimore by thumping the Raiders at home 26-14.

At 6-2, Detroit looks good. The two defeats came against the aforementioned Ravens and the Seahawks, who for two seasons now have been a frisky outfit. Is there any cause for concern here? It’s easy to forget they began the campaign with a brilliant win in Kansas City when they’ve defeated less impressive sides like the Packers, Panthers, and Falcons since then. Even with that loss in Baltimore, QB Jared Goff is still eighth in the NFL in yards passing (2,174) and WR Amon-Ra St Brown is flirting with 100 yards a match (95.0).

The defence is very middle-of-the-pack. No Lions feature in the top 50 in tackles for losses, none are in the top 30 for sacks, and their leading tackler is Alex Anzalone with 57, good for 46^th. But head coach Dan Campbell gets the best out of his players, and it looks as if we’re witnessing a rebooted Jared Goff, or Goff 2.0, if you will. Recall that he started slow with the Rams before hitting his stride and that seems to be happening again with the Lions.

Dan Campbell Coach of the Year: Notwithstanding a monumental collapse in the second half of the regular season (injuries can kill any team), it feels as though this ship has begun sailing already. Mike McDaniel (Dolphins) and DeMeco Ryans (Texans) are alluring candidates, but Campbell should take this home.