What role does the spread play in determining which team is likely to win a game?
This is a good question because the spread itself is an indicator of which team is likely to win. The spread is a reflection of performance statistics as well as discretionary issues, such as injuries to key players and the “sitting” of key players in order to rest them for playoff games. But, most of all, it is a handicapper’s view of which team will win and by how much for the purpose of placing bets on one team or the other when they are involved in a specific NFL game match-up. The developers of NFLProPicker adjust the various statistical rankings of the two teams in an “Against the Spread” match-up based on a proprietary formula that has been empirically developed over time. As concerns “Straight-up” predictions, the spread is displayed and is of interest but is not required in calculations because raw statistical team rankings stand on their own unadjusted merit. In more cases than not, the team that is favored to win according to the spread is also the team that NFLProPicker wil
