Betting during the final week of the NFL season is not for novice football bettors. Week 17 of the NFL brings chaos for many bettors every year. This is because NFL teams are in playoff contention or are already in the playoffs with their house filed under lockdown, causing some serious situations to arise where there is no motivation to win the game.

That being said, teams that have the field closed and have nothing to gain will almost always sit their starters for the entire game or at least half of the game. An example would be week 17 of the 2005/2006 season in which the Seattle Seahawks opened as under-2 favorites at Lambeau Field vs. The Green Bay Packers. Quickly the line fell and began to go in Green Bay’s favor with a whopping 7 ½ point move down to -5.5 at game time.

A better rookie would be unaware of the fact that both the quarterback and the rest of the starters and main cogs would be sitting down after the first or second series of the game and see this as a dream line with Seattle getting 5.5 points. The bettor naturally can’t help himself and therefore throws a big bet on Seattle. But in the meantime, the Packers are the value game here despite having to put up the points. Seattle, then, has no motivation to win and wants to protect the health of the starters for the playoffs, so this puts them in a position not to worry if they lose the game.

We hope you are better informed to think before betting on fish lines at the end of the NFL football season in the future. Always do your research and read game previews to help you know if a team that is fighting for playoff position has thrown in the towel or is going to give up their starting players. It will make a big difference and help you better explain the line because one thing you will notice pretty quickly when betting is if it seems too true than it mostly is!