Why are so many sports bettors gun shy about making during the pre-season? Can you make money on your pre-season NFL football picks? Of course you can. Should you take the same approach analyzing and making your pre-season NFL picks as you do with your regular and post-season NFL football picks? The answer is no. You must approach the NFL pre-season from totally different perspective. So what makes the NFL pre-season different?

The NFL pre-season games are practice for teams to work on their weakness and evaluate the players. Coaches only have a limited amount of days and games in the pre-season to put together their final roster. As a result, coaches have different philosophies for preparing their teams for the regular season. Some coaches take winning during the pre-season seriously while others are more concerned about testing out new players and schemes. Some coaches are looking to establish a winning atmosphere and hate to lose and others don't care if they lose a pre-season game. Head coaches that have something to prove or who are worried about job security may be more focused and concerned about making every play count. New coaches sometimes fall into this category. They are eager to get their first win under their belt. They can bring new energy and optimism to a franchise that can translate into pre-season success on the field.

Before making your NFL picks, look at a head coach's goals and objectives for the pre-season. Head coaches oftentimes announce their intentions before each pre-season game. Look at the previous years offensive and defensive rankings to see what areas they need to improve on. Some head coaches like to give their starters more action, while others prefer to limit the amount of playing time to avoid injury. Sometimes a coach likes to challenge their teams or a specific player. This can have an effect on the play and effort of a team, turning an insignificant game into a more meaningful game.

In general, backups play more than starters. How could this effect the strategy of making your Some teams backups are better than others. Look at the offensive and defensive team rankings last season to see what areas they need to improve on. This can help you find out where a team may have added new players to help compensate for a weakness. In some cases a teams newly acquired backups may be better than another team's starters. This can present you with good betting opportunities when making your NFL picks. Passing teams can suddenly become running teams and vise versa. For example, a poor passing team last year may have beefed up and worked on this aspect of their game. This can result in higher scoring games, making an over play a good call. When considering what NFL football picks to make, look for teams that have great backups at quarterback. Some team's second or even third-string quarterback could be a starter on another team or may be fighting for a starting job. Find instances where starters may be playing against another team's backups. As an example, teams with veteran starters whose jobs are secure may not play as much.

The NFL pre-season can be very unpredictable but don't let this deter you from making and profiting from your pre-season NFL picks. While some historical pre-season trends such as taking the big underdogs still hold true, it is very important to do your homework before making your NFL football picks. You can find some very favorable match-ups and game situations to bet on if you do your research. If you don't have the time or access to the information necessary to research all the angles, you can find many sports handicapping services that will offer free football picks and free NFL picks. Most sports handicapping services will provide free NFL picks and free football picks on a daily basis. So don't let the pre-season pass you by without cashing in on your NFL football picks.