Doc’s Sports – Sports Handicapper

These are two of the best ATS teams in the league facing off in Dallas tonight, but we think the Mavs are the better ballclub and we like them laying fewer than seven here on Sunday Night. The Mavs are coming off a somewhat embarrassing loss to the Suns, and they should bounce back well here. We think they will put their best foot forward here after playing lousy last time out. This is also their last home game before they go on a four-game road trip against WC playoff contenders, and that makes a win here imperative. They should be heavy dogs in all those road games. The Kings are coming off a home loss to Golden State where they played well and covered. This is probably a letdown spot after that strong effort.

4 Unit Play. Take #728 Over 129.5 in Saint Louis @ Houston (3p.m., Sunday, December 16 ESPNU) Expect both teams to reach the mid-sixties in scoring and we will not worry if Houston can cover this spread and just focus on the over. Houston has gone over the posted total in 4 of their last 5 games against Atlantic 10 teams.

Best of Luck – Doc’s Sports

3 Unit Play. Take #310 Cincinnati Bengals over Oakland Raiders (1p.m., Sunday, December 16 CBS) Somebody must win this game between two terrible teams. It has been 17 games since the Raiders have won two games on the road. Both teams have bad defenses but look for the Bengals to score some points and I just do not believe the Raiders can keep pace with them. Oakland is 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games against Cincinnati. The Bengals are 19-8 ATS in their last 27 games played in December.

2 Unit Play. Take #312 Baltimore Ravens over Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1p.m., Sunday, December 16 FOX) Both of these plays feature a shady home favorite against a terrible team. This is the time of year teams tend to mail it in and I expect Tampa Bay to fire their coach and Arizona just does not have enough weapons to hurt Atlanta. Expect double digit wins by each of these home teams. 

10 Unit Play. Take #327 New England Patriots over Pittsburgh Steelers (4:25p.m., Sunday, December 16 CBS) Both teams need to turn the page quickly after bad losses last Sunday. The Patriots seldom lose two games in a row and they are playing a team in disarray at the moment. Pittsburgh has not beaten New England since 2011 and the Patriots are 14-4 ATS in their last 18 games following a loss in their previous game. Over this winning streak, the Patriots average margin of victory is 11 points against the Steelers. Pittsburgh is 1-7 ATS in their last 8 games played during the month of December. New England is 9-2 ATS in their last 11 games played in December.

4 Unit Play. Take #326 San Francisco 49ers over Seattle Seahawks (4:05p.m., Sunday, December 16 CBS) The 49ers are coming off an impressive win against the Broncos and we will use them again this week against Seattle. Their game last month was closer than what the score would indicate, and Seattle was not that impressive last week on offense against Minnesota especially in the passing game. San Francisco took the foot of the gas last week and thus the final score was not reflected in how they dominated (led 20-0 at half).  Seattle does not need to win this game to make the playoffs and I just do not see a blowout by the visitor. The 49ers performed well down the stretch last season after a terrible start and it would not surprise me if history repeats itself in 2018 as well.

4 Unit Play. Take #317 Green Bay Packers over Chicago Bears (1p.m., Sunday, December 16 FOX) The Packers played much better last Sunday after firing their head coach. Do not see them getting blown out in this game and thus expect them to take it down to the wire decided by only a field goal. QB Rodgers is 17-4 against Chicago and had a remarkable comeback on one leg to beat them in the first game of the season. The Bears have all but clinched the NFC North (need 1 win or 1 Minnesota lost) and thus they have a margin of error in this game. Green Bay is 16-5 ATS in their last 21 meetings in Chicago. The Bears are 14-40 ATS (1 push) in their last 55 games after accumulating over 150 yards rushing in their previous game.

4 Unit Play. Take #308 Minnesota Vikings over Miami Dolphins (1p.m., Sunday, December 16 CBS) A see a lot of comparisons to how Green Bay performed last week. Miami is coming off an unthinkable win last week against New England, but they now must travel north to take on a team desperate for a win. Minnesota played well on defense last week against Seattle and they just fired their offensive coordinator and expect to see a spark on the offensive side of the football this week. Miami is 4-10 ATS in their last 14 road games when they are an underdog. Remember last year when Minnesota had a remarkable win against New Orleans and then laid an egg the next week against Philadelphia? Expect that to happen to Miami this week, as they will lose by double digits. Minnesota is 27-10 ATS in their last 37 games following a loss in their previous game.

Free Play from Doc’s Sports. Take #313 Dallas Cowboys over Indianapolis Colts (1p.m., Sunday, December 16 FOX) Just believe that the wrong team is favored in this game. Dallas has won 5 straight games including beating teams that are better than what they will see from Indianapolis this week. The Colts need to win out to keep their slim hopes of a playoff berth alive and I just do not see that happening. They will struggle to move the football against the Cowboys defense and expect this to be a low scoring game. Dallas has covered the spread in 5 straight games during this 5 game winning streak. Indianapolis is 5-12 ATS (2 pushes) in their last 19 games following a victory in their previous game. Do not miss out on Doc’s Sports weekend football card. Monster runs going in all sports and now is the time to sign-up with a veteran handicapper that has been in business since 1971.