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Weekly Q&A with Doc's Sports Expert Handicapper Raphael Esparza

by Doc's Sports - 9/9/2015

New England Patriots Wide Receiver Julian Edelman

Bettors will need to decide whether or not "Deflategate" will have a positive or negative impact on New England and more specifically Tom Brady in the Patriots' season opener this Thursday night against Pittsburgh. In this week's discussion with Doc's Sports expert handicapper Raphael Esparza, we will get him to weigh in on this topic as well as a possible upset special for Week 1 in the NFL.

The former Vegas Sports Informer has been a key member of Doc's team for the past eight years, and during that time he has established himself as not only a successful handicapper but as an extremely versatile one as well. After rising up the ranks in the Las Vegas sportsbook industry all the way to Director of the Race and Sports Book for MGM Grand's Aria, he decided to retire in 2013 to spend all of his time as the owner and operator of one of the top sports investment services in town. The following is this week's conversation

Doc's Sports: Just in time for the start of the NFL regular season we finish our tour of each division title race with the NFC East. This one appears to be a two-team battle between Dallas and Philadelphia, but which of the four teams do you have winning this division race?

RE: I would have to agree that the NFC East is a two-team race between the Cowboys and the Eagles. From what I saw in the preseason I would have to give the slight edge to Philadelphia as long as starting quarterback Sam Bradford can stay healthy. If the Eagles have to rely on Mark Sanchez for any extended period of time, it would tip the scales back in favor of Dallas winning the East again.

Doc's Sports: Tom Brady and the defending Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots get the new NFL season started as touchdown favorites at home this Thursday night against Pittsburgh. Amidst all of the off-field controversy surrounding this team, does any of that carry over to the playing field in this game?

RE: I am expecting it to be business as usual for both Brady and the Patriots. This whole situation was completely overblown and a perfect example of some of the inherent flaws in the NFL as a completely over-hyped entity as opposed to the pure excitement of college game.

Doc's Sports: Looking at the rest of the NFL schedule, do you have any possible straight up upsets brewing in your Week 1 picks?

RE: The one game that did standout as a great candidate for an upset is Minnesota on the road as a slight favorite against San Francisco in a late West Coast start on Monday night. The majority of the betting public will probably miss this one because of the late start, but do not be surprised to wake up Tuesday morning to find out that the 49ers won.

Doc's Sports : The first week of the college football season is in the books. Is there anything that caught your attention in this opening round of games?

RE: Both Arizona State and Stanford were probably overrated coming into this season in the Pac-12, and the point was proven in opening-week losses. I went big on Hawaii as a 10-point home underdog, and it paid off in a straight up win against Colorado. The biggest surprise was just how good Notre Dame looked and just how bad Texas played in the Fighting Irish's 38-3 romp.

Doc's Sports: The biggest showdown in Week 2 of the college football season pits Oregon on the road against Michigan State with the Spartans favored by 3.5 points by many of the books in Las Vegas. Which team do you like in this early Pac-12/Big Ten matchup?

RE: This should be a great matchup and one that I would rather watch than bet on given just how close this game should be. If I had to make a play, I would probably lean towards the "under" with the game being played in East Lansing. I would expect Michigan State to try and control the tempo as much as possible as opposed to letting things turn into an all-out shootout.

Click here to visit Raphael Esparza's Insider's Page at Doc's Sports for more information on his amazingly-profitable sports handicapping picks. Also, get $60 worth of Esparza's member's picks absolutely free - no obligation, no sales people - you don't even have to enter credit card information. You can use this $60 credit for any sport Esparza handicaps. Click here for $60 worth of free picks from Raphael Esparza .

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