Weekly Q&A with Doc's Sports Expert Handicapper Raphael Esparza 1/17/2017

by Doc's Sports - 1/17/2017

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers

The 2016 NFL season is down to its final three games (not counting the Pro Bowl), and in this week's discussion with Doc's Sports expert handicapper Raphael Esparza we will get his take on how he sees the next two playing out this Sunday.

Known for years as the Vegas Sports Informer during a long and successful career in the Las Vegas sportsbook industry, Raphael rose through the ranks to hold the prestigious position as the Director of the Race and Sports Book for MGM Grand's Aria while also becoming one of the top sports handicappers in the nation. He retired from the sportsbook industry back in 2013, but he continues to run a successful and diverse sports investment service from his home base in Las Vegas as well as from the Big Easy in New Orleans. The following is this week's Q&A with one of Doc's most interesting handicappers.

Doc's Sports: The home favorites pulled off the four-game sweep both straight up and against the spread in the Wild Card Round of the NFL Playoffs, and the betting public cleaned up against the Las Vegas sportsbooks. Last weekend's Divisional Round had mixed betting results with two road underdogs coming out on top, so who came out on top at the betting window this time around, the bettors or the books?

RE: Things started out bad for the Las Vegas sportsbooks with Atlanta covering and they only got worse with quite a bit of money on New England and the "over". A good deal of money was also bet on the over in the Green Bay at Dallas game and some late money on Pittsburgh resulted in a pretty big overall loss for most of the books in town.

Doc's Sports: Both the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots come into Sunday's AFC Championship in Foxborough with extended SU winning streaks while covering ATS in the majority of those victories. New England will no doubt be tough to beat at home SU as the clear favorite, but with the current spread set at six points, which of these two AFC powers keeps things rolling for bettors with the ATS win?

RE: I would probably lean slightly towards New England at home, but I am more interested in what happens to the total line for this game between now and Sunday afternoon. The Steelers' inability to score touchdowns against Kansas City last Sunday has to be a concern. This also adds some value to the "under" play in this matchup if the current 51-point total line for this game holds steady.

Doc's Sports : The NFC Championship matchup between Green Bay and Atlanta features two of the hottest quarterbacks in the league right now. These two teams have each averaged well over 30 points a game in their last several outings. So, can they combine to score more than 60 points on Sunday to take this game over the current 60-point total line?

RE: I actually like the over in this game given just how well each team's offense has been playing lately, but I have to admit that a 60-point total for any NFL game still scares me a bit. The better play in this one is Green Bay plus the points simply because of the way that Aaron Rodgers is playing right now. I would probably concede the league MVP award to Atlanta's Matt Ryan for the way he played all season long, but there is no way I am betting against Rodgers come this Sunday afternoon.

Doc's Sports : We all know that you are a big Pac-12 fan when it comes to betting on college sports. The 16-2 Oregon Ducks started conference play in college hoops with a big upset against the UCLA Bruins and they are currently 5-0 (SU and ATS) in Pac-12 play. The No. 3 Bruins still appear to be the class of this conference, but what are your early feelings about the No. 11-ranked Ducks this year?

RE: Oregon had some health issues earlier in the season which worked to keep it under the radar the Pac-12 in light of a very talented UCLA team. However, right now I have the Ducks winning this conference in the regular season. Oregon already has that initial victory against UCLA as an edge, and I think the experience and depth on its roster will ultimately prevail over all the youthful talent the Bruins bring to the table.

Doc's Sports: Last week you made the right call in Yair Rodriguez's second-round TKO of BJ Penn in this past Sunday's UFC Fight Night in Phoenix to go two-for-two in your weekly Raphael's Radar betting picks for the New Year. Is there anything on this week's betting board that has caught your eye as another winning pick that might be a bit off the grid?

RE : I am looking a bit down the road to a boxing match between Carl Frampton and Leo Santa Cruz in the Featherweight Division on Jan. 28 as part of a HBO boxing event. This is still a 'wait-and-see' pick with Frampton currently listed as a -150 favorite. If that number comes down a bit between now and the actual fight, there would be some solid value in Fr ampton as the better pure puncher.

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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