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Basic Strategy Teasers: Best Week 9 NFL Betting Options


by Chris Vasile - 11/2/2018

Matt Ryan Atlanta Falcons

I watched the game between the Oakland Raiders and San Francisco 49ers last night, and I kept thinking to myself, damn, Brett Favre still has it. The only problem is, the 49ers quarterback - who played at Southern Miss - just like Favre did - was in fact not Favre. It was Nick Mullens, and he was making his first career NFL start.

My rhetorical question to you, the reader, is how does a franchise sign a coach for $100 million and watch him continuously allow the team to play like complete and utter garbage? If trading Khalil Mack wasn't comical, last night's performance could have won an Oscar for best comedic performance. I mean really. Mullens threw for 262 yards on 16-of-22 passing and three touchdowns. He wasn't even sacked once. He had a passer rating of 151.9. That's nearly perfect. Did I mention he did this on a short week, without fair warning about possibly starting the game?

Oakland may have traded away it's best receiver before the trade deadline, but they should probably trade the entire team before making Amari Cooper the scapegoat. But I digress.

As for last week's Basic Strategy Teaser, we made it two straight wins thanks to the Panthers winning outright and the Steelers taking care of the Browns. We are now 5-3 through seven weeks of action.

Remember, a Basic Strategy Teaser is a two-team wagering options that allows you to adjust the spread six, six-and-a-half or seven points to get a favorable spread. At Doc's Sports, we only recommend using six-point teasers and moving spreads through key numbers such as three and seven. If you would like more information how Basic Strategy Teasers work, click here .

Best Two-Team, Six-Point Teaser for Week 7. Lines courtesy of Bovada.

Atlanta +8.5 & Pittsburgh +8.5 (-120)
Risk: $100 to win $83.33

The first part of this two-team, six-point teaser will rely on the Atlanta Falcons to not get blown out this week when they travel to Washington to take on the Redskins. Look, this Atlanta team has been a major disappointment so far this season, but they still have the talent on offense to put up a boat load of points on any given Sunday. The problem is that the offensive coordinator simply doesn't know how to call a good game, but we will be banking on him to figure it out this week, coming off a bye and with an extra week to prepare for this Washington defense.

Matt Ryan has led the Falcons to two straight home wins against the Bucs and Giants, and he should have plenty of time in this game to push the ball down field and find open receivers against a Washington defense that is due for a letdown after two straight division wins. I understand that it's not completely sane to back a 3-4 team on the road against a 5-2 team, but the spread is low for a reason, which means the Falcons have a better shot than most think in this game. Teasing the game six points in your direction will ensure you get the Falcons as more than a touchdown underdog, which is crucial if you understand the key numbers.

Washington simply isn't built to blow teams away. They prefer a slower pace, where they run the ball and capitalize on their chances. This is an offense that ranks 25th in total yards, 26th in passing yards, 25th in points per game and 21st in 3 rd down percentage. The Falcons will be ready, and they will stay inside the teased spread, and maybe even win outright.

For the second leg of this teaser, we are going back to the Pittsburgh well. Look, we said last week that the Steelers were trending in the right direction and that the Browns are the Browns. One week later, the Steelers are still trending upwards, and the Ravens have plenty more questions than answers at this point. The Ravens have lost two straight. And what's more telling about those losses is that the defense has been missing in action - particularly last week against Cam Newton and the Panthers.

The Steelers are running the ball extremely well through James Conner, and Big Ben hasn't made any bonehead decisions in about three games. He's figured it out, and he is spreading the ball around to Antonio Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Vance McDonald. With this being a division game, I'm not too worried about the narrative of "Big Ben on the road" as I think he will be ready to play and would love to put some distance between the Steelers and the chasing Bengals.

Similar to the Redskins, the Falcons aren't a team that will blow many teams out during wins. Teasing the Steelers up by six-points gets you the better team as a 7+ point underdog in a division game. I'm on that all day and twice on Sundays.

Alternative Options

Kansas City -8.5: The Chiefs are laying nearly nine-points on the road to Cleveland this weekend. Sooner or later the Chiefs have to have a clunker of a game, and it may very well be this weekend. However, teasing them down would allow you to get one of the best teams in the league as less than a field goal favorites over possibly the second-worst team in the league (Oakland is by far the worst). Cleveland is running out new coaches, but the results - a loss - will likely be the same.

New Orleans +2: This game is going to be amazing. You have the 8-0 Rams taking on the 6-1 Saints. The Saints are currently listed as two-point home dogs, so teasing them up will bring the spread to plus-eight. If you believe in the Saints ability to put points on the board consistently and the fact that the defense has gotten better and can hold the Rams to under 30 points - like the Packers did, then the Saints should go in your teaser. The Saints have always been a great home team, and this is the first game away from the West Coast that the Rams have had to contend with.

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