Docs Website

53 Years Strong! A Trusted Leader In Sports Picks, Best Bets and Predictions Since 1971.

Main Menu

Case of the Mondays: Miami Miracle Sinks Patriots to Fourth Loss


by - 12/10/2018

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady

Barring a collapse of perhaps even more shocking proportions than what transpired on Sunday, the Patriots are still going to win the AFC East without any trouble. But they can kiss the No. 1 seed throughout the conference playoffs goodbye, and that kiss comes in the most painful of fashions. New England suffered a ridiculous last-play loss to Miami, dropping head coach Bill Belichick's squad to 2-2 in its last four games. It was also a rough weekend on the gridiron for the Redskins, while Tua Tagovailoa's recent woes continued.

Odds provided by Bovada Sportsbook unless otherwise indicated.

New England Patriots . Are you serious?!?! With the Dolphins 69 yards away from the endzone as seven seconds remained on the clock in a 33-28 ballgame, the Patriots just about had win No. 10 on the season etched in stone. Instead, Miami quarterback Ryan Tannehill threw a 14-yard pass to Kenny Stills, Stills lateraled to DeVante Parker, Paker lateraled to Kenyan Drake, and Drake raced 52 more yards for a game-winning touchdown. Drake avoided a stumbling and bumbling Rob Gronkowski near the five-yard line before giving his team a downright unbelievable 34-33 victory. What Gronkowski was doing at safety with Miami 69 yards away from the endzone, of course, remains a mystery. New England is +240 to win the AFC and +700 to win the Super Bowl.

Jay Gruden . Things went from bad to worse for Gruden and the Redskins, who lost their fourth in a row when they got blasted at home by the Giants 40-16 on Sunday afternoon. Washington trailed 34-0 at halftime and 40-0 after three quarters before New York called off the dogs and pulled quarterback Eli Manning, among many others. The 'Skins are +6.5 underdogs at Jacksonville in Week 15.

Tua Tagovailoa . At least his team managed to come back and beat Georgia for the SEC title, thus earning the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff. Otherwise, though, it has been a rough couple of weeks for Alabama's star quarterback-well, one of Alabama's two star quarterbacks may be a more accurate description at this point. Tagovailoa left the SEC Championship early with a high ankle sprain, and that injury-plagued performance ended up costing him the Heisman Trophy. Oklahoma QB Kyler Murray took home college football's most prestigious award on Saturday night, getting 517 first-place votes to Tagovailoa's 299 (the overall margin was 2,167 points to 1,871). Moreover, the sophomore from Hawaii was in a walking boot and struggling to hobble around at last week's various awards festivities. The Crimson Tide are -14 favorites over OU in the Orange Bowl, and they are -200 favorites to win the National Championship.

Houston Rockets . The Rockets went 65-17 last season and came within one win of beating Golden State in the Western Conference Finals. They may lose 17 games by Christmas this time around. "We can't dwell on last year," reigning MVP James Harden noted. "We got to just focus on this year, each game, each day getting better, because obviously we got a completely different roster. So we focus on what we have to do to improve every game, and things aren't going to always go great. Sometimes they're going to go great, but you just stay the pace, stay the course, stay locked in." Nothing is going great right now and the Rockets certainly aren't locked in. They are 11-14, have lost three in a row, and their record over the last nine games is 2-7. Harden and Chris Paul are putting up strong numbers for the most part, but they are combining for an average of 9.0 turnovers per outing. Houston is still a second favorite to win the Western Conference, albeit at +850.

Washington Nationals . Star outfielder Bryce Harper reportedly rejected a 10-year, $300 million offer from Washington at the end of last season. Owner Mark Lerner is now resigned to the fact that Harper and agent Scott Boras are likely to take their talents elsewhere. "I really don't expect him to come back at this point," Lerner lamented. "I think they've decided to move on. There's just too much money out there that he'd be leaving on the table. That's just not Mr. Boras' M.O. to leave money on the table." Harper is +2500 to lead Major League Baseball in home runs in 2019 ( MyBookie.ag).

Carter Hutton . No team in the NHL this season has been streakier than Buffalo. Since the start of November, only once in any three-game stretch have the Sabres alternated losses and wins. Dating back to Oct. 20, they have won three in a row, lost three in a row, won 10 in a row, and lost five in a row-with the latter stretch currently underway. It hit rock bottom (maybe?) for Buffalo on Saturday in the form of a 6-2 home setback against Philadelphia. Playing without Hutton clearly did not help during that defensive disaster. The veteran goalie (12-8-1, 2.60 goals-against average, .917 save percentage) has missed the last two contests with an upper-body injury and is considered day-to-day. Buffalo is +600 to win the Atlantic Division and +1200 to win the Eastern Conference.

Portland Timbers . Portland traveled all the way across the country only to get handled by Atlanta United 2-0 in the MLS Cup on Saturday night. The Timbers, who triumphed in 2015, gave up a goal to scoring machine Josef Martinez in the 39th minute and were all but out of it when Atlanta found the back of the net again following a questionable foul call in the 54 th minute. "It's a horrible feeling," Portland captain Diego Valeri admitted, "because we played a good game but we got nothing. And in the final, that's hard to swallow. We wanted another cup for our club, and we couldn't do it." Major League Soccer will obviously have to whet the appetites of soccer fans in this country for a while longer, as the next World Cup (men's) is in 2022. The USMNT is +8000 to win it all in Qatar.


Read more articles by

Most Recent Weekly Sports Betting and Handicapping

One E-mail A Week Is All You Need!
Our weekly newsletter is loaded with exclusive free picks,insight and advice from our expert handicappers