Basic Strategy Teasers: Best Week 17 NFL Betting Options

Week 17 of the National Football League is upon us, and we should be in for quite a treat. There are plenty of playoff-clinching scenarios still left up in the air. And with a full slate of games on Sunday, you better have your multi-tv, picture-in-picture, or streaming services ready to go to maximize the experience. The biggest game of the week from a division standpoint goes off in the Sunday night game as the Indianapolis Colts travel to Nashville for a date with the Tennessee Titans. The winner of this matchup gets the final wild-card spot and a game against either the Ravens or the Steelers.

The AFC North is also up for grabs as the Ravens hold a half-game advantage over the Steelers after pulling off a great road win last week against the LA Chargers. The Steelers, who were sitting pretty at 7-2-1, now need to beat the Bengals and hope the Cleveland Browns can beat the Ravens. That scenario would give Pittsburgh the AFC North crown and would knock Baltimore out of the postseason picture.

Over in the NFC, the defending Super Bowl Champion Eagles need to beat Washington and have Minnesota lose to Chicago in order to get into the postseason. It's been a roller coaster ride for the Eagles this season, but at least they've given themselves a chance in Week 17. The rest of the NFC picture is set, so be sure to understand what teams are playing for what and their motivation heading into this final week of the 2018 regular season.

As for last week's Basic Strategy Teaser, both the Raiders and Texans got the job done, which brings our teaser record to 8-6 through Week 16.

Remember, a Basic Strategy Teaser is a two-team wagering option that allows you to adjust the spread six, 6.5 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 on how Basic Strategy Teasers work, click here .

Best Two-Team, Six-Point Teaser for Week 16. Lines courtesy of Bovada.

Atlanta +7.5 & New Orleans -2 (-120)

Risk: $100 to win $83.33

The first part of this two-team, six-point teaser will rely on the Atlanta Falcons to finish the season with some dignity still intact and stay within the number against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Falcons were supposed to be a good football team this year, but early-season injuries derailed this train before it even got out of the station. The Falcons have shown a little bit of resolve over the last two weeks, dominating the Cardinals and then getting the best of the slumping Panthers. We like the fact that the offense has seemingly come to life all of a sudden, posting 64 points in their last two games while giving up just 24 points. I don't think the Falcons defense will be able to shut down the powerful Buccaneers offense. However, if this game turns into the shootout, as I believe it's going to be, I like the Falcons getting over a touchdown on the spread as this game should be a "last score wins" type of football game. The Bucs have lost three straight games and haven't scored more than 20 points in each of those games. The Bucs shouldn't be favored over anyone right now the way they are playing, so I just don't see the Bucs blowing out the Falcons in this spot.

The second leg of this two-team, six-point teaser will rely on the New Orleans Saints. I completely understand the fact that the Saints have absolutely nothing to play for as they have clinched home-field advantage throughout the NFC postseason, but the Panthers are simply not a team to be trusted right now. The Panthers were looking great after Week 9 when they were 6-2. They've since lost 7 straight games, and their offense has looked in shambles. The injury to Cam Newton didn't help the cause, but now that he's shelved (last week), and the Panthers lost his backup to injury last week, the they will be relying on Kyle Allen to get the job done in his first National Football League start. Allen is a first-year quarterback out of Houston, but going up against a Saints defense that has proven itself to be a formidable unit, on the road, is a tall task for any signal caller, let alone a rookie making his first start. We already know that the Saints plan on giving Teddy Bridgewater significant playing time, but at least Bridgewater has proved himself as a starter before he got injured.

Teasing the Saints down to under a field goal is the best option in this game as there are just too many unknown quantities to handicap when talking about a spread greater than a touchdown.

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