If you want to win money betting NFL games then you need to be willing to take teams no one else wants to bet. I refer to these teams as ugly dogs and you really have to hold your nose sometimes when you bet on them, but history has shown that going against the public works. We went 3-0 last week to take the overall record for the season to 25-16-1. We have another three plays to look at for this week. Let’s take a look at the Week 12 Ugly Dog picks.
Week 12 Ugly Dog Picks
Miami Dolphins +11 at Cleveland Browns
We didn’t have the Dolphins last week in this column and they reverted back to ugly dog form in a loss to Buffalo. This week we are back on them as they visit the Cleveland Browns. I am a little bit surprised the number on this game is so high, as the Browns are nothing special. Cleveland is also dealing with the Myles Garrett suspension and the fallout from that situation. The Browns did get a nice win last week but there is no doubt they are a poorly coached team that has no discipline. Whether that lack of discipline will come into play this week is a question. The Dolphins are a bad team that is going nowhere. They have, however, played hard and Ryan Fitzpatrick has avoided making mistakes. That being said, Fitzpatrick is very capable of imploding, and having a five interception game. Hopefully he doesn’t implode this week, as we are taking the Dolphins as an ugly dog in this contest against the Browns.
Cincinnati Bengals +6.5 vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
We picked up a win last week on the Bengals plus the points against the Raiders and we have them again this week. Cincinnati finally showed a little heart last week and played well, but they are still a bad team that is looking for their first win of the season. It is not out of the question that they get it this week. The Steelers are without center Markus Pouncey who is suspended and they could once again be without James Conner and JuJu Smith-Schuster. Mason Rudolph has not really played that well at quarterback and the Steelers are not a great team. They could still win and cover this game because the Bengals are a bad team, but this is a decent spot for Cincinnati at home. The Bengals just need to avoid making mistakes early in this game and imploding. We’ll take the Bengals as an ugly dog.
Washington Redskins +3.5 vs. Detroit Lions
You can make a case that the Redskins are just as bad as the Bengals although Washington does have one win. The Redskins are giving Dwayne Haskins an audition at quarterback and it is obvious that he simply isn’t ready and there are serious questions as to whether he will ever be ready. The Redskins are at home, but they are so bad that it may not matter. The Lions are also starting a backup quarterback, but at least Jeff Driskel looks like an NFL quarterback. I just don’t see much to like about the Redskins and that might be a good thing, because the uglier the dog, the better they seem to do. Last week I couldn’t find anything positive to say about the Bengals and yet they covered in Oakland. This week I can’t find much positive to say about Washington, although they at least do have a couple of younger players in Derrius Guice and Terry McLaurin who look good. The Redskins are ugly, but this is the point of this column. We’ll take the Redskins plus the points as an ugly dog.
I am going to mention one other team that you can almost put in the ugly dog category, but I didn’t do it because they have a .500 record. The Carolina Panthers are 10-point underdogs at New Orleans and based on how bad the Panthers looked last week they almost made it into this week’s selections, but I just couldn’t do it because Carolina is a .500 team.
Check out the latest Week 12 NFL odds at BookMaker.eu.
