Wanted to get these in early as I will probably lose value on the closing line by waiting.
Miami Dolphins -2.5 (-105 Matchbook) to win 5 Units
All hope is not lost for the Miami Dolphins. With a Denver Broncos loss to the Oakland Raiders the AFC Wild Card picture is coming to a photo finish. If the Dolphins can manage to win out they most likely will get help at some point. The Broncos have to go to Philadelpia so the hope will be there and I think the Dolphins will leave it all on the field. I am not going to go deep into the wild card scenario and tell you why the Dolphins still have a legitimate chance and the Texans are in need of a miracle but what I will tell you is this Miami team is a very good team even though the record doesn't nessicarily indicate it.
How much heart did Miami show today @ Tennessee down 24-6 and they push the Titans to the limit thrusting the game into OT after scoring a touchdown and converting the 2 point conversion to tie the game with about 2 minutes left. I mean just look at the Dolphins losses this year: @ Falcons, vs Colts, @ Chargers, vs Saints, @ Patriots, @ Bills, and @ Titans. Those are losses to 5 playoff caliber teams, the hottest team in the NFL (Titans), and a division rival (Bills). Not to mention the 4 best teams in the NFL (in my opinion) Colts, Chargers, Saints, and Patriots. They had the Colts and Saints beat and pushed the Titans into overtime as mentioned. This is not your average 7-7 team. This is that team that is a very strong team, remember they won the AFC East last year, but just got a really tough schedule and played fairly well against it.
Even though the Dolphins have faced adversity by having to resort to Chad Henne at quarterback and the loss of Ronnie Brown for the year. But it hasn't phased them, they are 7-4 with Henne in the starting role and in the last 3 games he has thrown for 904 yards. With Williams as a starter they are 4-2 and Williams rushed for 599 yards in those 6 games to go along with 5 touchdowns. Are they better without these players? Probably not but the point is they know how to respond to adversity. This team could have packed it in when they were 0-3 and Henne was about to make his first NFL start but they calmly won 5 of the next 7 games. They could have packed it in again when they were 3-5 and lost Ronnie Brown for the year but they rallied to win 4 of their next 6. So now after a Denver loss you are going to tell this team they have a chance to make the playoffs? I can't see them letting the oppurtunity slip away.
After a 5-3 start for the Texans they had the fan base seeing visions of their first winning season in franchise history and maybe even a playoff berth. But after losing 4 straight, beating 2 terrible teams, and having the Patriots and Dolphins on deck they are just hoping to get out of the year at 8-8 again. The Texans are just the opposite of the Dolphins, they came into the year as a weaker team. They get no production out of anyone who lines up at running back, the defense is average at best, and it is baisically a two man show of Andre Johnson and Matt Schaub. They have feasted off of a weak schedule, they are just 2-7 agaist teams that are .500 or better this year. They lost 5 of their 6 division games and have had someone go over 100 rushing yards just once this year. The leading rusher has totaled under 50 yards 9 times, under 40 yards 3 times, and under 20 yards once. If your going to be one dimensional the Dolphins have a good enough defense to exploit it.
On top of that, the Texans seemed to have packed it in. That may sound strange considering the team has one two straight but they slept through a game against the Rams and had to sneak away with a 16-13 win. The Dolphins will be able to control the clock against the Texans and win this game behind their 4th ranked running game. As long as they limit the big plays they will have no problems waltzing right back into the playoff picture.
Dolphins 31, Texans 13
Miami Dolphins -2.5 (-105 Matchbook) to win 5 Units
All hope is not lost for the Miami Dolphins. With a Denver Broncos loss to the Oakland Raiders the AFC Wild Card picture is coming to a photo finish. If the Dolphins can manage to win out they most likely will get help at some point. The Broncos have to go to Philadelpia so the hope will be there and I think the Dolphins will leave it all on the field. I am not going to go deep into the wild card scenario and tell you why the Dolphins still have a legitimate chance and the Texans are in need of a miracle but what I will tell you is this Miami team is a very good team even though the record doesn't nessicarily indicate it.
How much heart did Miami show today @ Tennessee down 24-6 and they push the Titans to the limit thrusting the game into OT after scoring a touchdown and converting the 2 point conversion to tie the game with about 2 minutes left. I mean just look at the Dolphins losses this year: @ Falcons, vs Colts, @ Chargers, vs Saints, @ Patriots, @ Bills, and @ Titans. Those are losses to 5 playoff caliber teams, the hottest team in the NFL (Titans), and a division rival (Bills). Not to mention the 4 best teams in the NFL (in my opinion) Colts, Chargers, Saints, and Patriots. They had the Colts and Saints beat and pushed the Titans into overtime as mentioned. This is not your average 7-7 team. This is that team that is a very strong team, remember they won the AFC East last year, but just got a really tough schedule and played fairly well against it.
Even though the Dolphins have faced adversity by having to resort to Chad Henne at quarterback and the loss of Ronnie Brown for the year. But it hasn't phased them, they are 7-4 with Henne in the starting role and in the last 3 games he has thrown for 904 yards. With Williams as a starter they are 4-2 and Williams rushed for 599 yards in those 6 games to go along with 5 touchdowns. Are they better without these players? Probably not but the point is they know how to respond to adversity. This team could have packed it in when they were 0-3 and Henne was about to make his first NFL start but they calmly won 5 of the next 7 games. They could have packed it in again when they were 3-5 and lost Ronnie Brown for the year but they rallied to win 4 of their next 6. So now after a Denver loss you are going to tell this team they have a chance to make the playoffs? I can't see them letting the oppurtunity slip away.
After a 5-3 start for the Texans they had the fan base seeing visions of their first winning season in franchise history and maybe even a playoff berth. But after losing 4 straight, beating 2 terrible teams, and having the Patriots and Dolphins on deck they are just hoping to get out of the year at 8-8 again. The Texans are just the opposite of the Dolphins, they came into the year as a weaker team. They get no production out of anyone who lines up at running back, the defense is average at best, and it is baisically a two man show of Andre Johnson and Matt Schaub. They have feasted off of a weak schedule, they are just 2-7 agaist teams that are .500 or better this year. They lost 5 of their 6 division games and have had someone go over 100 rushing yards just once this year. The leading rusher has totaled under 50 yards 9 times, under 40 yards 3 times, and under 20 yards once. If your going to be one dimensional the Dolphins have a good enough defense to exploit it.
On top of that, the Texans seemed to have packed it in. That may sound strange considering the team has one two straight but they slept through a game against the Rams and had to sneak away with a 16-13 win. The Dolphins will be able to control the clock against the Texans and win this game behind their 4th ranked running game. As long as they limit the big plays they will have no problems waltzing right back into the playoff picture.
Dolphins 31, Texans 13
