Home

Buy Sports Picks

Free Sports Picks

Sports Betting Forum

Members Login

Article Archives

Contact Us

Leaderboard

Who's Hot

Recent Results

Detroit Lions at Miami Dolphins Line

The Detroit Lions snapped a 26-game road losing streak last week at Tampa Bay, and will look to make it two straight away from home when they take on the Miami Dolphins this Sunday. Detroit beat the Buccaneers 23-20 in overtime for their first road win since week 8 of the 2007 season, and will look to continue to build momentum for the 2011 season. The Dolphins home woes continued last week, as they lost to the Bills 17-14, and are now just 1-6 at Sun Life Stadium this season. Even with Miami’s struggles at home, our odds indicate that the Dolphins are 3.5-point favorites over the Lions at home this week.

Detroit (4-8): Not only are the Lions coming off their first road win in three seasons, but they have won two in a row, and appear to finally be headed in the right direction. Detroit won for the second straight week with third string quarterback Drew Stanton, but it looks as though Shaun Hill will get the start this week, as he has been taking the majority of the snaps with the first string offense. Hill hasn’t played since Thanksgiving against the Patriots, where he went 27 of 46 for 285 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.

Maurice Morris ran for 109 yards and a touchdown on just 15 carries last week against the Bucs, and the Lions all of the sudden have a running game. Detroit ran for 181 yards as a team, and have now had at least 129 rushing in their last four games. Getting that running game going this week, could be a challenge, as the Dolphins come in ranked 6th against the rush, giving up just 96.6 yards a game.

Calvin Johnson finished with 10 catches for 152 yards last week, and will be a key player in whether or not the Lions can win this week. Miami is also ranked 6th against the pass, allowing just 201.4 yards a game. With the Lions possibly having trouble moving the ball on the ground, it will be up to Johnson and tight end Brandon Petigrew to make big plays in the passing game.

Miami (7-7): Miami has really struggled to get the offense going of late, as they come in averaging just over 11 points in their last three games. The Dolphins didn’t help themselves with two turnovers and place kicker Dan Carpenter was 0-4 on field goals. Miami managed just 65 yards rushing against the Bills league-worst run defense.

Ronnie Brown led the way with 39 yards and a touchdown on just 10 carries, and you have to wonder why the Dolphins didn’t focus more on the running game last week. Miami attempted just 19 rushing attempts the entire game, while throwing the ball 45 times. I understand that they were down early, but with the way Buffalo has struggled stopping the run this season, its hard to figure out why they didn’t give it more of a chance.

One positive from last week’s game was the success Chad Henne had throwing the ball to wide out Brandon Marshall, who finished with 11 catches for 106 yards and a touchdown. It was the third time this season that Marshall had at least 10 catches in a game. Detroit allowed rookie wide out Mike Williams to catch six passes for 96 yards and a touchdown last week, so expect Henne to look Marshall’s way early and often this week.

Looking at the Odds: I think your money has to be on the Lions +3.5 this week. Miami has little to play for with no chance of making the playoffs, while the Lions continue to play hard and end the season on a positive note. Miami is just 2-5 ATS at home this season, while the Lions are 4-2 ATS on the road. My final score prediction is Detroit 23, Miami 20.