See spot. See spot bet: This week's best spot bets

See spot. See spot bet: This week's best spot bets

Spot bets are classic handicapping practices that have proven profitable no matter what sport you're betting. Whether it's a team looking past this week's opponent, one coming off a hard-fought victory, or a rough patch of schedule, bettors can find value picking their spots. Expert Ben Burns points out his favorites:

Letdown spot

It's been a long time since the St. Louis Rams put it on someone that bad - 18 years to be exact. The Rams showed shades of "The Greatest Show on Turf" with their 52-0 flogging of the Oakland Raiders last Sunday, covering the spread by 45.5 points. That ties for the fifth biggest spread cover in the NFL since 1985. St. Louis actually tied itself, which defeated the Atlanta Falcons 59-16 as a 2.5-point home underdog in Week 11 of the 1996 season.

It's easy to say the Rams can only regress from a win like that - and they will. But even getting a victory against the Washington Redskins could be tough this weekend. St. Louis hits the road where it is 2-4 SU and 3-3 ATS, playing in what could be some wet winter weather in Washington. The Sunday forecast in DC is calling for a chance of rain and temperatures in the low 40s. The Redskins are home after two tough road games.

Lookahead spot

Folks in the Big Smoke don't seem to have the same cocky strut they had when the Toronto Raptors were rolling over the likes of Memphis and Cleveland a couple short weeks ago. Raptors fans are biting their nails with the recent injury to leading scorer DeMar DeRozan and a bad loss to the Los Angeles Lakers Sunday.

Toronto is in the midst of a Western Conference run, taking on Sacramento Tuesday and Utah Wednesday in a tough back-to-back set before coming home to play the rebooted Cavaliers Friday night. The short-handed Raptors are anxious to get back over the border and could get caught looking past the Jazz Wednesday, with King James & Co. out to prove they're the team to beat in the East Friday inside the Air Canada Centre.

Schedule spot

The Philadelphia Flyers are home sick even before kicking off a West Coast road trip in San Jose Tuesday. The Flyers are 6-4-0-2 inside the comfy confines of the Wells Fargo Center but just 2-8-0-1 when hitting the highway. And this week, the highways stretch across the entire country.

Philadelphia faces the Sharks Tuesday, at Anaheim Wednesday, and takes on the defending Stanley Cup champs, the Los Angeles Kings, Saturday. The Flyers have had past success against Pacific Division foes but this season they're getting outscored 23-38 on the road - an average loss of 3.45-2.09. Those three West Coast foes are a combined 21-10-1-5 at home this season.