Underdogs in hunt for revenge

Revenge is sweet. This is the NFL’s Week 16. Sweet 16.

Five divisional rematches are on this week’s card with five teams seeking sweet revenge. I make five plays in this space each Sunday.

We have a theme here.

Here are my five plays, with four on Sunday plus the Monday nighter, with lines as of Saturday night (home teams in CAPS):

• BENGALS (+21/2) over Browns: In Week 2, the Bengals were 1-0 after an impressive road win over the Ravens, and the Browns were 0-1 after a blowout loss to the Steelers. My, how things have changed, and it started with the Week 2 meeting when the Bengals were a 7-point favorite at Cleveland and the Browns won an unexpected 51-45 shootout.

The Browns now are favored as the road team, but there isn’t that much difference between the teams — not enough to warrant a nearly 10-point swing in the point spread. The Browns have the league’s worst defense (even after shutting out the Bills last week), and the Bengals still can score. The Bengals would love to play spoiler against the divisional foe that started their slide.

• Texans (+7) over COLTS: The Texans have plenty of revenge motivation as they are 1-10 against the Colts and lost their Week 3 meeting 30-24. A lot is working in Houston’s favor, however. That win over the Colts came last year in this same exact spot where the Colts had locked up their playoff position.

The Colts are the No. 2 seed in the AFC and can’t improve or hurt their position, so even though they’re not going to rest all of their starters, they won’t be going all out while the Texans will be playing the full 60 minutes in an effort to notch their first winning season in their six-year history.

• Dolphins (+22) over PATRIOTS: When the Patriots were at their most dominant, they beat the Dolphins 49-28 in Week 7. These players know each other well, and this line is inflated because of the league’s best team facing the worst team (but the Patriots have failed to cover their last three huge spreads, vs. the Eagles, Ravens and Jets).

As much as the Pats want the undefeated season, they need only to win to keep the dream alive, and the Dolphins have three touchdowns of wiggle room to cover. Plus, they are coming off a confidence-building first win, and they’re playing for the undefeated 1972 Miami team.

• BILLS (+21/2) over Giants: The Bills are seeking revenge for, well, um, their Super Bowl loss to the Giants in 1991. OK, so this doesn’t fit the theme, but as a handicapper you can’t force a square peg into a round hole, and I like this game better than the other revenge spot, the Packers laying more than a touchdown in their effort to avenge their earlier loss to the Bears.

The Giants are in their annual late-season swoon. The Bills are out of the playoffs but have played great at home (6-1 against the spread).

• Broncos (+81/2) over CHARGERS: In Week 5, the Chargers beat the Broncos 41-3, the most lopsided loss of Denver coach Mike Shanahan’s career. The Chargers are on a roll, but their four straight wins are over the Ravens, Chiefs, Titans (barely) and Lions. The Broncos beat the Chiefs and Titans more convincingly. The Chargers defense has been mediocre (16th in the league in yards allowed), and Shanahan should do a better job exploiting the weaknesses. Plus, linebacker Shawne Merriman is slowed by a knee injury, if he even plays.

Last week: 2-3 against the spread.

Season: 38-36-1.

Las Vegas-based handicapper Dave Tuley also writes for the Daily Racing Form and ViewFromVegas.com.