NFL Week 3 Picks

One thought on “NFL Week 3 Picks”

1. Sunday, 1:00
   Bears @ Minnesota(+3)
   Hard to know how good the Bears really are—beating the snot out of the Packers and Lions isn’t especially diagnostic. The good news is the spread is only 3. I believe in the Bears a little more, so I’ll go with them.

   I think the Bears are for real. I like what the Vikings are doing this year, but Chicago is the real deal.

   Bengals @ Pittsburgh(-1.5)
   Also hard to tell how good these two teams are yet, either. Small sample size, of course. I’m slightly happier with the Bengals, but only slightly. However, I get points if I take Cinci, so that’s the plan.

   Pittsburgh looked plain bad last week. At least offensively. I think part of that is because the Jaguars D really is that good. Meanwhile, Cinci has been lighting it up offensively, but I think the Pittsburgh D is up to the challenge. Palmer will get popped a few times and throw a key INT. Pittsburgh minus the points at home.

   Jest @ Buffalo(-5.5)
   I’ll take the Bills only to riverside Al, who will almost certainly take Gang Green. Right, Al?

   No shit! I’ll take the near 6 points as a road dog.

   Panthers @ Tampa(+3)
   Yes, they’re both 0-2. But Tampa has looked completely and utterly awful, while the Panthers have looked merely bad. I’ll give the figgie.

   Me too. This is almost an elimination game! Crazy. Panthers get healthy against the reeling Bucs.

   Packers @ Detroit(-7)
   Tough spread. Are the Lions really seven points better than anybody? I mean, they’ve scored only 6.5 points on average so far, so now they have to lay a full seven? Too rich for my blood.

   I agree. That’s sort of weird. I do agree that the Packers are among the worst teams in the NFL, but the Lions are right there with them. I think maybe this is some residual hype from the beginning of the season that suggested the Lions new offense would actually be effective. This has proven not to be the case. I’ll gladly take the points.

   Redskins @ Houston(+4)
   Well, if Portis really is healthy, then they shouldn’t have too much trouble covering this. But is he healthy? Well, they say he’s OK to go. Portis at 70% is probably enough, so I’ll give the points.

   Without Portis they’re good enough to beat Houston. I mean, really. Plus the Redskins are in deep trouble. They need wins if they expect to make the playoffs…which I think is unrealistic.

   Jaguars @ Indy(-7)
   Jags look great right now, and Indy has no running game, not that they need one. The key here is that the Indy D is nicked up so I think the Jags might be able to keep it close.

   Damn, I was counting on you picking Indy. I’m really interested to see what this defense does against the Colts. I think it’s a good pick to go with the road dog once again.

   Titans @ Miami(-11)
   The Titans are a total disaster, yes. But can Miami even put 11 on the board at all, much less win by 11? I’m not so sure right now, so I’ll take the big pile of points.

   The word is that Culpepper was rushed back and he’s not 100%. Is that the only explanation for his interceptions this year? If there’s any way that Miami will justify their hype (Sabin-mania!) it will come out this week. The Titans are b-a-d bad. For goodness sake, just throw the rookie in there. He’s not gonna get better holding a clipboard.

   Sunday, ~4:10
   Ravens @ Cleveland(+6.5)
   Baltimore appears to be for real, and I have no reason to expect the Browns will score much here. Ravens.

   What is it with road teams this week? This is gonna totally bite us, but still it’s difficult not to pick the Ravens based on how well they’re playing. I’ll give the points as well.

   Rams @ Arizona(-4.5)
   So far I’ve been entirely underwhelmed by both of these teams. Seems like too many points to me, so I’ll go with St. Louis.

   I’ve got to pick more home teams. I’ll pick the Cardinals in the hopes that Warner won’t be sacked more than 100 times this week. Sheesh. He got pounded. I’m gonna bench Bulger. He better suck this week!

   Eagles @ San Francisco(-6)
   You know, the Niners might not actually be entirely awful this year. That said, I’d imagine the Iggles would be out for blood this week, and the Niners won’t be able to stop them.

   I’ve got a feeling about the Niners this week. Smith is playing with abandon and they seem to be playing with real emotion. The Eagles lost a heartbreaker last week and are starting to question themselves even more. Give the points.

   Giants @ Seattle(-3.5)
   You have to think the G-Men now really believe in themselves. I think they’re better than last year and the Seabags are worse, and this was an OT game last year, so I’m going with the Giants here, plus I get points!

   Here’s another game where the outlay of emotion will hurt the road team. The Giants played their hearts out last week and now they’re expected to go up against one of the best defenses in the league. They can’t afford to go down big early against this team. Even so, they’ll still lose. Seahawks.

   Sunday NBC
   Broncos @ New England(-7)
   Bleah, yuck, horrible. The Pats have been living on borrowed time, but the Broncos have been dreadful. Lately New England has been hideous against the Broncos, but something is clearly wrong with Denver right now. Too many points in a game with so many question marks.

   NE has escaped a few games this year, that’s true, but has any QB played worse than Plummer? (Don’t answer that, Raiders, Dolphins and Titans.) It’s almost time to pull the plug on that little experiment. If the Pats defense shuts down the Broncos, it may be time for some rebuilding in Little D. I’ll give the points at home.

   MNF
   Falcons @ New Orleans(+3.5)
   Big story, the Saints back in the SuperDome and all. However, the Falcons’ 2-0 is a lot more impressive than the Saints 2-0, so I’m taking the Huske…err, the Falcons.

   I agree with your analysis. However, the past three years in this game I’ve picked the Saints at home to keep it close, and I think I’ve been right each time. I think I should do it again because of that damn .5. No…no, don’t get caught up in the moment. The Falcons are the superior team right now. Road favorite again *shudder*.

Comments are closed.