NFL Week 3 Pointspread Picks
As we head into week 3 in the NFL we take a look around the NFL and offer a pick on every Game on the board along with a few comments. NFL teams still establishing their indentities. From a handicapping perspective, we start to take a closer look at the NFL after 4 weeks of play, so stay tuned for that and look for potential NFL Key Releases at that time.
9/25/11
49ers at Bengals – Both of these teams come in at 1-1. The 49ers opened with a week 1 win over Seattle and then dropped a heartbreaker to the Cowboys in OT last week. The Bengals meanwhile, opened with two road Games, a win over the Browns and a loss last week at Denver. We’ll take any points we can get here with what we feel is the better team, the 49ers. It’s Alex Smith over Rookie Andy Dalton. Both teams pass defense looked terrible last week but the 49ers were at least able to put some pressure on Romo. 49ers +3 -120 or better
Patriots at Bills – We know what we have with the Pats. Still not sure with the Bills. We’ll go with what we know over what we don’t know here. Pats look like a force, oNCe again. Patriots 7-0 against the spread last 7 here. Patriots -7.5
Texans at Saints – Texans RB Arian Foster is listed as questionable. Marques Colston is out for the Saints. Texans have looked fantastic first two times out. But, that’s against the Dolphins and Manning-less Colts. We’ll know more this week. Saints 1-1 but against stiffer competition. We’ll lay the small number here with the Saints at home – Saints 10-1 home ATS run vs. Non Division opponents – Saints -4
Giants at Eagles – Giants in off nice Monday Night win over Rams but the Eagles look lethal and unstoppable with Vick in the line up. As of this writing on Wednesday, Vick’s status is still in doubt. Game is currently off board. Dog in series 9-1 ATS last 10 -We’ll lay up to a touchdown with the Eagles.
Dolphins at Browns – Neither team anything to write home about. Dolphins covered 6 of 8 road Games last year and are on an 18-5 ATS run as a road dog but streaks like that eventually even out. We’ll take the Browns here only because they are at home. Browns -2.5
Broncos at Titans – Titans 1-1 with an opening week loss to the Jags and a nice bouNCe back win last week over the Ravens. Hasselbeck looks like a nice fit and the Titan defense looks formidable. Broncos were lucky to get by the Bengals. Titans have the better talent here – Titans -6.5
Lions at Vikings – The 2-0 Lions take on the 0-2 Vikings in an early season must win for the Vikings. The Lions have been on the rise and look to be the real deal with Matthew Stafford at QB while the Vikings and Donavan Mcnabb looking for answers. But Vikings have potential and they have Adrian Peterson. Lions 2-0 but one of those wins over a bad KC team. We’re going to go against the public here and note that this is the NFL where everything isn’t always as it looked the week before. Vikings have won 16 of last 18 in series. Vikings +3.5
Jaguars at Panthers – The lack of a QB has forced Jags to throw Blaine GAbbert into the mix this week. But his opponent here, Cam Newton already has 2 Games under his belt and looks pretty damn good. This is just a matter of picking Newton over GAbbert. Panthers -3.5
Chiefs at Chargers – We still have trouble laying double digits in any NFL Game so we won’t do it here. Chiefs look terrible and have just 10 points on the year while the Chargers looking to bouNCe back from a loss to the Pats. We wouldn’t touch this one with a 10 foot pole in the real world, but we’ll take the Chiefs here simply because sometimes you have to go with what makes no sense in the NFL. The Chiefs can’t be THAT bad can they? Chiefs +15
Jets at Raiders – Don’t get carried away with Jets win over Jags. Jags are a mess. Raiders collapsed in 2nd half vs. Bills. Public is all over the Jets in this one but we’ll side with the home dog here. Raiders +3.5
Ravens at Rams – Big things were expected from the Rams this year and here they are 0-2 and looked horrible Monday Night. Ravens 1-1 but figure to be one of the teams competing for top honors in the AFC. Ravens on 15-4 ATS run outside division. Ravens -3.5
Falcons at Bucs – Falcons could easily be 0-2. Nice come back last week for the Bucs and they went toe to toe with an improved Lions team in week 1. We’re still not conviNCed the Falcons have fallen that far from their 13-3 year. We’ll give them one more chance – Falcons +1.5
Cardinals at Seahawks – two bad teams. No interest at all. We’ll take the home dog – Seahawks +3.5
Packers at Bears – Huge divisional Game in rematch of NFC Title Game. Bears looked great in week 1 win over Falcons. Then a complete reversal last week against Saints. Look for the Packers to continue to defend their title admirably. Packers -3.5
Steelers at Colts – Colts continue to try and figure things out without Manning. It’s a big number but we’re not about to get involved with the Colts without Manning. Manning’s abseNCe has an impact on every single aspect of the Colts Game. Bet the folks at NBC thought they had a good one on their hands! Steelers – 10