Ok......every week we post our early looks in a thread and ask for your opinions on the games. This week there's added incentive.
The first poster who picks more winners than Bettorsworld wins 10 free $10 wagers on the following weeks College football card.
You must pick every NFL game using the lines we have used.
This is for "early looks" so the contest part of this thread will close on Wednesday at midnight eastern time.
Jets at Bills - Battle of two teams which we have pegged to be "pesky" all year long. Both of these teams figure to be in just about every game they play this year no matter who they play. So with that in mind, only one way to look here and that's taking the points with the Jets. Jets have lost 3 in a row in Buffalo straight up and against the spread. Time for a change. Free Pick - Jets +6
Bengals at Steelers - Great match up. We know that it's a cardinal sin to play an NFL game simply based on how teams looked the week before, but hey, it's only week 3 and we only have two games to go by! The Bengals have looked good. They look like they have picked up right where they left off last year. Sure, they haven't played anyone yet. But this week they get the Super Bowl champs and we'll really get to see where the Bengals stand. Last years playoff match up saw Carson Palmer go down early and with it the Bengals season. A win here will move the Bengals from pretender to contender status. Also note that the Bengals are a nice 16-8 against the number on the road the last few years. Getting one point in this one we're just being asked to pick the winner. Free Pick - Bengals +1
Jaguars at Colts - Why is it that both marquis match ups this week involve teams that played on Monday Night? Such is the case here as the Jags come off a Monday Night win having shut down the Steelers. Now they have to see if they can shut down Peyton Manning and the Colts high powered offense. We'll have to dig into this one a little more but for an early look.......the Jags have lost 6 of the last 8 against the Colts but have managed to cover 6 of those games. Both squads look solid in the early going so we're leaning towards the Jags and the TD here. Just be leary of the letdown off the big Monday Night win. Free Pick - Jaguars +7
Titans at Dolphins - Wait a sec. The 0-2 Dolphins in off a home loss to the Bills, are an 11 point favorite???? Did the Dolphins get Marino to come out of retirement? Sure the Titans got spanked 40-7 by the Bolts last week. But this is the NFL. No matter how bad a teams looks one week, these guys are still the best football players in the world. The talent gap between good teams and bad in the NFL is razor thin. When an NFL team gets pasted like the Titans did last week, look for a MUCH better effort the following week. If Tennessee was playing the Steelers or the Bengals this week we'd consider taking 11 points. But they are playing the Dolphins so there is nothing to consider. Free Pick - Titans +11
Redskins at Texans - Can't lay points on the road with an 0-2 team. Sure, it's the Texans but quite frankly the Redskins haven't looked any better than the Texans thus far. Gibbs and the Skins may notch their first win this week, but if they do, it will only be by a field goal. Free Pick - Texans +4.5
Bears at Vikings - Not getting off this Bears bandwagon until they miss a step. They have looked like a team on a mission so far and we see that continuing. This team is headed to the Super Bowl this year. When these two played last year, only one game counted. That one was played early in the year at Chicago and the Bears won 28-3. They played again in January in a game that meant nothing to the Bears and Minny won 34-10. Well, this one counts and the Bears are the better team. Bears are 10-5 against the spread at Minny........make that 11-5. Free Pick - Bears -3 -120
Panthers At Bucs - Yuk. But somebody has to win. Or cover. We'll take the Bucs here for no good reason other than they are playing at home getting a field goal. Free Pick - Bucs +3
Packers at Lions - The lesser of two evils here would have to be the home team Lions as they are simply a better team than the hapless Packers. But the number is too high in this one as there are a couple of 7's on the board. The Packers are terrible but the Lions have shown no offense thus far so the 7 points looms large. Free Pick - Packers +7
Ravens at Browns- Well the good news for the Ravens is that they have the number one ranked defense in the NFL. The bad news is that they have beaten the likes of the Raiders and the Bucs. But there's nothing we can do about who they have played. That's what we have to work with. Two games. It looks at though the Ravens may have some offense this year to compliment that defense. It may only take a TD and a field goal to cover this spot. We'll lay it and take the old Browns over the new browns. Free Pick - Ravens -6.5 over Browns
Rams at Cardinals - Cards will be a fun team to watch all year and will always be worth a look as an underdog with an offense that has the potential to put alot of points on the board. But we don't trust them in the role of favorite at this point. Rams have beat the Cards straight up 6 times out of the last 8 tries and we're getting a generous +4.5 in this one. Free Pick - Rams +4.5
Giants at Seahawks - The Giants can beat anyone in the NFL this year. Unfortunately they can also lose to anyone in the NFL this year. The defense is going to have to step up if they are going to make any noise this year. No better time than the present, against the Super Bowl losers. As we mentioned above, the Giants can play with anyone and figure to be in every game this year as the 4th quarter rolls around with an opportunity to win. With that in mind we have to take the +4. Free Pick - Giants +4
Eagles at 49ers - We've already stated that we think the Eagles will be contenders this year. They blew last weeks game against the G-Men, but we're not backing off our opinion. So with that in mind, if the Eagles are going to contend, they have to be able to go into a place like San Francisco and win comfortably. Thus, we have only one way to look here. Free Pick - Eagles -6
Broncos at Patriots - This one looked better on paper before the season started. We've predicted that the Pats will be down a notch this year and our opinion hasn't changed. The Broncos are 8-3 against the number vs the Pats and have won the last 4 times they met in New England, covering 3 of those contests. It was also these Broncos who knocked the Pats out of the playoffs last year. But the Pats won't go down without a fight and this years edition of the Broncos hasn't looked very good so far. They have struggles against two poor teams and while we feel the Pats are on the decline, they are still among the top 10 teams in the NFL. The decline will be gradual. The Pats look like the side here. Free Pick - Patriots -6.5
Falcons at Saints - We like this Saints team. They are headed in the right direction without question. This is going to be a big time emotional game for the Saints and their fans as this is the first game back at the Superdome after Katrina. Hard to judge the Falcons off two wins over the Panthers and Bucs. Just can't go against the Saints on this particular night. Free Pick - Saints +3
The first poster who picks more winners than Bettorsworld wins 10 free $10 wagers on the following weeks College football card.
You must pick every NFL game using the lines we have used.
This is for "early looks" so the contest part of this thread will close on Wednesday at midnight eastern time.
Jets at Bills - Battle of two teams which we have pegged to be "pesky" all year long. Both of these teams figure to be in just about every game they play this year no matter who they play. So with that in mind, only one way to look here and that's taking the points with the Jets. Jets have lost 3 in a row in Buffalo straight up and against the spread. Time for a change. Free Pick - Jets +6
Bengals at Steelers - Great match up. We know that it's a cardinal sin to play an NFL game simply based on how teams looked the week before, but hey, it's only week 3 and we only have two games to go by! The Bengals have looked good. They look like they have picked up right where they left off last year. Sure, they haven't played anyone yet. But this week they get the Super Bowl champs and we'll really get to see where the Bengals stand. Last years playoff match up saw Carson Palmer go down early and with it the Bengals season. A win here will move the Bengals from pretender to contender status. Also note that the Bengals are a nice 16-8 against the number on the road the last few years. Getting one point in this one we're just being asked to pick the winner. Free Pick - Bengals +1
Jaguars at Colts - Why is it that both marquis match ups this week involve teams that played on Monday Night? Such is the case here as the Jags come off a Monday Night win having shut down the Steelers. Now they have to see if they can shut down Peyton Manning and the Colts high powered offense. We'll have to dig into this one a little more but for an early look.......the Jags have lost 6 of the last 8 against the Colts but have managed to cover 6 of those games. Both squads look solid in the early going so we're leaning towards the Jags and the TD here. Just be leary of the letdown off the big Monday Night win. Free Pick - Jaguars +7
Titans at Dolphins - Wait a sec. The 0-2 Dolphins in off a home loss to the Bills, are an 11 point favorite???? Did the Dolphins get Marino to come out of retirement? Sure the Titans got spanked 40-7 by the Bolts last week. But this is the NFL. No matter how bad a teams looks one week, these guys are still the best football players in the world. The talent gap between good teams and bad in the NFL is razor thin. When an NFL team gets pasted like the Titans did last week, look for a MUCH better effort the following week. If Tennessee was playing the Steelers or the Bengals this week we'd consider taking 11 points. But they are playing the Dolphins so there is nothing to consider. Free Pick - Titans +11
Redskins at Texans - Can't lay points on the road with an 0-2 team. Sure, it's the Texans but quite frankly the Redskins haven't looked any better than the Texans thus far. Gibbs and the Skins may notch their first win this week, but if they do, it will only be by a field goal. Free Pick - Texans +4.5
Bears at Vikings - Not getting off this Bears bandwagon until they miss a step. They have looked like a team on a mission so far and we see that continuing. This team is headed to the Super Bowl this year. When these two played last year, only one game counted. That one was played early in the year at Chicago and the Bears won 28-3. They played again in January in a game that meant nothing to the Bears and Minny won 34-10. Well, this one counts and the Bears are the better team. Bears are 10-5 against the spread at Minny........make that 11-5. Free Pick - Bears -3 -120
Panthers At Bucs - Yuk. But somebody has to win. Or cover. We'll take the Bucs here for no good reason other than they are playing at home getting a field goal. Free Pick - Bucs +3
Packers at Lions - The lesser of two evils here would have to be the home team Lions as they are simply a better team than the hapless Packers. But the number is too high in this one as there are a couple of 7's on the board. The Packers are terrible but the Lions have shown no offense thus far so the 7 points looms large. Free Pick - Packers +7
Ravens at Browns- Well the good news for the Ravens is that they have the number one ranked defense in the NFL. The bad news is that they have beaten the likes of the Raiders and the Bucs. But there's nothing we can do about who they have played. That's what we have to work with. Two games. It looks at though the Ravens may have some offense this year to compliment that defense. It may only take a TD and a field goal to cover this spot. We'll lay it and take the old Browns over the new browns. Free Pick - Ravens -6.5 over Browns
Rams at Cardinals - Cards will be a fun team to watch all year and will always be worth a look as an underdog with an offense that has the potential to put alot of points on the board. But we don't trust them in the role of favorite at this point. Rams have beat the Cards straight up 6 times out of the last 8 tries and we're getting a generous +4.5 in this one. Free Pick - Rams +4.5
Giants at Seahawks - The Giants can beat anyone in the NFL this year. Unfortunately they can also lose to anyone in the NFL this year. The defense is going to have to step up if they are going to make any noise this year. No better time than the present, against the Super Bowl losers. As we mentioned above, the Giants can play with anyone and figure to be in every game this year as the 4th quarter rolls around with an opportunity to win. With that in mind we have to take the +4. Free Pick - Giants +4
Eagles at 49ers - We've already stated that we think the Eagles will be contenders this year. They blew last weeks game against the G-Men, but we're not backing off our opinion. So with that in mind, if the Eagles are going to contend, they have to be able to go into a place like San Francisco and win comfortably. Thus, we have only one way to look here. Free Pick - Eagles -6
Broncos at Patriots - This one looked better on paper before the season started. We've predicted that the Pats will be down a notch this year and our opinion hasn't changed. The Broncos are 8-3 against the number vs the Pats and have won the last 4 times they met in New England, covering 3 of those contests. It was also these Broncos who knocked the Pats out of the playoffs last year. But the Pats won't go down without a fight and this years edition of the Broncos hasn't looked very good so far. They have struggles against two poor teams and while we feel the Pats are on the decline, they are still among the top 10 teams in the NFL. The decline will be gradual. The Pats look like the side here. Free Pick - Patriots -6.5
Falcons at Saints - We like this Saints team. They are headed in the right direction without question. This is going to be a big time emotional game for the Saints and their fans as this is the first game back at the Superdome after Katrina. Hard to judge the Falcons off two wins over the Panthers and Bucs. Just can't go against the Saints on this particular night. Free Pick - Saints +3
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