NFL Week 3 Picks

Hello Readers! With two weeks of NFL action in the book we start to see a correlation between the pretenders, the contenders, and the teams that will likely won't get to see more football past Week 17. Some surprises with the Detroit Lions being 2-0, the Arizona Cardinals eking out a victory at Indianapolis, and the New York Giants offense somehow making the Jets offense look like the 2007 Patriots (exaggeration, but you get what I mean).

As I have been doing since last week, me and my roommate (anonymous at least until I come up with a code name for him) have been picking picks. Week 1 saw a win for me with a 10-5 record vs his record of 7-8. Let's look at how well we did last week for picks:

My record: 10-6 (if only I knew Sam Bradford was going to play, and the Chargers being the Chargers)

Roommate's record: 13-3 (the Texans pick for last Thursday night's game was the foreshadowing of what was to come, at least his Cardinals didn't get embarrassed by the Colts).

The new week starts on Thursday night football "super" matchup with the Los Angeles Rams take on the San Francisco 49ers. For those of whom may not find the match up to be in your liking, remember there's always baseball still to be played (go Red Sox), NHL preseason games, and watching this cool video reminding you that if you're backing out of a parking space, the car in the traffic lane ALWAYS HAS THE RIGHT OF WAY, as I'm writing this now, I almost got into an accident twice due to people backing out of a parking space. Accidents do happen but a lack of consciousness shouldn't:

HERE ARE THE PICKS:

LA Rams @ San Francisco: Rams. So far this season road teams are 2-0 on Thursday Night (i.e. Chiefs and Texans) so I'm taking the Rams in this match up. For the Niners you almost upset your division rival Seahawks on the road. Not too bad but this game could go either way. 

Baltimore @ Jacksonville: Ravens. Note this game is not in sunny Florida, but in jolly-ole England, London for that matter. The Ravens beat a beatable Browns team and should win this one as well and improve to 3-0. Remember that time Jacksonville was called "Sacksonville" that was a couple of weeks ago but it seems like a distant memory now. For those who want to watch this while sipping on a cup of coffee, a bagel, and a muffin (blueberry yum) this game will be available on Yahoo! at your nearest computer.

Atlanta @ Detroit: Lions. I may be jumping the gun too quickly on the Lions but I somehow like the Lions in this match up at home. The Lions offense looks legit and their defense held the Giants to 10 points. Atlanta will prove to be a tough opponent but one of these teams has to lose. 

Cleveland @ Indianapolis: Colts. I will be honest in that I nearly heaved when I saw that this match up was on the slate. The Colts almost beat the Cards and the Browns look like a team that still has a long way to go before they can contend. Probably the Toilet Bowl game of the season so far. 

Denver @ Buffalo: Broncos. Unlike the previous game I had to pick this game was a little bit difficult to pick (which may say a lot or not). The Broncos come off a big win against the Cowboys at home where Trevor Siemian played lights out and CJ Anderson looked like the second coming of Terrell Davis. The Bills however will have to wait another season or two before they can get out of the division basement steps (the Jets are pretty much in the basement cellar basement), that Tyrod Taylor guy looks good though. 

Houston @ New England: Patriots. The Pats came off a win at New Orleans to stave off a 0-2 start (it hasn't happened since 2001, you know the rest), the Pats defense looked sloppy at times and it may come down to whether or not Tom Brady still has the energy to carry his team. Houston got a win against Cincinnati where neither the defense or offense looked particularly great, including Deshawn Watson. Good luck Houston. 

Miami @ NY Jets: Dolphins. This game doesn't look that good as the Jets are still looking for their first win of the season and the Dolphins look to continue to a 2-1 record on the year with Jay Cutler. The game will be close I feel but the Dolphins find a way to win or find luck that the Jets kicker can't find the area between the goal post uprights. 

New Orleans @ Carolina: Saints. The Aint's go into Carolina with a win against a Panthers team that is missing key personnel on the offensive side of the ball. Hard to tell how good the game will be but I will say that the Saints will win. 

NY Giants @ Philadelphia: Eagles. The Giants have been terrible so far this season as they play the guest against the Philadelphia Eagles at home for the Eagles home opener. Carson Wentz, the golden boy, has been alright so far but there needs to be more balance with the Eagles offense. More running plays and less Wentz throwing for more incompletions than completions. Wentz has a good arm but certainly he can't be Dan Marino. 

Pittsburgh @ Chicago: Steelers. The Steelers won against a Case Keenum-led Vikings team and should defeat the Bears on the road fairly handily. As for the Bears the bigger question will be when Mitch Trubisky take the reins of the Bears offense, which granted doesn't have a lot of big-name weapons to begin with. Look to the Steelers winning this game. 

Tampa Bay @ Minnesota: Buccaneers. I made the mistake of banking on the Vikings winning against the Steelers last week, not realizing that Sam Bradford would not make the start at Vikings QB, I screwed up. This game is very much up in the air whether or not Bradford will start, so I will choose the Buccaneers. The Buccaneers handled the Bears at home well and the biggest question will be which offense will score the most points as the Vikings defense is right there with the best in the league, and don't underestimate the Buccaneers defense either, especially Chris Conte. 

Seattle @ Tennesee: Titans. The late slate of games starts off with the Seahawks traveling to Nashville to take on the Titans. The Seahawks struggled against the Packers and Niners in the first two weeks respectively, and the Titans should take advantage of the Seahawks offensive line troubles and look to Marcus Mariota having a good day. 

Cincinnati @ Green Bay: Packers. Green Bay ran into a buzz-saw of the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday night. Both sides of the ball didn't do well but with the Cincinnati Bengals coming to town, a team with its own troubles on offense and defense, somehow Marvin Lewis is still coaching the team. You want to hear a joke? What's the difference between the Cincinnati Bengals and me? The Bengals are being paid to score. LAUGH WITH ME! 

Kansas City @ LA Chargers: Chiefs. The Chargers almost won against the Dolphins, sadly a loss is a loss in the National Football League. Phillip Rivers somehow is the only shining light for this team. The fact that even the Mayor of Los Angeles doesn't want the Chargers speaks for the greed of Dean Spanos, the owner of the Chargers, who moved the team from San Diego during the offseason. The Chiefs however have been playing very well and Kareem Hunt, the running back for the Chiefs, has been putting up stellar numbers for the team. Look for the Chiefs to come away with a win in this divisional showdown. 

Oakland @ Washington: Raiders. The Sunday Night Football match up pits two good teams in the Raiders and the Redskins. The match up was one from Super Bowl XVIII where the then Los Angeles Raiders beat the Joe Theisman-led Redskins 38-9. The Raiders should win this game with the triple powered threats of Derek Carr, Amari Cooper, and Marshawn Lynch (aka Beast Mode). Raiders defense isn't bad either. 

Dallas @ Arizona: Cardinals. As always I choose to pick the Cardinals despite the fact that the Cowboys had a bad game against the Broncos. The Cardinals need to step up and put the Cowboys in their place. This meaning they need a great game by Carson Palmer and Larry Fitzgerald as the defense will keep the Cardinals in the game. 

Local TV Schedule (via 506sports.com): 

CBS Early: 

Pittsburgh @ Chicago

Greg Gumbell, Trent Green 

CBS Late:
Cincinnati @ Green Bay

Jim Nantz, Tony Romo

FOX Single:
Tampa Bay @ Minnesota

Thom Brennaman, Chris Spielman

To find which game(s) your TV market is playing go to NFL TV Schedule and Maps: Week 3, 2017

Record:

Week 1: 10-5

Week 2: 10-6

Overall: 20-11

Roommate's record:

Week 1: 7-8

Week 2: 13-3

Overall: 20-11

See you guys next week!

-Tom