Off to a terrible start in the contest, pretty much eliminating any hope after only 3 weeks. Figure i'll try posting my picks here for a change of luck. Perhaps witness to an epic 70 pick run or some nice fade material... probably the latter.
Det -3
7, 1, 2. That is the number of career starts the first three QB's the Bears have faced this year had prior to playing Chi. And Chi has still given up nearly 30 ppg. Chi is depleted defensively, and extremely inexperienced in the secondary. This is not good with Stafford and the Lions offense coming to town. Stafford has been playing the best football of his career since The Cooter took over. Over his past 11 games he's thrown 26Td's vs 4ints. Detroit has had its issues defensively as well, but in what should be a relatively high scoring game i'll take Stafford and his offense to outscore Brian Hoyer and his.
Det 34 Chi 23
Den -3
I know many are calling this a trap game, but i don't buy into trap games this early in the year. Teams are still mentally fresh this early. 3 or 4 weeks from now you might've caught Denver overlooking this game, but not this early. Not with KC and Oak looking like they're gonna turn the AFC West into a year long dog fight. Also, i don't think TB is very good. Defensively, they've been terrible so far and offensively this is a bad match up for them. Without Doug Martin their offense is basically drop back and chuck it to Mike Evans 15 times a game. That won't work vs Denver. Denver's talented secondary will take Evans out of the game and make TB beat them with other options. Problem is TB doesn't have any. Vincent Jackson is old and Charles Simms doesn't scare anyone.
Den 23 TB 13
Car -3
In all 3 games this year Atl's defense has given up 4 touchdown drives of 75 yards or more. Let that settle in for a second. 12 75+yard touchdown drives in 3 games. That is atrocious. Basically offenses have done whatever they've wanted. I think Carolina is just fine. I don't care that they're 1-2. If these two teams flip flopped schedules Atlanta would be 1-2 and Car would be 3-0. Atl was last in the NFL last year with only 19 sacks and have continued where they left off with only 3 sacks so far this year. Atl won't get the same pressure that Denver and Minnesota were able to get and Cam and the Carolina offense will get healthy this week.
Car 27 Atl 20
Was -7.5
Cleveland is in a tough spot here. Consecutive road games with a rookie QB and a banged up secondary. Tramon Williams is out, Haden is ques with a gimpy groin. This could be major trouble vs the Skins who can spread them out with 3 legit WR's in Jackson, Crowder, and Garcon. Oh, and did i mention match up nightmare Jordan Reed? Defensively, Cle pass rush has been non existant. Cousins should have plenty of time to sit back and pick apart this defense. Offensively, Cle is not going to surprise Was this week the way they did Mia last week with their deployment of Pryor. In addition, Mia's secondary had nobody near the caliber of Josh Norman. Norman should be able contain Pryor and I don't see how Cle's offense can keep pace with Was in this one.
Was 37 Cle 17
NYJ+2.5
3 bullet points on this game:
-Wilson's MCL/ankle issues
-Seattle's offensive line
-NYJ's defensive front
If Wilson can't scramble and use his feet to create plays he is nothing more than an average QB. I know backing Fitzpatrick vs the Sea defense is scary after last weeks meltdown, but Fitz is a veteran, he's at home, and should be able to shake last week off. This is basically the Jets season. If they drop to 1-3, with road games on tap vs Pit and Ari, not to mention 2 games left vs the Brady led Pats, they're toast. I think they save their season in a low scoring slug fest tomorrow.
NYJ 16 Sea 13