Last week was not a good one for our panel. The results were, to use a specific NFL analogy, Jeff Fisher-esque. We had three panelists (Jeanna, Joel, and Stephen) who went 9-7. Nobody else managed to top .500. A lot of 7-9 b.s.
Part of the reason was that we had all 10 of our experts get it wrong on three games. In the NFL, it's not unusual for a group of 10 pickers all to get a game wrong from one week to the next, but that usually has more to do with a big upset. The Falcons beating the Saints or the Rams beating the Bucs can't really be considered "big" upsets. Those were just tough games to pick. Everyone picked the Panthers to the beat the Vikings, too, but Minnesota won. Since they were 7-point underdogs, we'll go ahead and call that one an upset.
Minnesota is getting more love this week against the Giants on Monday night, but it's not unanimous. I keep thinking that, eventually, the injuries will catch up to the Vikings. Maybe. I certainly would've thought that if there was a loss on the schedule, it was an early season game in Carolina. Picking football games is harder than you think.
Our panel doesn't seem to be overly convinced that Buffalo's thrashing of Arizona last week will do much to help Rex Ryan's team against the Patriots this week. That's probably wise. Picking against the Patriots, just like the Vikings, has been folly through three weeks of the season. I don't think that's going to change yet.
Are the Browns going to go 0-16? They might. It's just as difficult of a feat for a team to lose ALL of its games as it is to win them. You can almost always count on a bad bounce or an ill-prepared favorite or some other outside factor that gives even the crummiest teams a chance to win one or two. But that's where we are with the Browns, waiting for an accident to keep them from going 0-16.
So what's more likely, the Browns going 0-16 or the Patriots, Broncos, or Vikings going 16-0?
There are probably a few of you scratching your head at folks picking the Jets to beat the Seahawks. After Ryan Fitzpatrick's six-interception performance last week against the Chiefs, I struggled with that pick myself. However, Seattle is a West Coast team flying in to play a 1 p.m. ET game on the East Coast. That's a 10 a.m start time on the Pacific, and that's usually a tall order for teams from that side of the country to do (e.g. the Cardinals last week).
There's an AFC South with one of those early a.m. starts because the Colts and Jaguars are playing in London. There might not be a bigger disappointment than the Jaguars. Mostly we're just waiting to see if this results in Gus Bradley's Brexit.
Even without J.J. Watt, I think Houston is a smart pick to beat the Titans. It's been a struggle for Tennessee to score 16 points in two of their games. Another exciting AFC South showdown.
That Houston game could be a prime opportunity for one of our panel members to swap out their pick, given that we made our picks before news of Watt's injury broke. To remind you, we give our panelists the chance to re-pick up to two games on Friday.
And here are this week's picks:
Game | RVB | Stephen White | Thomas George | Jeanna Thomas | Adam Stites | Tyler Tynes | Louis Bien | Joel Thorman | Fooch | OddsShark computer |
MIA vs CIN | CIN | CIN | CIN | CIN | CIN | CIN | CIN | CIN | CIN | CIN |
IND vs JAX | IND | IND | JAX | JAX | JAX | IND | IND | IND | JAX | JAX |
TEN vs HOU | HOU | HOU | HOU | HOU | HOU | HOU | HOU | HOU | HOU | HOU |
CLE vs WAS | WAS | WAS | WAS | WAS | WAS | WAS | WAS | WAS | WAS | WAS |
SEA vs NYJ | NYJ | NYJ | SEA | SEA | SEA | NYJ | SEA | SEA | NYJ | NYJ |
BUF vs NE | NE | NE | NE | NE | NE | NE | NE | NE | NE | NE |
CAR vs ATL | CAR | CAR | CAR | CAR | ATL | CAR | ATL | CAR | CAR | ATL |
OAK vs BAL | BAL | BAL | BAL | BAL | BAL | OAK | BAL | BAL | BAL | BAL |
DET vs CHI | DET | DET | DET | DET | DET | DET | DET | DET | CHI | CHI |
DEN vs TB | DEN | DEN | DEN | DEN | DEN | DEN | DEN | DEN | TB | TB |
LA vs AZ | AZ | AZ | AZ | AZ | AZ | AZ | AZ | AZ | AZ | AZ |
NO vs SD | SD | SD | SD | SD | NO | SD | SD | SD | SD | SD |
DAL vs SF | DAL | SF | DAL | DAL | DAL | DAL | DAL | DAL | SF | SF |
KC vs PIT | PIT | PIT | PIT | PIT | PIT | KC | PIT | PIT | PIT | PIT |
NYG vs MIN | MIN | MIN | NYG | MIN | MIN | MIN | MIN | MIN | MIN | MIN |
This week | 6-10 | 9-7 | 8-8 | 9-7 | 8-8 | 7-9 | 7-9 | 9-7 | 6-10 | 8-8 |
Total | 28-20 | 27-21 | 25-23 | 28-20 | 25-23 | 25-23 | 25-23 | 31-17 | 23-25 | 28-20 |