‘You can’t hide’
Road favourites all over the board in Week 3
Texans coach Bill O’brien says “you can’t hide in the NFL.”
Pro Picks can hide its eyes from the Thursday night extravaganza, which this week, uh, features the Rams against the 49ers.
Los Angeles is one of nine visiting teams favoured in Week 3; it’s 10 if you count the Ravens against host Jacksonville in London. These Rams seem to have something decent going on, and the 49ers have shown very little.
In other words, the coaching change to Sean Mcvay in L.A. is working better so far than the switch to Kyle Shanahan in San Fran, which has scored a conference-low 12 points.
On a short week, though, who knows what will appear on the TV screen. Well, we kind of know it won’t be pretty.
The Rams, No. 22 in the AP Pro32, are a 2-point favourite at San Francisco (No. 30). We’re buying.
RAMS, 16-13 KNOCKOUT LEAGUE TIP Raiders did their part by easing past the Jets, and it’s tempting to select against New York again. Instead, let’s go with NEW ENGLAND.
No. 8 Baltimore (minus 3 1-2) vs. No. 21 Jacksonville at London
Ravens carry their defensive prowess across the pond. BEST BET: RAVENS, 20-9 No. 12 Seattle (plus 3) at No. 16 Tennessee
Have to go with one of those home underdogs.
UPSET SPECIAL: TITANS, 17-13
No. 2 Atlanta (minus 3) at No. 9 Detroit
Lions might be better than anticipated. Still not good enough here. FALCONS, 30-23
No. 10 Dallas (minus 3) at No. 20 Arizona, Monday night
Which are real Cowboys? Which are real Cardinals? COWBOYS, 26-20
No. 4 Pittsburgh (minus 7) at No. 28 (tie) Chicago
Steelers are 2-0 without looking particularly good. STEELERS, 22-13
No. 6 Denver (minus 3) at No. 23 Buffalo
Broncos are 2-0 and have looked very good. BRONCOS, 20-10
No. 3 Oakland (minus 3) at No. 18 Washington
Remember when Raiders struggled in Eastern time zone? Forget it.
RAIDERS, 33-26
No. 28 (tie) Cleveland (minus 1) at No. 31 Indianapolis
Wait, Browns are one of those road favourites? Got to go with them.
BROWNS, 13-10
No. 17 Miami (minus 5 1-2) at No. 32 New York Jets
Dolphins taking advantage of easy opening schedule, even with Week 1 postponement. DOLPHINS, 26-10
No. 19 Houston (plus 13) at No. 5 New England
A house of horrors for undermanned Texans. PATRIOTS, 30-13
No. 26 New Orleans (plus 6) at No. 11 Carolina
Saints could keep this close before failing. PANTHERS, 21-18
No. 25 New York Giants (plus 5 1-2) at No. 14 Philadelphia
Preseason NFC East co-favourite falls to 0-3. EAGLES, 21-20
No. 1 Kansas City (minus 3) at No. 24 Los Angeles Chargers
Dangerous game for Chiefs, but if Chargers can’t hit late kicks
CHIEFS, 24-23
No. 27 Cincinnati (plus 9) at No. 7 Green Bay
Somehow, this is prime CBS telecast. We might turn on NASCAR instead. PACKERS, 20-6
No. 13 Tampa Bay (no line) at No. 15 Minnesota
Too bad there is no line (Sam Bradford’s availability), because this could have been BEST BET. BUCCANEERS, 21-10 2017 RECORD:
Last week: Against spread (79). Straight up (12-4)
Season Totals: Against spread (13-18). Straight up: (21-10)
Best Bet: 2-0 against spread, 2-0 straight up.
Upset special: 2-0 against spread, 2-0 straight up