NFL expert picks against the spread Week 1 – Del’s selections

Football season is back, and that can only mean one thing — we get to talk about actual games on the field instead of the air pressure inside a football.

The official start of the NFL season also means our LBS expert picks are back, baby. Those of you who followed along with the picks Doc Brown and Del made last year could have had yourselves a great season. In our locks of the week, Doc posted an incredible 17-6 record (74 percent). Del wasn’t far behind with a 22-14 record (61 percent). There are professional oddsmakers in Las Vegas who would kill for that success rate.

But in the words of Bill Belichick, that was last season. We’re going to try to duplicate that success for you all season long, and it starts with Week 1. There will be plenty of surprises, but that doesn’t mean we can’t start out with a bang.

Here are Del’s Week 1 NFL Picks, with analysis of the locks after the sheet:

For my first lock of the 2015 season, I’m hopping aboard the hype train that is the New England Patriots. The defending champions will raise their Super Bowl banner before taking on the Steelers, which can often be a distraction for teams and cause them to get complacent. But there was this little scandal called Deflategate, and most of us are guessing it made Tom Brady and Bill Belichick very angry. Angry enough to carve up a questionable Pittsburgh defense while not having worry about Le’Veon Bell? I say yes.

I also like the Dolphins laying 3.5 on the road against the Redskins. Robert Griffin III was so bad in the preseason that I think people are under the impression Kirk Cousins is one of the best quarterbacks in the league. Is Washington going to suddenly be a good team now that Cousins has been named the starter? This is the same Kirk Cousins who threw nine interceptions in six games last season. He has 19 career interceptions in 14 games. I’m banking on Cousins having trouble reversing that trend against a Miami team that spent a ton of money on the defensive side of the ball this offseason, most notably with Ndamukong Suh.

Finally, I’m taking San Diego at home against the Lions. Detroit bounced back with an 11-5 season last year and the Chargers were a disappointing 9-7, but this is a new season. Rookie running back Melvin Gordon is expected to play a big role right away, and you have to wonder how Detroit’s interior defense will hold up without Suh. If Gordon can get it going on the ground, look for Philip Rivers and Keenan Allen to reignite the spark they had two years ago. Chargers should win by a touchdown.