Those of you who have been following our LBS 2011 NFL picks are likely aware of one particular early theme: Del is struggling. Del was absolutely thrashed by the spread last week as he finished a disappointing 5-9 ATS while going 13-3 straight up. As you will see when looking over the week 3 selections, I like almost all the favorites to cover this week. Either the oddsmakers have not given the favorites enough credit this week, or a rough start could get even worse for Del. Let’s just hope the former is true. Here are my Week 3 NFL Picks:
(ATS = Against the Spread, SU = Straight Up
As bad as Del’s picks against the spread have been through the first two weeks, the top 3 have avoided a similar nose dive. With that in mind, the first team I really like this week is the Bengals. The 49ers may have hung with the Cowboys, but that happened in a home game where arguably the three biggest play-makers in Dallas’ offense — Tony Romo, Miles Austin, and Felix Jones — suffered injuries. San Francisco now must travel east to play an early game against a rookie quarterback who is probably better than Alex Smith already. The Bengals should win by at least a field goal at home.
The second game that stuck out to me this week is the Panthers -3.5 at home against Jacksonville. The Panthers are not the Jets, but did you see the way Jacksonville played against New York last weekend? On the contrary, Cam Newton lit it up again for Carolina once again and kept his team in contention against the Super Bowl champions. That certainly had a lot to do with the Packers sleep-walking, but the Panthers are a play or two away from their first win. That play should come easily against the Jags.
Rounding out the top 3, I must admit I went against my better judgment a little. The Ravens are on the road once again in St. Louis after a horrendous game in Tennessee last weekend. Normally I would say they might have trouble getting up to play the Rams, but that already happened against the Titans. I can’t see John Harbaugh allowing his team to slip like that two weeks in a row after the way they played against the Steelers week 1. Couple that with the fact that Rams fans need instructions to know how to cheer and I would expect to see a Baltimore team more like the one we saw week 1 than last week.
