Doc and Del are winding down what’s been a brutal year for NFL picks by our standards. We’re still hammering away, though, and hope to finish strong.
There is some consensus between Doc and Del on the picks, which should be a good sign for those games. Full picks listed below, with analysis of the Top 3 below the chart.
(ATS = Against the Spread, SU = Straight Up)
Carson Palmer’s status has been up in the air for this game. With him nursing a bad elbow, the Doc likes the St. Louis Rams plus the points. They have been surprisingly competitive in most of their games and, their defense, which has been playing very well, should keep it within a touchdown. Kellen Clemens won’t throw for four touchdowns or anything like that, but as long as he doesn’t turn the ball over, the Rams should be fine.
The Seattle Seahawks just blew out the New Orleans Saints and looked great in the game. Everyone is riding high on that team. But guess what? The 49ers have been playing very well lately and will have a ton of motivation after getting crushed in Seattle in their Week 2 meeting. This is the time for San Francisco to get even. With Michael Crabtree back and big parts of Seattle’s secondary out, this shapes up as a better matchup for SF than the last time.
The Saints are coming off a terrible loss at Seattle. People are down on them and probably think there is something wrong with their offense. They also don’t have a great matchup going up against Carolina’s top-rated defense. But this team absolutely owns at home in the dome on Sunday nights. Check their stats in primetime on NBC. When that dome gets rocking and loud, it will be tough for the Panthers to score. Drew Brees is going to throw for a lot more than 147 yards in this one, you can bet on it.
