Doc Brown had a brutal week last weekend, so you know that means he’s due for a bounce-back. Expect at least a .500 week — we’re guessing a 9-7 week is in store. And the lock? The lock has failed the past two weeks. It’s embarrassing. Doc feels like a schmuck. But he is confident in this week’s lock.
You can see the picks below:
(ATS = Against the Spread, SU = Straight Up)
Doc Brown switched from the Bengals to the Colts as his lock for the week. Indy is a great front runner and tends to blow out inferior opponents. Teams that are good and have strong defenses give them more trouble (e.g. Denver, Philly, New England), but the bad teams they dominate. They’re like the Seahawks in that once they get on a roll, they don’t let you up. They will step on your throat and crush you. We’re hoping that happens on Sunday.
Is Johnny Football really going to lead the Browns to a huge divisional win in his first career start? Against the Bengals? Doc Brown says no. Cincinnati just got blasted at home by the Steelers, but that was fluky. It was a close game until the Steelers connected on a bomb and blew it open. The Bengals are generally a good road team. They went 3-0 in three straight road games from weeks 11-13. They also won in Week 1 at Baltimore.
The big issue for Cincy is whether they will change their signals. Karlos Dansby said they knew exactly what Cincinnati was doing last game, which was a 24-3 blowout for Cleveland. Doc is banking that thanks to Dansby’s big mouth, Cincinnati will change all their calls and Andy Dalton will adjust his signs. They’ll have to in order to put up some points. But Doc is thinking the Bengals defense will give Manziel trouble.
*Doc originally locked the Bengals but switched to Indy after recalling Dalton’s struggles with the Browns.
