2013 NFL Picks

Pittsburgh Steelers at New England Patriots: 2013 Week 9 NFL Pick

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Pittsburgh Steelers (2-5) at New England Patriots (6-2)

The Steelers once again came up flat as non-divisional road favorites last week, losing in Oakland, a situation they are now 6-18 ATS since Mike Tomlin took over in 2007. However, I was actually impressed with them. Another loss on their record doesn’t help their playoff chances, but, result aside, they were easily the better team in that matchup. If it wasn’t for a breakdown on a fluke touchdown run by Terrelle Pryor (the longest in NFL history by a quarterback) and two missed field goals that easily could have been made, they might have won that game by 7-10 points. They had more first downs (20 to 13), fewer punts (8 to 7), and fewer turnovers (3 to 2).

They’re moving the chains at a 73% rate, as opposed to 72% for their opponents. Record aside, they’re not playing a whole lot worse than the Patriots. While the Steelers rank 15th in rate of moving the chains, the Patriots rank 14th, moving the chains at a below average 72% rate and relying on a solid defense, which is allowing opponents to move the chains at a 71% rate. Football Outsiders agrees, as they have the Patriots 13th in DVOA, while the Steelers are 16th. The Patriots have been overly reliant on winning close games (4-2 in games decided by a touchdown or less), winning the turnover battle (+7), recovering fumbles (63.6%), and playing an easy schedule (only 2 games against teams ranked in the top-16 of my Power Rankings).

It needs to be said. Tom Brady looks more like a former 6th round pick than a 3-time Super Bowl winner this year. Pro Football Focus grades him out as the 24th ranked passing quarterback out of 37 eligible. He is completing 55.7% of his passes for an average of 5.9 YPA, 9 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions, good for a QB rating of 74.9, which ranks 27th, right between Chad Henne and Carson Palmer. South Park portrayed him very accurately this week when they suggested he was playing like he took a bunch of laxatives. He could definitely get better by the end of the season and he’s proven in the past it isn’t wise to bet against him in the long-term, but in the short-term, I have no problem with doing it as long as the public doesn’t realize how bad he’s playing, inflating the line. While I don’t doubt it could happen, I’ll have to see him improve to believe it at this point.

I thought it would get better when Rob Gronkowski returned, but in his 2nd game back Brady completed 13 of 22 for 116 yards, 1 touchdown, and an interception against a weak Miami defense and really didn’t look good. They won by 10 on the strength of their defense, which will get better with Aqib Talib expected to return this week, but they, by no means, deserve to be favored by 7 points here. Remember, they are still missing Jerod Mayo and Vince Wilfork. Their defense still isn’t at full stretch. We’re getting at least 3 points of line value with the Steelers, if not more.

They’ve been even better since the bye. Over the past three weeks they have 53 first downs to 14 punts and 3 turnovers (a 76% rate), as opposed to 50 first downs, 18 punts, and 5 turnovers for their opponents (a 68% rate). They’ll be underrated going forward, as they are here. Their once again dominant defense should be able to shut down the stumbling Patriots’ offense. The Steelers had a big problem with turnovers early in the season (-11), but, as turnover margins normally do, they’ve improved since the bye (+2) and they could improve even more going forward as they are still recovering fumbles at just a 23.5% rate, which won’t continue. They’ve also gotten guys back from injury and are overall just playing better since the bye.

They’re also in a great spot here, as a result of last week’s loss. Teams are 96-55 ATS since 2008 as road underdogs off of a road loss, a trend that covers at about a 65% rate historically, no matter what year you use as a cutoff for your sample size. They’ll also be completely focused with a home game against the Bills next week. Since 2008, non-divisional road underdogs are 97-61 ATS before being non-divisional home favorites.

The Patriots will also be completely focused, going into their bye, which is the only reason why this isn’t a Pick of the Week for Pittsburgh. Teams are 39-14 as home favorites of 7 or more since 2002. However, I think the fact that the Patriots definitely don’t deserve to be favored by 7 cancels that out a little bit. Besides, there are places they are 6.5 point favorites so it’s not like they’re a consensus 7 point favorite, for whatever that matters. As long as I can get Pittsburgh at +7, this is a high confidence pick.

New England Patriots 17 Pittsburgh Steelers 16

Pick against spread: Pittsburgh +7

Confidence: High

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Baltimore Ravens at Cleveland Browns: 2013 Week 9 NFL Pick

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Baltimore Ravens (3-4) at Cleveland Browns (3-4)

Obviously, 3-4 is not how the Ravens wanted to start the season, but the schedule gets easier from here for them. After being underdogs in 5 of their first 7 games, the Ravens will definitely be favored in at 4 games (@Cleveland, vs. Pittsburgh, vs. NY Jets, vs. Minnesota) the rest of the way and may be favored in another 3 (vs. Cincinnati, vs. New England, @ Chicago). This is one of them, as they go to Cleveland as road favorites.

Cleveland isn’t an awful team or anything, but the Ravens still deserve to be favored by this margin. Both offenses are sputtering, moving the chains at a 70% rate, but the Ravens’ defense has been significantly better, as opponents are moving the chains at just a 68% rate against them, as opposed to 75% against the Browns’ defense. The Ravens should be able to completely shut down the Browns’ offense this week, which obviously gives them a huge advantage.

The fact that the Ravens deserve to be road favorites is especially important because of how good road favorites are off of a bye. Teams are 45-18 ATS in that situation since 2002, including an absurd 22-4 ATS in a divisional matchup. This makes sense as good teams tend to be extra focused and take care of business against an inferior opponent with an extra week to prepare. John Harbaugh has been pretty good off of a bye himself since taking over the Ravens in 2008, going 6-1 ATS and winning all 7 games, including last year’s Super Bowl.

The Ravens could also be in another good spot if they are favored next week at home against Cincinnati. The early line was at PK, but after Cincinnati’s loss to Miami and their loss of Geno Atkins, we could easily see the Ravens favored by 1.5 to 2.5 points, which would make this trend kick in. Since 2002, divisional road favorites are 38-22 ATS before being divisional home favorites. The Ravens are in great position to roll over an inferior opponent here (as they did 25-15 in almost this exact situation in Cleveland last year) and they are my Pick of the Week.

Baltimore Ravens 20 Cleveland Browns 9

Pick against spread: Baltimore -2.5

Confidence: Pick of the Week

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Tennessee Titans at St. Louis Rams: 2013 Week 9 NFL Pick

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Tennessee Titans (3-4) at St. Louis Rams (3-5)

On paper, these two teams are pretty equal. The Titans are 21st in rate of moving the chains differential, while the Rams are 22nd. The Titans move the chains at a 70% rate, as opposed to 72% for their opponents, while the Rams are moving the chains at a 72% rate, as opposed to 74% for their opponents. However, these two teams are trending in opposite directions at the quarterback position. While the Rams are going into their 2nd full game without quarterback Sam Bradford, the Titans are going into their 2nd full game with quarterback Jake Locker back from injury.

Kellen Clemens, Bradford’s backup, is now the starter in St. Louis and he played as you would have expected him to play against an elite defense last week against the Seahawks, going 15 of 31 for 158 yards and 2 interceptions, while failing to lead the Rams to an offensive touchdown. The Rams kept it close against the Seahawks thanks to an inspired effort by the Rams’ defense in a 14-9 loss, but I question if they can keep that up. That performance was pretty uncharacteristic when you look at their whole season. If they can’t, the Rams are going to be in a lot of trouble.

The Titans, meanwhile, were 3-1 when Jake Locker went down with injury. They’ve lost their last 3 games, the first two with limited backup Ryan Fitzpatrick and the third with a clearly unhealthy Jake Locker, who was forced back too soon. Now after a bye for Locker to rest, he should be much better than he was last time, 2 weeks removed from his last performance, and he should be better than Ryan Fitzpatrick.

The schedule also gets easier for the Titans. It also didn’t help that those 3 games were against the Chiefs, Seahawks, and 49ers. Those might not be the best three teams in the NFL, but certainly no reasonable person would call you crazy if you named those 3 as the best three teams in the NFL. The Titans were actually competitive in 2 of those 3 games, a testament to their strong defense. If Locker can continue playing solid football like he was pre-injury, the Titans should be able to play like they did when they started the season 3-1, now that the tough part of their season is over.

Given that, I think it’s very reasonable that the Titans are favored by 3 here. The line might actually be too low if anything. The Seahawks/Rams line shifted 6 points when Bradford went down and rightfully so. This line suggests that the Rams would be favored by 3 here if Bradford were healthy, which suggests that the Rams with Sam Bradford and the Titans with Jake Locker are essentially equivalent teams, which I don’t think is true.

The fact that the Titans deserve to be road favorites is especially relevant considering how well road favorites play coming out of byes, going 45-18 ATS since 2002. The Titans are a quality football team and should be completely focused and run over a significantly inferior football team here. The Rams, meanwhile, could be completely flat 6 days removed from a last second loss to hated divisional rival Seattle.

They’re also in a bad spot as they go to Indianapolis next week, when they’re expected to be 12 point underdogs. Teams are 33-68 ATS before being double digit underdogs since 2010. The Rams probably will not be focused enough to pull the upset, which is essentially what they’d have to do to cover this 3 point spread, as only about 8% of games are decided by less than 3 points. The Titans, meanwhile, have no distractions with a home game against the Jaguars on deck. I think this could easily be a blowout and the Titans are a high confidence pick.

Tennessee Titans 24 St. Louis Rams 13

Pick against spread: Tennessee -3

Confidence: High

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Cincinnati Bengals at Miami Dolphins: 2013 Week 9 NFL Pick

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Cincinnati Bengals (6-2) at Miami Dolphins (3-4)

I could go either way on this one. The Bengals had a huge offensive outburst last week, scoring 49 points. Ordinarily, teams are able to maintain that kind of momentum into their next week. Favorites are 27-17 ATS since 1989 after scoring 49 or more points. However, they are just 14-11 ATS as road favorites. The line did shift a point and a half since last week as a result of the Bengals’ blowout and the public is still all over the Bengals, but it didn’t pass the key number of 3 and I don’t think the line is ridiculous or anything.

I don’t like we’re getting serious value with the Bengals or anything, but the Dolphins are still not as good as their record. They’re moving the chains at a 71% rate offensively as a result of a terrible offensive line, while their retooled defense isn’t living up to expectations, allowing opponents to move the chains at a 76% rate. That differential is 27th in the NFL. The Bengals, meanwhile, are moving the chains at a 75% rate, as opposed to 72% for their opponents, a differential that is 11th in the NFL. I have the line calculated at about 3 or 3.5 in favor of Cincinnati. I have no confidence in either side, but I’ll take the Bengals as long as it’s below the key number of 3 and hope for a field goal game.

Cincinnati Bengals 23 Miami Dolphins 20

Pick against spread: Cincinnati -2.5

Confidence: None

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Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings: 2013 Week 8 NFL Pick

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Green Bay Packers (4-2) at Minnesota Vikings (1-5)

Josh Freeman was awful last week. He threw 33 incompletions (only 3 of which were drops) on 20 of 53 passing for 190 yards and an interception against a team that was previously one of the worst in the NFL defensively. ProFootballFocus said his performance graded out as the worst they’ve graded since they started in 2008 and it pretty much broke their grading system. It wasn’t totally his fault though. He definitely deserves a lot of the blame because his mechanics and accuracy looked awful, but he wasn’t put in a situation to succeed by the coaching staff. He had been with the team just 14 days and clearly didn’t know the playbook and understandably so.

The Vikings are lucky that he won’t be able go this week with a concussion (or they’re smart for inventing a concussion). Christian Ponder isn’t very good because of his limited arm, but he at least knows the playbook. He played pretty well at home against the Packers last year, completing 16 of 28 for 234 yards and 3 touchdowns, as his lack of arm strength can kind of be hidden inside in a dome where there is no wind. For that reason, I can’t put a lot of confidence in the Packers even though they should be the right side. They’ll be completely focused with only a game at home for the Bears and Josh McCown next week. Divisional road favorites are 36-22 ATS before being divisional away favorites since 2002.

Green Bay Packers 27 Minnesota Vikings 17

Pick against spread: Green Bay -9.5

Confidence: None

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Seattle Seahawks at St. Louis Rams: 2013 Week 8 NFL Pick

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Seattle Seahawks (6-1) at St. Louis Rams (3-4)

This is one I could go either way on. This line has shifted in a big way over the past week, going from -5 to -11.5, but then again, that might be warranted considering the Rams lost Sam Bradford for the season with a torn ACL and will now turn to Kellen Clemens for the rest of the season. The Seahawks generally struggle on the road, going 26-38 ATS on the road since 2006. However, they have covered 7 of their last 9 opportunities on the road over the past calendar year or so. They’ve also been decent as road favorites, even dating back to 2006, going 9-11 ATS. They’ve also been decent in their second straight road game, going 7-8 ATS since 2006.

The Rams are also in a bad spot as home dogs before being home dogs, as teams are 65-90 ATS in that situation since 2002. I’m taking the Seahawks, but I’m not very confident. We could see a backdoor cover or something along those lines, especially since road favorites of 7.5 or more are 3-16 ATS since 2011. The Seahawks have a very good chance at a blowout though.

Seattle Seahawks 24 St. Louis Rams 9

Pick against spread: St. Louis -11.5

Confidence: None

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New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles: 2013 Week 8 NFL Pick

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New York Giants (1-6) at Philadelphia Eagles (3-4)

One powerful trend is that teams who lose as divisional home favorites are 49-24 ATS since 2002 as road dogs in the rematch. It makes sense. Matchups where the team who is favored is dependent on the location tend to be matchups between very even teams and very even teams tend to split the season series no matter what. If you’ve lost as home favorites, you have to win as road underdogs in this situation to split the season series. Teams do win as road underdogs at a .500 rate since 2002 (38-38) and an even higher percentage, as previously mentioned, about 2/3rds, cover the spread. The Giants have room to play with here because they are 5.5 point underdogs so they can easily cover even if they don’t win.

However, I question how even these teams are. Philadelphia isn’t as good as their record at 3-4 as the 3 teams they’ve beaten have a combined 3-17 record. They have a terrible defense, which allows their opponents to move the chains at a 78% rate, despite the easy schedule. Their offense is strong, moving the chains at a 76% rate, but not enough to keep pace with what their defense is allowing.

However, the Giants are even worse in that aspect. They are allowing opponents to move the chains at a 77% rate and they are only moving the chains at a 66% rate. Part of that has to do with their terrible turnover margin though. Their turnover margin is a league worst -14, but Eli Manning probably won’t throw an interception on 5.6% of his passes going forward, considering his career rate is 3.4%. The Giants also probably won’t recover just 40% of their fumbles going forward. Turnover margins tend to be very inconsistent, so this might not kill them going forward like it has thus far.

That being said, they didn’t look good against Minnesota, despite winning the turnover margin by 2. They looked much better against the Bears, when they lost the turnover margin by 3, but only lost the game by 6 and would have probably won in Chicago if not for a pick six. On paper, they are the more talented of these two teams, but games aren’t played on paper and there’s a chance they just are a marginal and inconsistent team all season. That being said, I’m afraid to go against them with the trend on their side given that I do believe they’re the better team on paper. They’re also a dangerous team as road underdogs in the Eli Manning/Tom Coughlin era, going 33-19 ATS as road dogs since 2004. I’m taking the Giants, but I’m not confident.

Philadelphia Eagles 27 New York Giants 23

Pick against spread: NY Giants +5.5

Confidence: None

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Atlanta Falcons at Arizona Cardinals: 2013 Week 8 NFL Pick

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Atlanta Falcons (2-4) at Arizona Cardinals (3-4)

The Falcons are 2-4, but they are better than their record. All 6 of their games have been close and all 4 of their losses were winnable games lost by a touchdown or less. They’ve also had a very tough schedule, as, with the exception of the winless Buccaneers last week, all of their opponents this season are 3-4 or better.

Their defense is horrific, one of the worst in the NFL, allowing opponents to move the chains at an 80% rate that is only 1/10th of a percent better than the last place Jacksonville Jaguars. However, they still have Matt Ryan, who is doing an unheralded good job leading this offense, despite injuries all over his receiving corps and struggles from his offensive line. The offense is moving the chains at a 79% rate and they get a boost this week as Steven Jackson is expected to return from injury to hopefully provide some more balance, though it’s hard to trust a 30-year-old back coming off an injury.

Still, I think they are definitely better than the Cardinals, who are moving the chains at a 71% rate and allowing opponents to move the chains at a 74% rate. The Cardinals are also in a bad spot as small home favorites before a bye. Teams who are favored by 3 or less going into a bye are just 11-30 ATS since 2002, an incredibly bad record.

This does make some sense. Small home favorites are generally comparable or slightly inferior to their opponent, which is the case here, as these two teams are 20th (Falcons) and 23rd (Cardinals) in my Power Rankings. Teams in that dynamic might just assume a victory at home going into a bye and completely overlook their opponent, which is not something you should be doing with a comparable opponent. As a result, not only do they rarely cover the spread, but they also lose the game outright more than 2 out of 3 times dating back to 2002.

The reason this isn’t a bigger play is because the Falcons are in a bad spot and could be distracted by a road game in Carolina next week. Non-divisional road dogs are 47-72 ATS before being divisional road dogs since 2002. Still, I like the Falcons’ chances of not just covering this small spread, but also winning the pulling the upset and winning game outright.

Atlanta Falcons 27 Arizona Cardinals 20 Upset Pick +120

Pick against spread: Atlanta +2.5

Confidence: Medium

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Miami Dolphins at New England Patriots: 2013 Week 8 NFL Pick

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Miami Dolphins (3-3) at New England Patriots (5-2)

Tom Brady has not played well this season. A lot of people are giving him a pass because of the state of his receiving corps and that’s obviously been an issue, but you can’t give him a total pass. His arm strength is noticeably diminished, something that’s been a trend over the past few seasons, and his timing and accuracy have been off as well. He’s completed fewer than 50% of his passes 3 times this season, something he had previously done just 3 times since week 2 of the 2006 season. He has failed to throw a touchdown in 2 of his last 3 games, after throwing one in his previous 52.

ProFootballFocus grades him out as the 21st best passing quarterback this season, in between Michael Vick and Carson Palmer. Brady got Rob Gronkowski back last week, but still completed less than 50% of his passes in an eventual loss to the Jets. You can argue whether or not that pushing penalty should have been called, considering the stakes and how frequently it goes uncalled, and you can argue whether or not the Patriots would have won that game if it wasn’t called, but you can’t deny that Tom Brady really struggled.

Fortunately, Brady should have a much better game this week for 3 reasons. One is that his receiving corps will be the best it’s been all season. Again, his receiving corps hasn’t been the whole issue, but an improved receiving corps certainly won’t hurt him. Gronkowski will probably play a full set of snaps for the first time all season and his chemistry and timing with Brady should be improved in his 2nd game back. Danny Amendola also returns from a concussion. He might not play a full set of snaps and his timing and chemistry with Brady could be off, but, at the same time, he’s practiced all week and only missed a week, so he could be a real asset.

The 2nd reason is that he’s always better off of a loss. In his career, he is 27-15 ATS off a loss, including 17-8 ATS off a loss as favorites. Since 2003, he’s lost back-to-back games just 5 times, going 30-5 SU off a loss. Remember when he was terrible in Cincinnati and then bounced back to beat New Orleans the next week? He’s still capable of that kind of thing, even if he’s not playing like the quarterback we’re used to him being.

The 3rd reason is that, while the Jets have one of the best defenses in the NFL, the Dolphins have a below average stop unit. The Jets are allowing opponents to move the chains at a 68% rate, while the Dolphins are allowing opponents to do so at a 76% rate. The Patriots are moving the chains at an uncharacteristically bad 72% rate, slightly below league average, but it definitely helps to go from facing a dominant stop unit on the road to a mediocre stop unit back in Foxboro.

The Dolphins also have issues offensively, as they are moving the chains at a mere 70% rate, thanks largely to the fact that they’ve allowed 26 sacks on the season. In order to remedy the issue, the Dolphins traded for Bryant McKinnie, who will immediately be put in at left tackle, moving Jonathan Martin to right tackle, to take the place of the suddenly aging Tyson Clabo, who has looked completely out of place in the Dolphins’ zone blocking scheme this season.

However, I am very skeptical about how good he can be just 6 days after being traded for. He might need another week to get settled in. I also question how good the 34-year-old can be. There’s a reason why he was a healthy scratch towards the end of his time in Baltimore. I also question the 360 pounder’s fit on a Miami offensive line that is trying to do more and more zone blocking. Plus, a lot of the offensive line’s problem has been that Tannehill is taking too many sacks, taking one on 29.9% of pressured snaps, by far the highest percentage in the NFL. The Dolphins’ offense should continue to struggle this week, especially against a New England defense that is really carrying the team with the offense struggling. They are allowing opponents to move the chains at just a 70% rate and this week they get back Aqib Talib, who was sorely missed against the Jets.

The Dolphins -6% differential in rate of moving the chains is actually 29th in the NFL and I really believe they are not as good as their record. Given that, I don’t think this line is high enough at 6.5, as unspectacular as the Patriots have been this season. I like the Patriots chances of bouncing back at home and not just winning but covering the spread with a balanced attack. It’s not a high confidence pick though.

New England Patriots 24 Miami Dolphins 13

Pick against spread: New England -6.5

Confidence: Low

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