Tennessee Titans at Cincinnati Bengals: 2014 Week 3 NFL Pick

stevenlourie 2014 NFL Picks, 2014 Week 3 NFL Picks, Bengals, Titans, Uncategorized

Tennessee Titans (1-1) at Cincinnati Bengals (2-0)

The Bengals beat the Falcons 24-10 last week in Cincinnati, making it 10 straight regular season home games that they’ve not only won but covered, winning by an average of 16.1 points per game. They moved the chains at a 75.00% rate, as opposed to 64.51% for their opponents, the 4th best differential of the week. They should be able to do the same thing this week against an average at best Tennessee team. AJ Green is expected to play after missing most of last week’s blowout victory with injury.

The Bengals are also in a good spot going into a bye. They’ll be completely focused. Teams are 67-28 ATS since 2002 as 6+ point favorite going into a bye, including 52-17 ATS at home. Here as 7 point favorites, I really like the Bengals’ chances of covering. While the Bengals are in a good spot, the Titans aren’t as they have to go to Indianapolis next week, which is an equally big, if not bigger game. Non-divisional road underdogs are 49-77 ATS before being a divisional road underdog since 2002. This has all the makings of a blowout.

Cincinnati Bengals 24 Tennessee Titans 10

Pick against spread: Cincinnati -7

Confidence: Medium

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Washington Redskins at Philadelphia Eagles: 2014 Week 3 NFL Pick

stevenlourie 2014 NFL Picks, 2014 Week 3 NFL Picks, Commanders, Eagles, Uncategorized

Washington Redskins (1-1) at Philadelphia Eagles (2-0)

The Redskins looked very good in Kirk Cousins 2014 debut last week, as Robert Griffin went down with a significant ankle injury a few plays into what ended up being one of the most dominant performances by a team I’ve seen in a while. The Redskins moved the chains at an 84.09% rate, as opposed to 45.00% for the Jaguars. However, it was just the Jaguars so I’m still skeptical. He completed 52.3% of his passes for an average of 5.51 YPA, 4 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions in 3 starts against some of the worst defenses in the league (Atlanta, Dallas, NY Giants) last season.

Will the Redskins’ continue to have success this week? I like their chances. Philadelphia doesn’t have a good defense. They looked decent against Jacksonville week 1, but they were terrible last season and they let the Colts move the chains at a 77.78% rate last week in an eventual Philadelphia win. The Eagles also haven’t been as good offensively as last season, moving the chains at a 72.97% rate despite playing Indianapolis and Jacksonville, who don’t have good defenses. They’re going to continue to miss Evan Mathis, their best offensive lineman, this week.

This should be a shoot-out and I like the Redskins chances of at least keeping it close against a Philadelphia team that has stumbled out of the gates to 2-0. The Eagles are in a hard spot as they have to go to San Francisco next week, while the Redskins are home for the Giants next week. Divisional road underdogs are 57-41 ATS before being divisional home favorites since 2002. Meanwhile, teams are 89-54 ATS as underdogs before being favorites when their opponent will next be underdogs since 2010, including 90-55 ATS as road underdogs before being home favorites when their opponents will next be road underdogs since 2008. I’m grabbing the 6.5.

Philadelphia Eagles 31 Washington Redskins 30

Pick against spread: Washington +6.5

Confidence: High

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Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Atlanta Falcons: 2014 Week 3 NFL Pick

stevenlourie 2014 NFL Picks, 2014 Week 3 NFL Picks, Buccaneers, Falcons, Uncategorized

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-2) at Atlanta Falcons (1-1)

The Falcons looked pretty good week 1 against the Saints, but they fell flat on their face in Cincinnati last week. However, I expect them to bounce back here for three reasons. One, Jake Matthews is back from injury and will take over again on the blindside. Two, the Falcons are a much better team at home. Matt Ryan is 29-19 ATS in his career, at home. On top of that, Matt Ryan is very good off of a loss, going 22-10 ATS.

This would be a bigger play, but the Buccaneers are in a good spot playing their first road game of the season week 3, as teams are 39-24 ATS in that situation since 1989. However, as long as the number is under a touchdown, I like the Falcons chances here. The Buccaneers aren’t a very good team, especially since they could be missing both Gerald McCoy and Michael Johnson from a solid, but top heavy defensive unit. The Falcons are a good team, as long as they’re at home and I give them the edge here in a bounce back game on a short week on Thursday Night.

Atlanta Falcons 27 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 13

Pick against spread: Atlanta -6.5

Confidence: Medium

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Minnesota Vikings at New Orleans Saints: 2014 Week 3 NFL Pick

stevenlourie 2014 NFL Picks, 2014 Week 3 NFL Picks, Saints, Uncategorized, Vikings

Minnesota Vikings (1-1) at New Orleans Saints (0-2)

The Saints are 0-2, but I’m not too worried about them. If one of their offensive players had been able to tackle Tashaun Gipson on his eventual pick 6, there’s a very good chance they’d be 1-1 right now and heading home to face the Vikings as at least 12 point favorites. They weren’t able to do that and they lost as a result, but both of their first two games were very close and I’m not going to completely throw out my pre-season evaluation of this team just because of a few plays that didn’t go their way.

We’re getting a ton of line value with them as a result of public overreaction. The Saints as just 9.5 point home favorites is stealing considering how good they are at home. The Saints are 31-10 ATS at home since 2008 in the games which Drew Brees and Sean Payton were involved.  On top of that, they are 16-0-1 ATS at home over their last 16 home games with Drew Brees and Sean Payton. They’ve won all 17 of those games by an average of about 20.8 points per game, with just three being decided by 10 points or less and just one being decided by less than 6 points. They should be able to win by double digits here against an average at best Vikings team.

As I mentioned, this line is an overreaction. The Saints are moving the chains at an 81.81% rate, as opposed to 80.28% for their opponents. 0-2 teams are 20-11 ATS as 5+ point favorites since 1989. That tells us two things. One this type of situation doesn’t happen very often. Two, when it does, it’s usually for a reason and that reason seems to be that the favorite team is still very good despite their record. Finally, on top of that, Drew Brees usually bounces back well. He’s 18-5 ATS off of a loss as long as Sean Payton is on the sideline since 2008. He didn’t last week on the road, but he’s 13-2 at home in that situation. This is my pick of the week.

New Orleans Saints 34 Minnesota Vikings 13 Survivor Pick

Pick against spread: New Orleans -9.5

Confidence: Pick of the Week

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Kansas City Chiefs at Denver Broncos: 2014 Week 2 NFL Pick

stevenlourie 2014 NFL Picks, 2014 Week 2 NFL Picks, Broncos, Chiefs, Uncategorized

Kansas City Chiefs (0-1) at Denver Broncos (1-0)

The Chiefs had the fewest adjusted games lost last season. Now they’ve already lost two of their best players (Derrick Johnson and Mike DeVito) for the season with torn Achilles. On offense, Dwayne Bowe is back from suspension, but Donald Stephenson remains suspended and now Jeff Allen is out for the season on an offensive line that was already thin after losing 31 games of starting experience from the 2013 team. Their loss at home to Tennessee was probably a sign of things to come, now that they have a way tougher schedule, they won’t be able to dominate the turnover battle as much, and they simply aren’t as talented as they were last season thanks to injuries and off-season losses.

However, I think this line at 12 is too big. The Broncos aren’t the same offense as they were last season when they just ran through everyone in blowout fashion. Eric Decker is gone. Wes Welker is still suspended. Peyton Manning is highly unlikely to repeat last season, especially with a tougher schedule and at age 38. I don’t have a ton of confidence in the Chiefs or anything, but I’m going to grab the points and hope they can keep it within 10 or so and catch the Broncos looking forward to a Super Bowl rematch in Seattle next week.

Denver Broncos 27 Kansas City Chiefs 17

Pick against spread: Kansas City +12

Confidence: None

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Seattle Seahawks at San Diego Chargers: 2014 Week 2 NFL Pick

stevenlourie 2014 NFL Picks, 2014 Week 2 NFL Picks, Chargers, Seahawks, Uncategorized

Seattle Seahawks (1-0) at San Diego Chargers (1-0)

I really hate to go against the Seahawks. They were obviously Super Bowl champs last year and deserving ones at that and now they return with their same young core. They looked every bit as good as they always had last week, beating the Packers 36-16 in a game that could have been even more of a blowout. They moved the chains at an 85.29% rate, as opposed to 72.41% for the Packers, giving them the 2nd best differential of the week last week against a Green Bay team that very well could still be destined for big things.

However, they’re not at home now and they don’t have the crazy crowd pumped off of the ring ceremony on their side. This could very well be a big hangover game for them after last season and after last season. I also feel like this line is a little overinflated in San Diego against a Charger team that is at least average. The public is still all over the 6 point favorite Seahawks here and when in doubt fade the public. I wish I was getting a few more points to play with and I’m not confident at all, but the Chargers are my pick here.

Seattle Seahawks 20 San Diego Chargers 17

Pick against spread: San Diego +6

Confidence: None

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St. Louis Rams at Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 2014 Week 2 NFL Pick

stevenlourie 2014 NFL Picks, 2014 Week 2 NFL Picks, Buccaneers, Rams, Uncategorized

St. Louis Rams (0-1) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-1)

The Buccaneers are in a bad spot here with a Thursday Night game against the Falcons on deck. Teams are 14-30 ATS since 2008 as favorites before a divisional Thursday Night game. I also think we’re getting some line value with the Rams. The Buccaneers aren’t really that good. They didn’t look good at all last week, losing at home to Derek Anderson and the Panthers. They’re also really banged up with both Adrian Clayborn and Michael Johnson out for this one and Doug Martin likely to be less than 100% even if he plays.

They could easily finish 6-10 or worse and teams that finish 6-10 or worse cover only about a quarter of the time as favorites of 6 or more. The Rams didn’t look good last week, but they don’t deserve to be underdogs of this much in Tampa Bay. No one really does, with the exception of maybe Jacksonville. People are overreacting to how bad they looked last week. Some people had this as a surprise playoff team before Sam Bradford got hurt and now all of a sudden they’re seen as maybe the worst team in the NFL.

Realistically, they are and have always been somewhere in between. Bradford’s loss isn’t that big of a deal because Shaun Hill is one of the better backup quarterbacks in the NFL. He wasn’t fantastic last week, completing 8 of 13 for 81 yards and an interception before going down with a thigh injury, but in his career he’s completed 61.9% of his passes for an average of 6.68 YPA, 41 touchdowns, and 24 interceptions. He’s 34 and hasn’t played a lot since 2010, but he’s still a solid backup. The Rams should finish around 5-11 or 6-10 and I don’t think they’re that much worse than the Buccaneers. I’m not that confident in the Rams because I don’t know if Hill is going to play or be 100% and Austin Davis looked awful last week, but they should be the right side.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 13 St. Louis Rams 10

Pick against spread: St. Louis +6

Confidence: Low

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Philadelphia Eagles at Indianapolis Colts: 2014 Week 2 NFL Pick

stevenlourie 2014 NFL Picks, 2014 Week 2 NFL Picks, Colts, Eagles, Uncategorized

Philadelphia Eagles (1-0) at Indianapolis Colts (0-1)

The Eagles were down 17-0 early against the Jaguars last week at home, before coming back and winning 34-17. Their offense looked solid again, as it did last season with Nick Foles, but their defense continued to struggle. This line suggests these two teams are even, but I don’t think that’s the case right now as the Eagles’ offensive line is falling apart. Lane Johnson is still suspended. Allen Barbre, his replacement, is now out with an injury. Meanwhile, left guard Evan Mathis, one of the best offensive linemen in the league, was put on injured reserve with intent to return and will miss a significant period of time. The Eagles’ defense will continue to struggle and the offense won’t be as good with the offensive line banged up.

The Colts are also in the better spot here. Teams are 52-24 ATS as non-divisional home favorites before being divisional road favorites (in Jacksonville next week) since 2008. The Colts are also very good off of a loss and at home in the Andrew Luck era. They are 10-0 ATS off of a loss since Luck was drafted in 2012 and 11-5 ATS at home in that same time period. I like the Colts’ chances of beating a banged up Eagles team here in the first Monday Night Football game in Indianapolis in the Andrew Luck era.

Indianapolis Colts 31 Philadelphia Eagles 20

Pick against spread: Indianapolis -3

Confidence: Medium

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New Orleans Saints at Cleveland Browns: 2014 Week 2 NFL Pick

stevenlourie 2014 NFL Picks, 2014 Week 2 NFL Picks, Browns, Saints, Uncategorized

New Orleans Saints (0-1) at Cleveland Browns (0-1)

Ordinarily, I don’t like to pick the Saints on the road. I was 15-2-1 ATS picking Saints games this year and it would be 15-1-2 if I had gotten -3 in the 49ers game and not -3.5, in an eventual New Orleans win by 3. I did that by blindly picking them at home and almost blindly picking against them on the road, only picking them in Chicago as 1 point favorites because I correctly believed the Bears to be overrated at that point. The Saints went 7-0-1 ATS at home last season, but they are 2-8-1 ATS on the road since the start of last season. Here they are 6.5 point favorites on the road in Cleveland and the public is all over the Saints, which makes me want to take the Browns.

However, I have a hard time taking the Browns without Jordan Cameron against a team like the Saints that, for all their road struggles, is still one of the most talented in the NFL. Drew Brees is also very good off of a loss in his career as long as Sean Payton is on the sideline, going 18-5 ATS in that situation since 2008. On top of that, teams are better in their 2nd straight road game than their 1st one. Since 2008, teams are 434-615 in their first road game, getting outscored by an average of 3.27 points per game. Meanwhile, teams are 181-205 in their second road game, getting outscored by an average of 0.66 points per game. Finally, the Saints have no distractions on the horizon with a home game against the Vikings up next. Teams are 44-32 ATS since 2008 as road favorites before being double digit home favorites. I’m not confident at all, but the Saints are my pick.

New Orleans Saints 27 Cleveland Browns 20

Pick against spread: New Orleans -6.5

Confidence: None

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