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Our FREE NFL picks versus the spread are purely for entertainment purposes only. But, let's face it, being right (winning) is more fun than being wrong (losing).
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DAILY WEEK 10 LINES FROM SPORTSBOOK.COM
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SUMMARY OF PICKS BY CONTRIBUTORS
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Week: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17
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Picks are for entertainment purposes only.
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Picks and spreads are as of Saturday, November 12th at 10:59 a.m. ET
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Lines used are always as of the time the pick was made.
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Date/Time (ET)
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Favorite
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Spread
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Underdog
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Kevin
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Dan
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Sean
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Thu, Nov 10 at 8:30 p.m.
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Oakland Raiders 24, San Diego Chargers 17
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Sun, Nov 13 at 1:00 p.m.
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CHIEFS
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3.0
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Broncos
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Sun, Nov 13 at 1:00 p.m.
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Steelers
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4.0
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BENGALS
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PIT -4
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PIT -4
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PIT -4
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Sun, Nov 13 at 1:00 p.m.
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Jaguars
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3.0
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COLTS
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JAX -3
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Sun, Nov 13 at 1:00 p.m.
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COWBOYS
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5.5
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Bills
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Sun, Nov 13 at 1:00 p.m.
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Texans
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3.5
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BUCCANEERS
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TB -3.5
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Sun, Nov 13 at 1:00 p.m.
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PANTHERS
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3.5
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Titans
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Sun, Nov 13 at 1:00 p.m.
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DOLPHINS
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4.0
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Redskins
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Sun, Nov 13 at 1:00 p.m.
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FALCONS
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0.0
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Saints
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Sun, Nov 13 at 1:00 p.m.
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BROWNS
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2.5
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Rams
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Sun, Nov 13 at 1:00 p.m.
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EAGLES
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14.0
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Cardinals
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Sun, Nov 13 at 4:05 p.m.
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Ravens
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7.0
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SEAHAWKS
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BAL -7
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Sun, Nov 13 at 4:15 p.m.
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BEARS
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3.0
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Lions
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Sun, Nov 13 at 4:15 p.m.
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49ERS
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3.5
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Giants
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SF -3.5
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Sun, Nov 13 at 8:35 p.m.
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JETS
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1.5
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Patriots
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NE +1.5
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Mon, Nov 14 at 8:40 p.m.
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PACKERS
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13.0
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Vikings
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MIN +13
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CONTRIBUTOR
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GAME 1
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GAME 2
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GAME 3
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Kevin
2011 Record: 33-14-4 (70.2%)
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Steelers (-4) at Bengals
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Giants at 49ers (-3.5)
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Patriots at Jets (-1.5)
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Steelers -4
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49ers -3.5
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Patriots +1.5
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After the first quarter of the season, the
Steelers had allowed more rushing yards than
they have through Week 4 in any season
since 1994. Since then, however, they have
turned things around and rank sixth in the
NFL in rushing defense (95.6 yards allowed
per game). Since allowing Houston's Arian
Foster to rush for 155 yards in Week 4, they
have not allowed a 100-yard rusher. In
addition, no running back has more than 43
yards against in their past three games and
those backs include Baltimore's Ray Rice,
Arizona's Beanie Wells and New England's
BenJarvus Green-Ellis. In other words, I don't
expect Cincinnati's Cedric Benson, who has
been very mediocre this season, to have a
strong game. Meanwhile, the Steelers pass
defense has been even stronger than their
run defense as they have allowed the
third-fewest passing yards this season. As
great as A.J. Green and solid as Andy Dalton
have played this season, it would not surprise
me to see the Bengals' offense sputter this
week. [In fact, the Bengals face a team that
ranks in the top four in pass defense in each
of their next five games (see schedule):
Steelers twice, Browns, Ravens and Texans.]
While the Bengals defense is strong, they
have a strong group of young offensive skill
players and a few high draft picks from
Oakland coming their way, their long-term
future looks positive. Their short-term future,
on the other hand, does not as the Bengals
end their five-game winning streak this week.
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Aside from an overtime loss to the
Cowboys, the 49ers have not lost a game
this year. After getting a tough
come-from-behind road victory over the
Patriots last week, the Giants head to the
west coast for another tough matchup,
which could have playoff-positioning
implications. In fact, the Giants have a
brutal schedule from last week through the
end of the season. For a second week in a
row, the Giants will be without running back
Ahmad Bradshaw, who has a cracked bone
in his foot. Even with Bradshaw, however, it
may not have mattered. The 49ers rank
first in the NFL in rush defense (70.8 yards
per game allowed) and are the only team
in the league to not have allowed a rushing
touchdown this season. On the other hand,
49ers running back Frank Gore is dealing
with an ankle injury, but he is expected to
play this week. Gore has a five-game
streak of 100-yard rushing games and the
Giants have been bad against the run this
season. Not only are they in the bottom
ten in the league in rush defense, the
Giants have allowed a running back to
finish with 98 rushing yards or more for five
straight weeks before last week. With five
of the seven remaining games after this
week against the Cardinals, Seahawks and
Rams, the Niners have a legitimate shot at
winning 13 games (or more) this season.
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When the Jets host the Patriots on Sunday
Night Football, the game will feature one
team on a three-game winning streak and
another looking to avoid a three-game
losing streak. Against the Giants, who have
struggled to stop the run as noted earlier, I
expected the Pats to give BenJarvus
Green-Ellis many more carries than they
actually did. It is not that he was
unproductive running the ball, but The Law
Firm had only 12 carries for 52 yards. In
fact, the trio of Green-Ellis, Danny
Woodhead and Stevan Ridley had only 22
carries. With the Darrelle Revis likely on
Wes Welker, who leads the NFL in
receptions (66) and receiving yards (960),
it is unlikely that Welker has another big
game. In their first matchup, Welker had
five receptions for 124 yards but that
included a 73-yard reception that Revis is
unlikely to give up again. Provided the
Patriots are more commited to the run as
they were in their first win over the Jets,
they can avoid another loss. In that
nine-point win in Foxboro, Green-Ellis had
27 carries for 136 yards and two
touchdowns, all season highs, and Stevan
Ridley carried the ball seven times as well.
If the Patriots lose Sunday night, it will be
the first time since 2002 that they have lost
three consecutive games. Perhaps this pick
is as much of a hunch as anything, but I
just can't see a Brady-led team losing three
straight regular-season games.
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Dan
2011 Record: 24-21-6 (53.3%)
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Steelers (-4) at Bengals
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Jaguars (-3) at Colts
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Vikings at Packers (-13)
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Steelers -4
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Jaguars -3
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Vikings +13
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It seems to be divisional matchup week, and
this game figures to one of the most
interesting on the schedule. Think about it,
the Bengals could wind up the leader of the
AFC North this week, if they manage to handle
the Steelers at home. The Bengals have
surprised on offense with rookies A.J. Green
and QB Andy Dalton, and a very stout Marvin
Lewis-coached defense. The Steelers were
rolling, until last week when they had their
hearts ripped out at the end by Joe Flacco.
Historically, Pittsburgh has the edge as they
are 7-2 in their last 9 games against the
spread. The Steelers will shut down the rookie
passing game this week, as they only allow a
measly 185 yards per game though the air. I
am laying the points for the Steelers, as the
Bengals just haven't beaten anyone of note
this year.
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I saw some highlights of the Colts game
last week, and it seems that fans have
already purchased Andrew Luck jerseys.
Wow, guess Manning doesn't mean
anything to them anymore. That anti-Colt
venom aside, wow, I don't think that even
the Lions of 2 years ago were this bad at
all. Indy has been putrid as of late vs the
AFC as a whole, as they have posted a 1-7
record vs. the spread. The Colts offense
has been non-existent, as they have only
scored 24 points overall in their last 3
games. While the Jaguars offense hasn't
been much to write home about, they boast
the 3rd-best defense overall in the league
and they only allow 20 points per game. I
think the Colts are well on their way to
having the donut hole for the year, and I
like Maurice Jones-Drew to run all over
them. I will gladly take the field goal, as
this in one of those early spread gifts.
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So we go from the Colts trying to go 0-16,
to the talk of the town Packers whom are
trying to go 16-0. The Packers have played
exceptionally well, while the Vikings are
starting over again with rookie Christian
Ponder. Historically the Vikings have done
well against the Pack as they have gone
4-2 against the number in their last 6
games. The two losses that the Vikings
suffered, were the last two Favre debacle
games. The Packers defense has been a
little rough this year, as they have allowed
400 yards per game and also they allow 4.6
yards per rush. While I don't think the
Packers will get picked off here, I think
Adrian Peterson will give the Vikes a
chance, and 13 points are just too much to
pass up.
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Sean
2011 Record: 27-21-3 (56.3%)
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Steelers (-4) at Bengals
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Ravens (-7) at Seahawks
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Texans (-3.5) at Buccaneers
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Steelers -4
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Ravens -7
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Buccaneers +3.5
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The Bengals are a great story so far this
season, but they don't match up with the
Steelers very well. Who would have thought
losing Hines Ward to injury would have been
such a great thing? The Steelers found
another weapon in their passing game in
Antonio Brown. Brown along with Mike Wallace
give the Steelers two extremely fast and
difficult guys to cover. When people think of
elite quarterbacks in the league, the name
Ben Roethlisberger never gets brought up. I
think Roethlisberger and the Steelers offense
which is now their strong part of their team
handle Cincy on the road this week. I love
Andy Dalton and A.J. Green, but the Steelers
defense is a whole another animal compared
to the teams they have played this season.
Steelers 26-17.
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The Ravens had a little hiccup a few weeks
ago against the Jags, and an awful start
versus the Cardinals the following week at
home, but I think they are back and clearly
are the favorites in the AFC right now.
There has been much said about Joe Flacco
this year, that in a quarterback-driven
league, Flacco is not at that level to lead
his team to a Super Bowl. I strongly
disagree with this statement. Mark Sanchez
has led the Jets to the AFC title game in
back-to-back years and he is light years
worse than Joe Flacco. I think Flacco is the
perfect fit for Baltimore, and I think come
playoff time, he will prove those naysayers
wrong. Defensively, everyone has been
waiting for the Ravens defense to slow
down because they are getting old. This
hasn't been the case at all. Some players
just have "it," and don't lose "it" until the
very end. There is no decline in play, just
all of a sudden the "it" is gone. This is what
happened to Randy Moss. Moss had the
"it," and then bam it was gone and he was
on the bench the following year. Ray Lewis
and Ed Reed have this "it" and they will for
a few more years. Seattle is overrated at
2-6, because frankly they are not that
good. I think Baltimore wins big, 27-6.
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My third pick was difficult because I like a
few other plays. I like San Fransisco at
home, I like Indianapolis at home getting
their first win of the year, and I like the
Pats to beat the Jets, but I like the Bucs a
little more. The Bucs are off to a
disappointing 4-4 start this season, but
their schedule outside of Indianapolis has
been brutal. The Texans, on the other
hand, appear to have the AFC South on
cruise control as all the other teams have
major issues. This is the beauty of the NFL,
once you think you have a team figured
out, you don't. This is one of the reasons
why the NFL is the hardest sport to make
money on as a gambler. The easiest sport
is college basketball and I think most will
agree with that. The only win Houston has
this year versus a team that is over .500
now is Pittsburgh. They have lost to
Oakland, New Orleans and Baltimore.
Houston needs a couple more wins against
good teams before I am ready to crown
them as contenders. I think they stumble
here Sunday in Tampa. Tampa on a
last-second FG 24-23.
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