This article is part of our NFL Picks series.
Last week four of us went 2-2, while Stopa picked up where he left off in the regular season and went 0-4. We also lost our only unanimous pick, the Giants.
This week, there are no unanimous picks, but our best bets (4-1 last week) are a full house: three Falcons, two Chiefs.
| Erickson | Pianowski | Liss | Stopa | Del Don | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seahawks +4.5 at Falcons | Falcons | Seahawks | Seahawks | Falcons | Falcons |
| Texans +16 at Patriots | Patriots | Texans | Patriots | Texans | Patriots |
| Steelers +2 at Chiefs | Chiefs | Chiefs | Chiefs | Chiefs | Steelers |
| Packers +4.5 at Cowboys | Packers | Packers | Packers | Packers | Cowboys |
| Best Bet | Falcons | Chiefs | Chiefs | Falcons | Falcons |
| Last week's Record | 2-2 | 2-2 | 2-2 | 0-4 | 2-2 |
| Best Bet Record | 12-6 | 12-6 | 10-8 | 7-11 | 11-7 |
| 2016 Unanimous Pick Record | 27-22-2 | ||||
| 2016 Majority Pick Record | 131-120-5 | ||||
| 2015 Playoff Record | 5-6 | 2-9 | 3-8 | 2-9 | 1-10 |
| 2014 Playoff Record | 10-1 | 5-6 | 9-2 | 4-7 | 9-2 |
| 2013 Playoff Record | 5-4-2 | 3-6-2 | 4-5-2 | 4-5-2 | 4-5-2 |
| 2012 Playoff Record | 4-6-1 | 5-5-1 | 6-4-1 | 4-6-1 | 8-2-1 |
| 2011 Playoff Record | 8-3 | 5-6 | 9-2 | 6-5 | 7-4 |
| 2010 Playoff Record | 6-5 | 5-6 | 5-6 | 7-4 | 8-3 |
| 2009 Playoff Record | 5-6 | 4-7 | 1-10 | 6-5 | 5-6 |
| 2008 Playoff Record | 6-5 | 5-6 | 5-6 | 8-3 | 4-7 |
| 2007 Playoff Record | 8-3 | 3-8 | 6-5 | N/A | 2-9 |
| 2006 Playoff Record | 7-4 | N/A | 4-7 | N/A | N/A |
| 2005 Playoff Record | 5-6 | N/A | 3-8 | N/A | N/A |
| 2004 Playoff Record | 6-5 | N/A | 4-7 | N/A | N/A |
| 2003 Playoff Record | 6-5 | N/A | 4-7 | N/A | N/A |
| 2002 Playoff Record | 6-5 | 7-4 | 5-6 | N/A | N/A |
Last week four of us went 2-2, while Stopa picked up where he left off in the regular season and went 0-4. We also lost our only unanimous pick, the Giants.
This week, there are no unanimous picks, but our best bets (4-1 last week) are a full house: three Falcons, two Chiefs.
| Erickson | Pianowski | Liss | Stopa | Del Don | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seahawks +4.5 at Falcons | Falcons | Seahawks | Seahawks | Falcons | Falcons |
| Texans +16 at Patriots | Patriots | Texans | Patriots | Texans | Patriots |
| Steelers +2 at Chiefs | Chiefs | Chiefs | Chiefs | Chiefs | Steelers |
| Packers +4.5 at Cowboys | Packers | Packers | Packers | Packers | Cowboys |
| Best Bet | Falcons | Chiefs | Chiefs | Falcons | Falcons |
| Last week's Record | 2-2 | 2-2 | 2-2 | 0-4 | 2-2 |
| Best Bet Record | 12-6 | 12-6 | 10-8 | 7-11 | 11-7 |
| 2016 Unanimous Pick Record | 27-22-2 | ||||
| 2016 Majority Pick Record | 131-120-5 | ||||
| 2015 Playoff Record | 5-6 | 2-9 | 3-8 | 2-9 | 1-10 |
| 2014 Playoff Record | 10-1 | 5-6 | 9-2 | 4-7 | 9-2 |
| 2013 Playoff Record | 5-4-2 | 3-6-2 | 4-5-2 | 4-5-2 | 4-5-2 |
| 2012 Playoff Record | 4-6-1 | 5-5-1 | 6-4-1 | 4-6-1 | 8-2-1 |
| 2011 Playoff Record | 8-3 | 5-6 | 9-2 | 6-5 | 7-4 |
| 2010 Playoff Record | 6-5 | 5-6 | 5-6 | 7-4 | 8-3 |
| 2009 Playoff Record | 5-6 | 4-7 | 1-10 | 6-5 | 5-6 |
| 2008 Playoff Record | 6-5 | 5-6 | 5-6 | 8-3 | 4-7 |
| 2007 Playoff Record | 8-3 | 3-8 | 6-5 | N/A | 2-9 |
| 2006 Playoff Record | 7-4 | N/A | 4-7 | N/A | N/A |
| 2005 Playoff Record | 5-6 | N/A | 3-8 | N/A | N/A |
| 2004 Playoff Record | 6-5 | N/A | 4-7 | N/A | N/A |
| 2003 Playoff Record | 6-5 | N/A | 4-7 | N/A | N/A |
| 2002 Playoff Record | 6-5 | 7-4 | 5-6 | N/A | N/A |
| 2001 Playoff Record | 6-4-1 | 7-3-1 | 4-6-1 | N/A | N/A |
| 2016 Record | 140-111-5 | 130-121-5 | 123-128-5 | 115-136-5 | 132-119-5 |
| 2015 Record | 134-114-8 | 120-128-8 | 114-134-8 | 127-121-8 | 121-127-8 |
| 2014 Record | 123-128-5 | 140-111-5 | 135-116-5 | 124-127-5 | 128-123-5 |
| 2013 Record | 132-114-10 | 118-128-10 | 123-123-10 | 111-135-10 | 128-118-10 |
| 2012 Record | 110-140-6 | 125-125-6 | 121-129-6 | 143-107-6 | 123-127-6 |
| 2011 Record | 121-128-7 | 134-115-7 | 124-125-7 | 123-126-7 | 127-122-7 |
| 2010 Record | 129-122-5 | 134-117-5 | 126-125-5 | 136-115-5 | 134-117-5 |
| 2009 Record | 123-130-3 | 132-121-3 | 131-122-3 | 130-123-3 | 126-127-3 |
| 2008 Record | 132-114-10 | 128-118-10 | 124-122-10 | 125-121-10 | 130-116-10 |
| 2007 Record | 127-120 | 118-129 | 127-120 | N/A | 130-117 |
| 2006 Record | 118-129 | N/A | 139-108 | N/A | N/A |
| 2005 Record | 121-126 | N/A | 127-120 | N/A | N/A |
| 2004 Record | 124-124 | N/A | 130-118 | N/A | N/A |
| 2003 Record | 121-126 | 118-129 | 124-123 | N/A | N/A |
| 2002 Record | 113-136 | 123-126 | 141-108 | N/A | N/A |
| 2001 Record | 124-113 | 117-120 | 118-119 | N/A | N/A |
| 2000 Record | 123-117 | 134-106 | 141-99 | N/A | N/A |
Unanimous/Majority Picks
This week we have no unanimous picks. We lost with the Giants last week to bring our season record to 27-22-2. We went 2-2 on majority (three or more writers) picks to bring our season record to 133-122-5.
Comments:
| Writer | Comment |
|---|---|
| Erickson | I really think the Falcons will roll in this one. Their offense is almost there with the Patriots in terms of being a machine that few can stop, they're at home and Seattle really misses Earl Thomas in this one. Toughest call for me was the Packers-Cowboys. |
| Pianowski | I don't feel particularly confident about any of these games. I list Kansas City as my best pick because there's a long-running theme of Andy Reid loving bye weeks, and Pittsburgh being a different team on the road. I'd like to see better officiating in Week 2; although I was on Seattle and Pittsburgh last week and appreciated their covers, I felt they received a ridiculous share of the calls. Maybe that's the crew getting swept up in the emotion of the home crowd, or maybe it's just an irrelevant outlier; either way, it bothers me to see it. |
| Liss | I like the Chiefs at home coming off a bye (Andy Reid is 16 - 2 in such games dating back to his Eagles days) against Ben Roethlisberger, who hasn't been good on the road the last three years. I also like Patriots laying anything less than 20 in Foxboro against Brock Osweiler and the Seahawks as underdogs in Atlanta. The Packers-Cowboys was more of a coin flip. |
| Stopa | Here you go, faders. Fade away... Atlanta's historically great offense will crush a Seattle team that has too many holes. I'd have that line at an even 7... It's hard for me to see the Patriots scoring in the 30s without Gronk against such a good defense. Expect a conservative game-plan from New England, content to sit on it's inevitable, double-digit lead knowing Houston lacks the firepower to come back. No strong feel on the other two games, but I like over 52 points in Dallas, as both teams have great O-lines and won't stop each other. |
| Del Don | thought all the lines were really tight this week, so I don't feel particularly strong with any. But the Falcons are coming off a bye and have such a strong offense, whereas the Seahawks are a different team away from home. The Pats line is so crazy I had to take it. |
The players:
• Jeff Erickson: RotoWire Senior editor, 2001, 2008, 2013, 2015, 2016 Staff Picks Champ. Writes the Weekly Rankings. Covers and roots for the Bengals.
• Scott Pianowski: Fantasy expert for Yahoo! Sports, and also contributes to Rotowire.com. 2009, 2011 and 2014 Staff Picks Champ. Roots for the Patriots.
• Chris Liss: RotoWire Managing Editor, 2000, 2002, 2006 Staff Picks Champ, 2003, 2004 co-champ. Writes East Coast Offense, Beating the Book and the Survivor column in addition to Staff Picks. Covers and roots for the Giants.
• Mark Stopa: Staff Writer, 2010, 2012 Staff Picks Champ, Writes Run 'N' Shoot. Roots for the Bills.
• Dalton Del Don: Fantasy Expert for Yahoo! Sports, 2007 Staff Picks Champ. Roots for the 49ers.
Click here for the audio version of Staff Picks. (NSFW).
