NFL Picks: Giants and Titans

NFL Picks: Giants and Titans

This article is part of our NFL Picks series.

DDD's 9-3 week knocked me out of first place for the first time all year and leaves me one game behind. Erickson and Stopa continue to slip deeper into the abyss.

Once again, we have two consensus picks, the Giants and the Titans. We keep splitting on them, but that's not surprising given a split is the most likely outcome. Erickson and I both have the Bears as our best bets. (Stopa forgot to pick the Saints/Bengals game, which I'll add as soon as he emails me back.)

EricksonPianowskiLissStopaDel Don
Bills +5.5 at DolphinsBillsBillsBillsDolphinsBills
Texans +3 at BrownsBrownsTexansTexansTexansBrowns
Vikings +3 at BearsBearsVikingsBearsBearsBears
Seahawks +1.5 at ChiefsChiefsChiefsChiefsSeahawksChiefs
Falcons +1.5 at PanthersFalconsPanthersPanthersFalconsPanthers
Bengals +7 at SaintsSaintsBengalsSaintsBengalsSaints
Buccaneers +7 at RedskinsBuccaneers BuccaneersRedskinsBuccaneers Buccaneers
Broncos -9.5 at RamsRamsBroncosRamsBroncosRams
49ers -4 at GiantsGiantsGiantsGiantsGiantsGiants
Raiders +10 at ChargersChargersRaidersRaidersChargersChargers
Eagles +5.5 at PackersEaglesEagles PackersPackersPackers
Lions +1.5 at CardinalsCardinalsCardinalsLionsLionsCardinals
Patriots +3 at ColtsPatriotsPatriotsPatriotsPatriotsColts
Steelers -6 at TitansTitansTitansTitansTitansTitans
Best BetBearsBroncosBearsTexansChiefs
Last Week's Record3-106-76-75-89-4
2014 Record67-78-274-71-281-64-269-76-282-63-2
Best Bet Record3-72-87-35-56-4
DDD's 9-3 week knocked me out of first place for the first time all year and leaves me one game behind. Erickson and Stopa continue to slip deeper into the abyss.

Once again, we have two consensus picks, the Giants and the Titans. We keep splitting on them, but that's not surprising given a split is the most likely outcome. Erickson and I both have the Bears as our best bets. (Stopa forgot to pick the Saints/Bengals game, which I'll add as soon as he emails me back.)

EricksonPianowskiLissStopaDel Don
Bills +5.5 at DolphinsBillsBillsBillsDolphinsBills
Texans +3 at BrownsBrownsTexansTexansTexansBrowns
Vikings +3 at BearsBearsVikingsBearsBearsBears
Seahawks +1.5 at ChiefsChiefsChiefsChiefsSeahawksChiefs
Falcons +1.5 at PanthersFalconsPanthersPanthersFalconsPanthers
Bengals +7 at SaintsSaintsBengalsSaintsBengalsSaints
Buccaneers +7 at RedskinsBuccaneers BuccaneersRedskinsBuccaneers Buccaneers
Broncos -9.5 at RamsRamsBroncosRamsBroncosRams
49ers -4 at GiantsGiantsGiantsGiantsGiantsGiants
Raiders +10 at ChargersChargersRaidersRaidersChargersChargers
Eagles +5.5 at PackersEaglesEagles PackersPackersPackers
Lions +1.5 at CardinalsCardinalsCardinalsLionsLionsCardinals
Patriots +3 at ColtsPatriotsPatriotsPatriotsPatriotsColts
Steelers -6 at TitansTitansTitansTitansTitansTitans
Best BetBearsBroncosBearsTexansChiefs
Last Week's Record3-106-76-75-89-4
2014 Record67-78-274-71-281-64-269-76-282-63-2
Best Bet Record3-72-87-35-56-4
Majority Record80-65-2
Unanimous Pick Record14-12
2013 Record132-114-10118-128-10123-123-10111-135-10128-118-10
2012 Record110-140-6125-125-6121-129-6143-107-6123-127-6
2011 Record121-128-7134-115-7124-125-7123-126-7127-122-7
2010 Record129-122-5134-117-5126-125-5136-115-5134-117-5
2009 Record123-130-3132-121-3131-122-3130-123-3126-127-3
2008 Record132-114-10128-118-10124-122-10125-121-10130-116-10
2007 Record127-120118-129127-120N/A130-117
2006 Record118-129N/A139-108N/AN/A
2005 Record121-126N/A127-120N/AN/A
2004 Record124-124N/A130-118N/AN/A
2003 Record121-126118-129124-123N/AN/A
2002 Record113-136123-126141-108N/AN/A
2001 Record124-113117-120118-119N/AN/A
2000 Record123-117134-106141-99N/AN/A

Unanimous/Majority Picks

This week, we all like the Giants and Titans. Last week we went 1-1 on unanimous picks to go 14-12 on the year. And we went 6-7 on majority picks (three or more writers) to go 80-65-2.

Comments:

WriterComment
EricksonThe Bears are the perfect logic-defying pick. They can't possibly have looked worse in their last two games, and the beginning-of-the-week press conference was awful too. So naturally, they'll play their best in a month. Buy lowest... I hope I'm wrong about the Saints, but I'm not.
PianowskiI know they're supposed to even out over the long run, but I'm still ticked off about the non-covers from Buffalo and St. Louis last week. Picking the Broncos here is the hope that they take the game completely seriously - I wouldn't blame them if they didn't.
LissThe Bears jumped out right away as they have to be better than the Vikings and should bounce back at home. I also like the Panthers and Redskins to a lesser extent.
StopaRyan Mallett can't be worse than Ryan Fitzpatrick, the Texans will be healthy, rested and hungry, but this pick is mostly about the Browns being overrated. The AFC North isn't very good, but the records are inflated because they keep picking on the dumpster fire that is the NFC South. This feels like the week Cleveland comes crashing back to earth. Same for the Cardinals, who I wish I could fade ROS. (From 8-1 to 10-6 and missing the playoffs? Sign me up.) The Rams front four has played better lately, but how much will it matter? Peyton doesn't take sacks, and the Broncos consistently blow out bad teams. Heck, Peyton didn't even play well early last week, and it was still a blowout. Do I have to pick a winner in Falcons-Panthers? Can't we just go ahead and call it a tie? I struggled most with the Bills-Dolphins. The Bills D has owned Tannehill in recent matchups (including Week 2 this year), and it feels like a good time to sell Miami high, especially with their starting LT out on a short week. But this is a different Dolphins team the past month or so, and Massey-Peabody has Miami 6 points better than Buffalo on a neutral field. That means the line should be more than TD, not less. I've been struggling with these picks, so I'll go with the statheads over my instincts. Plus, if the Thursday night blowout trend continues, it's clearly more likely to be Miami delivering the beating.
Del Don No best bet jumped out at me this week, but Seattle looks vulnerable and faces a good Kansas City team on the road. My second choice would likely have been the Saints... Otherwise I had a relatively easy time picking this week's slate, which almost assuredly means a poor result will follow.

The players:

Jeff Erickson: RotoWire Senior editor, 2001, 2008, 2013 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 and 2011 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.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chris Liss
Chris Liss was RotoWire's Managing Editor and Host of RotoWire Fantasy Sports Today on Sirius XM radio from 2001-2022.
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