This article is part of our NFL Picks series.
It was an ugly week all around for the staff with Erickson winning it at 8-8 and moving into a three-way tie for last with DDD and me at 31-31-2. Pianowski went 7-9 and remains all alone in first place, 10 games over .500
Correction: Erickson went 7-9 and is all alone in last place at 30-32-2
This week, the Jets are a consensus pick and the best bet of two writers, while the Titans are also a consenus and my best bet.
| Erickson | Pianowski | Liss | Stopa | Del Don | |
| Saints -6.5 at Panthers | Panthers | Panthers | Panthers | Saints | Panthers |
| Eagles -2 at Bills | Bills | Eagles | Eagles | Eagles | Eagles |
| Seahawks +10 at Giants | Giants | Seahawks | Seahawks | Seahawks | Giants |
| Bengals +1 at Jaguars | Jaguars | Jaguars | Jaguars | Bengals | Jaguars |
| Chiefs +1 at Colts | Colts | Colts | Chiefs | Colts | Colts |
| Titans +4.5 at Steelers | Titans | Titans | Titans | Titans | Titans |
| Cardinals +2 at Vikings | Vikings | Vikings | Vikings | Vikings | Vikings |
| Raiders +5.5 at Texans | Raiders | Raiders | Raiders | Texans | Raiders |
| Buccaneers +3 at 49ers | 49ers | Buccaneers | Buccaneers | Buccaneers | 49ers |
| Jets +9.5 at Patriots | Jets | Jets | Jets | Jets | Jets |
| Chargers -4 at Broncos | Broncos | Chargers | Broncos | Broncos | Broncos |
| Packers -6 at Falcons | Packers | Falcons | Falcons | Packers | Falcons |
| Bears +5.5 at Lions | Lions | Lions | Bears | Lions | Lions |
| Best Bet | Jets | Jets | Titans | Eagles | Colts |
| Last Week's Record | 7-9 | 7-9 | 6-10 | 6-10 | 7-9 |
| 2011 Record | 30-32-2 | 36-26-2 | 31-31-2 | 26-20-2 | 31-31-2 |
| Best Bet Record | 3-1 | 2-1-1 | 3-1 | 3-1 | 1-2-1 |
| Consensus Pick Record | 8-4 | ||||
| 2010 Record | 129-122-5 | 134-117-5 | 126-125-5 | 136-115-5 | 134-117-5 |
| 2009 Record |
It was an ugly week all around for the staff with Erickson winning it at 8-8 and moving into a three-way tie for last with DDD and me at 31-31-2. Pianowski went 7-9 and remains all alone in first place, 10 games over .500
Correction: Erickson went 7-9 and is all alone in last place at 30-32-2
This week, the Jets are a consensus pick and the best bet of two writers, while the Titans are also a consenus and my best bet.
| Erickson | Pianowski | Liss | Stopa | Del Don | |
| Saints -6.5 at Panthers | Panthers | Panthers | Panthers | Saints | Panthers |
| Eagles -2 at Bills | Bills | Eagles | Eagles | Eagles | Eagles |
| Seahawks +10 at Giants | Giants | Seahawks | Seahawks | Seahawks | Giants |
| Bengals +1 at Jaguars | Jaguars | Jaguars | Jaguars | Bengals | Jaguars |
| Chiefs +1 at Colts | Colts | Colts | Chiefs | Colts | Colts |
| Titans +4.5 at Steelers | Titans | Titans | Titans | Titans | Titans |
| Cardinals +2 at Vikings | Vikings | Vikings | Vikings | Vikings | Vikings |
| Raiders +5.5 at Texans | Raiders | Raiders | Raiders | Texans | Raiders |
| Buccaneers +3 at 49ers | 49ers | Buccaneers | Buccaneers | Buccaneers | 49ers |
| Jets +9.5 at Patriots | Jets | Jets | Jets | Jets | Jets |
| Chargers -4 at Broncos | Broncos | Chargers | Broncos | Broncos | Broncos |
| Packers -6 at Falcons | Packers | Falcons | Falcons | Packers | Falcons |
| Bears +5.5 at Lions | Lions | Lions | Bears | Lions | Lions |
| Best Bet | Jets | Jets | Titans | Eagles | Colts |
| Last Week's Record | 7-9 | 7-9 | 6-10 | 6-10 | 7-9 |
| 2011 Record | 30-32-2 | 36-26-2 | 31-31-2 | 26-20-2 | 31-31-2 |
| Best Bet Record | 3-1 | 2-1-1 | 3-1 | 3-1 | 1-2-1 |
| Consensus Pick Record | 8-4 | ||||
| 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 |
Consensus Picks
This week we have three consensus picks: the Titans, Vikings and Jets. We went 1-1 on consensus picks in Week 4, putting us at 8-4 on the year. We went 32-21-1 on consensus picks in 2010.
Comments:
| Writer | Comment |
| Erickson | : Every year there's one Patriots outrageous-looking line that they end up covering, and maybe this is it, but I have to think that the playoff win by the Jets is far more relevant in the comparison of the two teams than the Monday night blowout last year. Factor in Jerod Mayo's injury, and I think the Jets will be competitive in this game. ... I should be confident in the Bengals, given how they've played defense and are against a rookie QB. However, Andy Dalton has been shaky here-and-there in his own right and is facing a better-than-expected Jacksonville defense... Colts are this week's "yeah they suck, but every dog has its day" pick. |
| Pianowski | The New England-New York line looks like a gross overreaction to what happened in Baltimore last week. The Patriots secondary is a joke, and the Pats are also without their best defensive player (linebacker Jerod Mayo). The Jets defense played well against the Ravens (look at the Flacco and Rice stats), but Mark Sanchez gave the game away; I dare the Pats to force Sanchez into the same mistakes. I'll gladly take the inflated number here. Only concern: Bill Belichick has no qualms throwing with a late lead. |
| Liss | None of these lines jumped out at me intially except Tennessee. I love the Jets as a moneyline play (+350), but if they lose it could easily be by this number. |
| Stopa | I like buying the Eagles low, as I don't think the Bills can exploit the Eagles weakness in the trenches... The Raiders are allowing 5.9 YPC, by far the worst in the league; the Texans will run all over them... Sharps are on the Broncos, causing the line to go from -6 to -4 even as the public is all over the Chargers. I agree with the sharps, as the Chargers injuries are mounting... No matter how bad the Jets have looked this year, I can't escape the feeling that 10 points is a lot between division rivals in a game the Jets could win outright, as they did earlier this calendar year... I struggled with Packers/Falcons. The Falcons are the savvy play, as they're much better at home and will be highly motivated after the blowout loss to the Packers last year. But I think we're watching an all-time offense in the Packers, and the Falcons haven't exactly been good on defense. |
| Del Don | The Colts are bad but clearly better with Curtis Painter and playing another league doormat. Look for desperate Indy finally to get into the win column, with home field being the difference... I wouldn't be surprised by numerous upsets this week, and I'm not just talking about the games with spreads fewer than a field goal. |
The players:
•Jeff Erickson: RotoWire Senior editor, 2001, 2008 Staff Picks Champ. Writes the Value Meter. Covers and roots for the Bengals.
•Scott Pianowski: Fantasy expert for Yahoo! Sports, and also contributes to Rotowire.com. 2009 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 Surviving the Week in addition to Staff Picks. Covers and roots for the Giants.
•Mark Stopa: Staff Writer, 2010 Staff Picks Champ, Writes Working the Wire. Roots for the Bills.
•Dalton Del Don: RotoWire Senior Staff Writer. 2007 Staff Picks Champ. Writes the Game Capsules and the Barometer. Covers the Eagles and roots for the 49ers.
