This article is part of our NFL Picks series.
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.)
| Erickson | Pianowski | Liss | Stopa | Del Don | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bills +5.5 at Dolphins | Bills | Bills | Bills | Dolphins | Bills |
| Texans +3 at Browns | Browns | Texans | Texans | Texans | Browns |
| Vikings +3 at Bears | Bears | Vikings | Bears | Bears | Bears |
| Seahawks +1.5 at Chiefs | Chiefs | Chiefs | Chiefs | Seahawks | Chiefs |
| Falcons +1.5 at Panthers | Falcons | Panthers | Panthers | Falcons | Panthers |
| Bengals +7 at Saints | Saints | Bengals | Saints | Bengals | Saints |
| Buccaneers +7 at Redskins | Buccaneers | Buccaneers | Redskins | Buccaneers | Buccaneers |
| Broncos -9.5 at Rams | Rams | Broncos | Rams | Broncos | Rams |
| 49ers -4 at Giants | Giants | Giants | Giants | Giants | Giants |
| Raiders +10 at Chargers | Chargers | Raiders | Raiders | Chargers | Chargers |
| Eagles +5.5 at Packers | Eagles | Eagles | Packers | Packers | Packers |
| Lions +1.5 at Cardinals | Cardinals | Cardinals | Lions | Lions | Cardinals |
| Patriots +3 at Colts | Patriots | Patriots | Patriots | Patriots | Colts |
| Steelers -6 at Titans | Titans | Titans | Titans | Titans | Titans |
| Best Bet | Bears | Broncos | Bears | Texans | Chiefs |
| Last Week's Record | 3-10 | 6-7 | 6-7 | 5-8 | 9-4 |
| 2014 Record | 67-78-2 | 74-71-2 | 81-64-2 | 69-76-2 | 82-63-2 |
| Best Bet Record | 3-7 | 2-8 | 7-3 | 5-5 | 6-4 |
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.)
| Erickson | Pianowski | Liss | Stopa | Del Don | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bills +5.5 at Dolphins | Bills | Bills | Bills | Dolphins | Bills |
| Texans +3 at Browns | Browns | Texans | Texans | Texans | Browns |
| Vikings +3 at Bears | Bears | Vikings | Bears | Bears | Bears |
| Seahawks +1.5 at Chiefs | Chiefs | Chiefs | Chiefs | Seahawks | Chiefs |
| Falcons +1.5 at Panthers | Falcons | Panthers | Panthers | Falcons | Panthers |
| Bengals +7 at Saints | Saints | Bengals | Saints | Bengals | Saints |
| Buccaneers +7 at Redskins | Buccaneers | Buccaneers | Redskins | Buccaneers | Buccaneers |
| Broncos -9.5 at Rams | Rams | Broncos | Rams | Broncos | Rams |
| 49ers -4 at Giants | Giants | Giants | Giants | Giants | Giants |
| Raiders +10 at Chargers | Chargers | Raiders | Raiders | Chargers | Chargers |
| Eagles +5.5 at Packers | Eagles | Eagles | Packers | Packers | Packers |
| Lions +1.5 at Cardinals | Cardinals | Cardinals | Lions | Lions | Cardinals |
| Patriots +3 at Colts | Patriots | Patriots | Patriots | Patriots | Colts |
| Steelers -6 at Titans | Titans | Titans | Titans | Titans | Titans |
| Best Bet | Bears | Broncos | Bears | Texans | Chiefs |
| Last Week's Record | 3-10 | 6-7 | 6-7 | 5-8 | 9-4 |
| 2014 Record | 67-78-2 | 74-71-2 | 81-64-2 | 69-76-2 | 82-63-2 |
| Best Bet Record | 3-7 | 2-8 | 7-3 | 5-5 | 6-4 |
| Majority Record | 80-65-2 | ||||
| Unanimous Pick Record | 14-12 | ||||
| 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 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:
| Writer | Comment |
| Erickson | The 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. |
| Pianowski | I 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. |
| Liss | The 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. |
| Stopa | Ryan 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.
