This article is part of our NFL Picks series.
A strong week overall for the staff as everyone won his best bet, and three of us won at least 10 games. Stopa and Pianowski are essentially in a two-man race, with Stopa two games up. After having no consensus picks last week, we have four this week: the Titans, Redskins, Bills and Bengals.
Enjoy the games
| Erickson | Pianowski | Liss | Stopa | Del Don | |
| Texans +8.5 at Eagles | Texans | Eagles | Texans | Texans | Eagles |
| Jaguars +3 at Titans | Titans | Titans | Titans | Titans | Titans |
| Redskins +7.5 at Giants | Redskins | Redskins | Redskins | Redskins | Redskins |
| Browns +4.5 at Dolphins | Dolphins | Browns | Dolphins | Browns | Browns |
| Bears -3.5 at Lions | Lions | Lions | Lions | Bears | Lions |
| Broncos +8.5 at Chiefs | Broncos | Broncos | Broncos | Broncos | Chiefs |
| 49ers +9.5 at Packers | Packers | 49ers | 49ers | 49ers | Packers |
| Bills +6 at Vikings | Bills | Bills | Bills | Bills | Bills |
| Saints -7 at Bengals | Bengals | Bengals | Bengals | Bengals | Bengals |
| Raiders +13 at Chargers | Chargers | Raiders | Raiders | Chargers | Raiders |
| Falcons -3 at Buccaneers | Buccaneers | Buccaneers | Buccaneers | Falcons | Buccaneers |
| Panthers +6 at Seahawks | Panthers | Seahawks | Panthers | Panthers | Panthers |
| Cowboys +5 at Colts | Cowboys | Colts | Cowboys | Colts | Colts |
| Rams -3.5 at Cardinals | Cardinals | Cardinals | Cardinals | Rams | Cardinals |
| Steelers +3 at Ravens | Ravens | Steelers | Ravens | Steelers | Steelers |
| Jets +3.5 at Patriots | Patriots | Jets | Patriots | Jets | Patriots |
| Best Bet | Panthers | Bills | Bengals | Bears | Packers |
| Last Week's Record | 8-8 | 10-6 | 11-5 | 10-6 | 7-9 |
| 2010 Record | 89-82-5 | 94-77-5 | 84-87-5 | 96-75-5 | 86-85-5 |
| Best Bet Record | 4-7-1 | 6-5-1 | 6-6 | 8-3-1 | 7-4-1 |
| Consensus Pick Record | 24-15-1 | ||||
| 2009 Record | 123-130-3 | 132-121-3 | 131-122-3 | 130-123-3 | 126-127-3 |
| 2008 Record |
A strong week overall for the staff as everyone won his best bet, and three of us won at least 10 games. Stopa and Pianowski are essentially in a two-man race, with Stopa two games up. After having no consensus picks last week, we have four this week: the Titans, Redskins, Bills and Bengals.
Enjoy the games
| Erickson | Pianowski | Liss | Stopa | Del Don | |
| Texans +8.5 at Eagles | Texans | Eagles | Texans | Texans | Eagles |
| Jaguars +3 at Titans | Titans | Titans | Titans | Titans | Titans |
| Redskins +7.5 at Giants | Redskins | Redskins | Redskins | Redskins | Redskins |
| Browns +4.5 at Dolphins | Dolphins | Browns | Dolphins | Browns | Browns |
| Bears -3.5 at Lions | Lions | Lions | Lions | Bears | Lions |
| Broncos +8.5 at Chiefs | Broncos | Broncos | Broncos | Broncos | Chiefs |
| 49ers +9.5 at Packers | Packers | 49ers | 49ers | 49ers | Packers |
| Bills +6 at Vikings | Bills | Bills | Bills | Bills | Bills |
| Saints -7 at Bengals | Bengals | Bengals | Bengals | Bengals | Bengals |
| Raiders +13 at Chargers | Chargers | Raiders | Raiders | Chargers | Raiders |
| Falcons -3 at Buccaneers | Buccaneers | Buccaneers | Buccaneers | Falcons | Buccaneers |
| Panthers +6 at Seahawks | Panthers | Seahawks | Panthers | Panthers | Panthers |
| Cowboys +5 at Colts | Cowboys | Colts | Cowboys | Colts | Colts |
| Rams -3.5 at Cardinals | Cardinals | Cardinals | Cardinals | Rams | Cardinals |
| Steelers +3 at Ravens | Ravens | Steelers | Ravens | Steelers | Steelers |
| Jets +3.5 at Patriots | Patriots | Jets | Patriots | Jets | Patriots |
| Best Bet | Panthers | Bills | Bengals | Bears | Packers |
| Last Week's Record | 8-8 | 10-6 | 11-5 | 10-6 | 7-9 |
| 2010 Record | 89-82-5 | 94-77-5 | 84-87-5 | 96-75-5 | 86-85-5 |
| Best Bet Record | 4-7-1 | 6-5-1 | 6-6 | 8-3-1 | 7-4-1 |
| Consensus Pick Record | 24-15-1 | ||||
| 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 four consensus picks: the Titans, Redskins, Bills and Bengals.
Last week we had no consensus picks, keeping us at 24-15-1 on the year. We finished 2009 at 19-23-1 on consensus picks, and were 24-19-2 on them in 2008.
Comments:
| Writer | Comment |
| Erickson | Seattle's woeful offensive line is almost as bad as Carolina's - and not for nothing, the Panthers have moved the ball better recently. |
| Pianowski | The Bills are the most entertaining 2-9 team in sports history. They lost in overtime to the Chiefs, Ravens and Steelers (three quality teams), and every one of those games had fluky elements to it. Minnesota shouldn't be spotting this many points. |
| Liss | I had a lot of trouble with most of this slate, but the Redskins, Titans, Bengals and Bills were games I decided pretty quickly. |
| Stopa | The Bucs are the most predictable team in the NFL, perhaps in recent memory - they've beaten the bad/mediocre teams and lost to the good ones. Giving only 3 with a Falcons team that should win outright is nice value. I have similar logic for the underrated Bears, who are giving just 3.5 against a bad Lions team starting its third-string QB. That line should be more like 6... Steelers/Ravens and Jets/Patriots are 50/50 games, and given the nature of the rivalries, home-field is irrelevant. I'll take the points and smile when one of the games finishes 21-20... How badly do the Cardinals have to play to be given a line like the league doormat they are? The Bills haven't lost by more than 3 since Week 5, yet they're getting 5.5 against a 4-7 Vikings team that may be missing Adrian Peterson - it makes no sense. You may believe in the "new coach" theory, but you're paying a premium for it... I'll buy the Titans low and hope Kerry Collins plays... What would the Colts/Cowboys line have been three weeks ago? 14? I have to think Manning bounces back... The current Giants team isn't 7.5 points better than the Redskins. The Seahawks aren't 7.5 points better than anyone... I struggled with the Bengals, as I changed that pick 4 times. I think the Bengals quit, but I'm worried about a dome team playing outdoors in the northeast, laying that many points. |
| Del Don | I'm buying low on the Packers, who might be the best team in football, and I'm selling high on the 49ers, who have to travel coming off a short week. |
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 Beating the Book and Surviving the Week in addition to Staff Picks. Covers and roots for the Giants.
•Mark Stopa: Staff Writer, 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.
