Staff Picks: Backing the Lions

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Published on October 16, 2019

Last week was a decent one for the Staff -- only Kevin Payne and I failed to break .500, and we went 2-1 on unanimous picks. Unfortunately, I'm still in last place, a full three games behind not-splitting-the-atom Dalton Del Don. Pianowski remains in first, three games ahead of Erickson.

This week, we all like the Lions, and Erickson even has them as his best bet.

	Erickson	Pianowski	Liss	Payne	Del Don
Chiefs -3 at Broncos	Broncos	Broncos	Broncos	Chiefs	Broncos
Cardinals +3 at Giants	Cardinals	Giants	Giants	Giants	Cardinals
Texans +1 at Colts	Colts	Colts	Colts	Colts	Texans
Dolphins +17 at Bills	Bills	Dolphins	Dolphins	Dolphins	Dolphins
Vikings -1 at Lions	Lions	Lions	Lions	Lions	Lions
Raiders +6 at Packers	Raiders	Packers	Packers	Raiders	Raiders
Jaguars -3.5 at Bengals	Jaguars	Bengals	Bengals	Bengals	Bengals
Rams -3 at Falcons	Falcons	Falcons	Rams	Rams	Falcons
49ers -10 at Redskins	Redskins	Redskins	49ers	Redskins	49ers
Chargers +2 at Titans	Titans	Titans	Chargers	Chargers	Chargers
Ravens +3.5 at Seahawks	Seahawks	Ravens	Seahawks	Ravens	Ravens
Saints +3 at Bears	Saints	Bears	Saints	Bears	Saints
Eagles +3 at Cowboys	Cowboys	Eagles	Eagles	Eagles	Eagles
Patriots -9.5 at Jets	Patriots	Jets	Jets	Jets	Jets
Best Bet	Lions	Jets	Broncos	Bengals	49ers
Last week's Record	9-5	9-5	7-7	6-8	9-5
2019 Record	50-42	53-39	39-53	45-47	42-50
Best Bet Record	3-3	4-2	3-3	5-1	3-3
Unanimous Pick Record	6-5
Majority Pick Record	43-49
2018 Record	125-122-9	134-113-9	141-106-9

This week, we all like the Lions, and Erickson even has them as his best bet.

	Erickson	Pianowski	Liss	Payne	Del Don
Chiefs -3 at Broncos	Broncos	Broncos	Broncos	Chiefs	Broncos
Cardinals +3 at Giants	Cardinals	Giants	Giants	Giants	Cardinals
Texans +1 at Colts	Colts	Colts	Colts	Colts	Texans
Dolphins +17 at Bills	Bills	Dolphins	Dolphins	Dolphins	Dolphins
Vikings -1 at Lions	Lions	Lions	Lions	Lions	Lions
Raiders +6 at Packers	Raiders	Packers	Packers	Raiders	Raiders
Jaguars -3.5 at Bengals	Jaguars	Bengals	Bengals	Bengals	Bengals
Rams -3 at Falcons	Falcons	Falcons	Rams	Rams	Falcons
49ers -10 at Redskins	Redskins	Redskins	49ers	Redskins	49ers
Chargers +2 at Titans	Titans	Titans	Chargers	Chargers	Chargers
Ravens +3.5 at Seahawks	Seahawks	Ravens	Seahawks	Ravens	Ravens
Saints +3 at Bears	Saints	Bears	Saints	Bears	Saints
Eagles +3 at Cowboys	Cowboys	Eagles	Eagles	Eagles	Eagles
Patriots -9.5 at Jets	Patriots	Jets	Jets	Jets	Jets
Best Bet	Lions	Jets	Broncos	Bengals	49ers
Last week's Record	9-5	9-5	7-7	6-8	9-5
2019 Record	50-42	53-39	39-53	45-47	42-50
Best Bet Record	3-3	4-2	3-3	5-1	3-3
Unanimous Pick Record	6-5
Majority Pick Record	43-49
2018 Record	125-122-9	134-113-9	141-106-9	N/A	120-127-9
2017 Record	117-125-14	128-114-14	117-125-14	N/A	98-144-14
2016 Record	140-111-5	130-121-5	123-128-5	N/A	132-119-5
2015 Record	134-114-8	120-128-8	114-134-8	N/A	121-127-8
2014 Record	123-128-5	140-111-5	135-116-5	N/A	128-123-5
2013 Record	132-114-10	118-128-10	123-123-10	N/A	128-118-10
2012 Record	110-140-6	125-125-6	121-129-6	N/A	123-127-6
2011 Record	121-128-7	134-115-7	124-125-7	N/A	127-122-7
2010 Record	129-122-5	134-117-5	126-125-5	N/A	134-117-5
2009 Record	123-130-3	132-121-3	131-122-3	N/A	126-127-3
2008 Record	132-114-10	128-118-10	124-122-10	N/A	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

This week we have one unanimous pick, the Lions. Last week, we won with the Dolphins and Broncos, but lost with the Eagles, bringing our record to 6-5 on unanimous picks . We also went 8-6 on majority picks (three or more writers) to go 43-49 on the year. We were 26-21-1 on unanimous picks and 132-115-9 on majority picks in 2018.

Writer	Comment
Erickson	I think there's a lot of recency-bias in lines, based on what happened the previous week. The Vikings had a perfect matchup to throw against the Eagles, they won't have that this week on the road against the Lions. I also really like the Pats, Falcons and Broncos this week.
Pianowski	This isn't a juggernaut Patriots team, it's merely a smart and sound one. The Jets should put up a fight now that Sam Darnold is around to stabilize the offense. New York's defense is credible, too.
Liss	My three favorite games are the Broncos getting points at home against a banged-up Chiefs team off a short week, the Jets getting too many points at home against a good, but overrated Pats squad and the Seahawks laying only 3.5 against an inferior Ravens team.
Payne	I did terrible last week for the slate as a whole. The silver lining is I ran my best bet record to 5-1. Has Vegas adjusted to the last 2-3 weeks of football considering how many teams have done a 180?
Del Don	Looks like I'm heavy on underdogs aside from the Niners in the Kyle Shanahan revenge game. I also like the Raiders, Texans and Saints this week.

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, 2014 and 2017 Staff Picks Champ. Roots for the Patriots.

• Chris Liss: RotoWire Managing Editor, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2018 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.

• Kevin Payne: Staff Writer, Writes our Waiver Wire column. Roots for the Bills.

• Dalton Del Don: Fantasy Expert for Yahoo! Sports, 2007 Staff Picks Champ. Roots for the 49ers.