NFL picks against the spread, Week 7: SuperContest picks, all picks

We are just about back for another week of San Francisco 49ers football. The 0-6 49ers are 4-2 against the spread, and face a Dallas Cowboys team that has been doing big things on offense, but are struggling in a big way on defense. And of course, C.J. Beathard is making his first NFL start after coming in in relief of Brian Hoyer last week against Washington.

The line on this game has the Cowboys as six point favorites, according to Odds Shark. The 49ers have played teams closely for five straight weeks, and I’m thinking they can do it again. They’ve covered four of the past five weeks, and even in the game they did not cover, they just barely missed in a three point loss to Indianapolis. Past performance is not indicative of future returns, but the 49ers defense is good enough to keep this thing relatively close. And while I think Beathard can do some solid work against the Cowboys defense, I think the 49ers run game will be the difference for them. I don’t know if the 49ers can win it outright, but I think it will be close.

For the fourth straight season, I am back for the Westgate SuperContest. SB Nation's partners over at Odds Shark are sponsoring my entry again. The contest requires selecting 5 games each week and picking them against the spread. This year's contest is expected to have over 2,700 participants, which is a new record for the SuperContest. SB Nation is represented by myself, Matt Ufford, and Jason Kirk, and there are folks from all over the blogosphere involved. I got over the .500 mark for the first time this year, putting together a 3-2 performance after four straight 2-3 weeks. That’s something, I guess. There is a running leaderboard here, but you can check how I’m doing against my Odds Shark teammates here. You can follow my standings under the name "Fooch.”

Here are my Week 7 SuperContest picks:

Bengals (+5.5) over STEELERS
PACKERS (+5.5) over Saints
Rams (-3.5) over Cardinals
49ERS (+6.5) over Cowboys
GIANTS (+5.5) over Seahawks

So yes, I’m taking the 49ers to cover at home against the Cowboys as one of my five Super Contest picks. I took four underdogs this week, including three home dogs. It’s been an underdog type of season, and given my lengthy struggles through six weeks, once again it is time to shake things up and hope for the best!

Here are all my picks for Week 7. I regressed back to poor form, finishing last week 5-9. That brings my season total to to 38-51-2.

RAIDERS vs. Chiefs (-3): Raiders - WIN
BROWNS vs. Titans (-5.5): Browns
COLTS vs. Jaguars (-3.5): Jaguars
STEELERS vs. Bengals (+5.5): Bengals
VIKINGS vs. Ravens (+5.5): Vikings
DOLPHINS vs. Jets (+3): Jets
BILLS vs. Buccaneers (+3.5): Bills
BEARS vs. Panthers (-3): Panthers
PACKERS vs. Saints (-5.5): Packers
Rams vs. Cardinals (London) (+3.5): Rams
49ERS vs. Cowboys (-6.5): 49ers
GIANTS vs. Seahawks (-5.5): Giants
CHARGERS vs. Broncos (+1.5): Broncos
PATRIOTS vs. Falcons (+3.5): Falcons
EAGLES vs. Washington (+5): Washington