Welcome back for the third week of the 2017 NFL season. The San Francisco 49ers lost a tough one to the Los Angeles, missing on an extra point, failing on a late two-point conversion, and getting hosed on an offensive pass interference call in a 41-39 loss. I had the 49ers covering the 2.5-point spread, so I suppose I at least have that going for me.
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 am off to a less than stellar start, with back-to-back 2-3 performances out of the gates. It was not ideal, but I suppose it could have been worse. 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’s my Week 3 SuperContest picks:
BILLS (+3) over Broncos
PANTHERS (-5.5) over Saints
Buccaneers (-3) over VIKINGS
WASHINGTON (+3) over Raiders
CARDINALS (+3) over Cowboys
I am involved in a second smaller contest, and in that one I took the 49ers over the Rams at +2.5. The only reason I’m not kicking myself for not taking them in the SuperContest is that with the SuperContest, if I pick Thursday Night Football I would have had to have every pick in by Thursday. The injury report is too important in some of these to do that.
Speaking of the injury report, that influenced three of my picks in particular. The Panthers face a Saints team that will be without right tackle Zach Strief and cornerback Marshon Lattimore. The Panthers are without Greg Olsen, but I think we see them overcome that at home against the Saints.
The Bucs face a Vikings team that will be without quarterback Sam Bradford for a second straight week. I’m not a huge fan of laying the field goal on the road, but the I think the Bucs build on a strong Week 1.
The third injury game is Cardinals-Cowboys. The Cowboys are all sorts of banged up on defense, and I am prepared to roll the dice on the Cardinals at home this week. I hate betting on Carson Palmer, but I’ll take my chances.
As for the Bills and Washington? The public is heavy on the Broncos and Raiders, so I’m ready to go against them. Fingers crossed!
Here are all my picks for Week 3. I was 7-9 last week, which brings me to 13-17-1 for the season.
49ERS vs. Rams (-2.5): 49ers - WIN
JAGUARS vs. Ravens (-3.5): Ravens
COLTS vs. Browns (-1): Colts
BEARS vs. Steelers (-7): Bears
JETS vs. Dolphins (-6): Jets
BILLS vs. Broncos (-3): Bills
PATRIOTS vs. Texans (+13.5): Patriots
PANTHERS vs. Saints (+5.5): Panthers
VIKINGS vs. Buccaneers (-3): Bucs
LIONS vs. Falcons (-3): Lions
EAGLES vs. Giants (+6): Eagles
TITANS vs. Seahawks (+3): Seahawks
CHARGERS vs. Chiefs (-3): Chargers
PACKERS vs. Bengals (+8.5): Packers
WASHINGTON vs. Raiders (-3): Washington
CARDINALS vs. Cowboys (-3): Cardinals