Week 3 NFL Picks

KNOCKOUT POOL/ESPN.com ELIMINATOR CHALLENGE

We are off to a good start after picking Houston in Week 1 over Miami and the Giants last week, who survived against Tampa Bay. 

This week’s pick: Chicago defeating St. Louis

My pick is Chicago to win at home against St. Louis.  Chicago is in disarray after a Week 2 Thursday Night loss to Green Bay and Jay Cutler has been lambasted for his criticism of his offensive lineman.  St. Louis has issues of its own with a new coach and star running back Steven Jackson, who is questionable.

GAME PICKS/ESPN.com PIGSKIN PICK ‘EM

Here are the game picks for this week.  We also have a “Sports With the StatMan” entry in the ESPN.com Pigskin Pick ‘Em for games against the spread.  We talk about the local games and the three of the other most important games, our “Big Games”, on our weekly This Week in Fantasy Sports segment on Saturdays, but we pick every game, every week.  Here they are:

LOCAL GAMES

Last Week: 3-1 straight up, 1-2-1 against the spread

Season: 4-4 straight up, 3-4-1 against the spread

Week 3 Picks:

N.Y. Giants at Carolina – Straight Up: NYG, Against the Spread: NYG (-1.5)

New England at Baltimore – Straight Up: BAL, Against the Spread: BAL (-2.5)

N.Y. Jets at Miami – Straight Up: NYJ, Against the Spread: NYJ (-3.5)

Philadelphia at Arizona – Straight Up: PHL, Against the Spread: ARZ (+4.5)

BIG GAMES

Last Week: 3-1 straight up, 2-2 against the spread

Season: 5-2 straight up, 5-2 against the spread

Week 3 Picks:

Tampa Bay at Dallas – Straight Up: DAL, Against the Spread: TBY (+7.5)

Atlanta at San Diego – Straight Up: ATL, Against the Spread: ATL (+2.5)

Houston at Denver – Straight Up: HOU, Against the Spread: HOU (-1.5)

OTHER GAMES

Last Week: 4-4 straight up, 3-5 against the spread

Season: 10-7 straight up, 8-9 against the spread

Week 3 Picks:

St. Louis at Chicago – Straight Up: CHI (Knockout), Against the Spread: CHI (-7.5)

Buffalo at Cleveland – Straight Up: BUF, Against the Spread: BUF (-2.5)

Detroit at Tennessee – Straight Up: DET, Against the Spread: DET (-3.5)

Jacksonville at Indianapolis – Straight Up: IND, Against the Spread: IND (-3.5)

San Francisco at Minnesota – Straight Up: SFO, Against the Spread: SFO (-7.5)

Kansas City at New Orleans – Straight Up: NO, Against the Spread: NO (-8.5)

Cincinnati at Washington – Straight Up: WSH, Against the Spread: WSH (-3.5)

Pittsburgh at Oakland – Straight Up: PIT, Against the Spread: PIT (-4.5)

Green Bay at Seattle – Straight Up: GBY, Against the Spread: GBY (-3.5)

START ‘EM/ANTI-START ‘EM/ESPN.com GRIDIRON CHALLENGE

We are participating in the ESPN Gridiron Challenge on ESPN.com.  The object is to pick the best team possible with a $50 million salary cap.  However, we are adding another wrinkle.  The object of the ESPN.com is to buy low and sell high and the more you accomplish that, the more money you get in your salary cap.  My goal is to put together a nine-man unit (2 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 1 K, 1 DEF) that is better than another nine-man unit at a similar price.

So far this season, my nine-man squad is 0-2 against a comparable squad:

Week 1: Head-to-Head – L, 124-108; By Position – 2-6-1

Week 2: Head-to-Head – L, 98-73; By Position – 3-6

Here is the Week 3 entry in the Gridrion Challenge, our “Start ‘Em” team, along with our comparable “Anti-Start ‘Em” team, which is our opponent for the week:

(all dollar figures in millions)

Start ‘Em Team	POS	Anti-Start ‘Em Team
Philip Rivers SDG ($6.2)	QB	Peyton Manning DEN ($6.1)
Andy Dalton CIN ($5.8)	QB	Joe Flacco BAL ($5.7)
T. Richardson CLE ($5.9)	RB	B. Green-Ellis CIN ($6.0)
Alfred Morris WSH ($5.6)	RB	Darren McFadden OAK ($5.7)
Marques Colston NO ($5.5)	WR	Eric Decker DEN ($5.3)
Dez Bryant DAL ($5.3)	WR	Santonio Holmes NYJ ($5.5)
B. Pettigrew DET ($5.1)	TE	Tony Gonzalez ATL ($5.6)
David Akers SFO ($4.7)	K	Mason Crosby GBY ($4.4)
Chicago Bears CHI ($5.2)	DEF	Seattle Seahawks SEA ($5.2)
$49.3 million	TOTAL	$49.5 million