NFL FOOTBALL PICKS ATS - FREE WEEKLY EXPERT PREDICTIONS

Defense almost always beats offense when the chips are down. San Francisco has no semblance of offense, while Seattle’s defense looks like their traditional Legion of Boom selves. There is a reason why Seattle has dominated this series as of late, they simply play a better brand of football than San Francisco. Seattle’s offensive approach is traditional yet methodical and we would like to imagine the Hawks can generate success against this extremely porous San Francisco defense. Conversely, the 49ers won’t have a response as their offense has been marred by inconsistency. In addition, the Seahawks will likely get their starting running back to return for this game on Sunday. His name is Thomas Rawls. Rawls has emerged as a revelation for the Seahawks and he has established himself as the primary option in the post-Beast Mode aka Marshawn Lynch era. San Francisco’s secondary is generally weak, Lockett should feast. The difference in results for San Francisco when facing Los Angeles and Carolina demonstrates how vulnerable the Niners are against experienced and prolific quarterbacks. This game should be no different.

Both of these teams need this win as both penciled this matchup for a victory when the schedule came out. The Titans are a better club than they were in 2015 but the offense isn’t producing points. Oakland is scoring lots of points but has allowed 500+ yards of offense in each of their first 2 outings, the first team since the ‘67 Falcons to achieve that dubious mark. The Raiders failed as a home favorite last week but have been a good road dog in recent years. I see their offense scoring just enough points to get a big road cover this week.

Arizona is clearly the better team but will have some issues to deal with. They are travelling cross country (never easy for west coast teams) for an early Sunday game and have to deal with a very mobile QB. The Bills did score 31 points last week against a decent defense but I expect the Cards to be ready. I don’t see WRs Marquise Goodwin and Greg Salas hauling in 70+ yard TD receptions again and Watkins will have a very tough test in CB Patrick Peterson. The Cardinals have a very balanced offense but can burn teams with the passing game if they see a favorable matchup. I see the Arizona WRs having a big day against the Bills’ CBs and expect the visitor to get a cover on the road in this contest.

The Redskins appear to be reeling right now while New York’s big offseason investment on the defensive side of ball appears to be paying off. They shut down the Saints last week, a team that gauged them for 608 yards and 7 TDs only a season ago. Manning is playing well and he won’t force the action Beckham Jr.s way if he isn’t open. I look for the Giants to get a big win at home this week and move to 3-0 on the year.

Both teams come in hot off a fast start and while you would think that this game would be the early stumbling block without Brady, New England appears to be a team possessed in its mission to win these first four games to prove a point to the entire league.

It is not all that often that you can get New England and a few points in a game at Gillette Stadium, so I am jumping on the opportunity with a “best bet” pick that the Patriots move to 3-0 behind whichever quarterback is calling the plays.

Philadelphia did have the benefit of playing Cleveland at home on opening day, but it still looked good on both sides of the ball while Chicago’s struggles on offense appeared to have carried over from last year when it was ranked 21st in the NFL in total yards and 23rd in scoring.

I went with the Eagles last week laying 3.5 points at home and I am going to ride them again with the three points on the road this week as my “best bet” pick for Monday night.

Neither team in this division clash was at its best on opening day, but they both found ways to come away with a win. I would expect a much better showing from both under the prime time lights of US Bank Stadium, but in the end I still have the slight edge going to Green Bay as the better all-around team.

Look for Rodgers to have a big night in Minnesota’s new digs with the memory of that late-season loss to the Vikings last season that cost Green Bay the NFC North title still pretty fresh in his head. Lay the points on the road team with the Packers winning both SU and ATS.

Oakland has failed miserably in the recent past as a favourite but I like them this week. They have a better offense; especially the o-line and can find the end zone from in close. While their defense was exposed last week, I think they will do better against an offense that has struggled on third down and in the red zone for over their past 10 games. Atlanta is 2-8 SU over that span and I expect the Raiders to improve to 2-0 in their home opener.

Last year Indianapolis squared off with Denver and the Broncos were considered a lock to win the game. The Colts would come up with the victory. Now the consensus finds themselves a bit more divided about the next edition in this budding rivalry. However, what Denver’s defense has done as of recent is historic. The Broncos defense in consecutive games dating back to the 2015 Playoffs have shut down Pittsburgh, New England with Tom Brady and now Carolina twice. Good defensive teams do not pull of feats like this but great ones certainly do. Offense win games and as Denver has vividly shown us, defense wins championship. The Broncos will dictate the pace of this game and absolutely dominate the Colts who are still reeling from Detroit’s invasion of Lucas Oil Stadium. Scoring will likely be kept to a minimum contrary to popular belief as Denver wins games with their defense. The result should be no different here.

You can’t make a living taking divisional road favorites but I think the Ravens rate a play here. They are 7-1 ATS in their last eight visits to Cleveland and they have a lot more talent on both sides of the ball. I can see their defense dominating an offense that has a new QB and doesn’t do anything particularly well. While the Baltimore offense is far from dynamic, Flacco has the arm to hurt this team deep and the addition of WR Mike Wallace (66-yard TD last week) allows the deep ball to be incorporated back into the Ravens offense. I think it will be a long day for the Browns this Sunday.

Washington is 8-3 ATS in the last 11 games they have hosted Dallas. Cousins played very well at home last season and I expect him to bounce back from a subpar performance. He wasn’t sacked in the opener and faces a team limited in pass rushers. The Skins have to stay with the run as they became too one-dimensional vs. Pittsburgh. Also, look for CB Josh Norman to stay with Bryant after WR Antonio Brown lit up the Redskins without Norman covering him.

The Saints have always had two issues that have held them back from going to the next level. The first issue is that the Saints do not play well outside of the Superdome. New Orleans has lost many games they should have won both in the regular season and in the playoffs when they were away from home. Second, New Orleans has had and continues to deal with many woes on defense. Look no further than the Saints producing 500 yards of offense and 34 points and losing….Simply put the lack of defense by the Saints combined with the Giants’ home-field advantage should be enough for us to lay the visiting points. While this game may in fact be yet another shootout, the Giants have the intangibles in their favor. Expect this game to not be as much of a shootout as we saw last year, when there was over 100 total points scored and over 1,000 yards of offense.

Neither of these evenly matched teams can afford to fall into a 0-2 hole right out of the gate, but you would probably have to give the slight edge to Buffalo for this Thursday night’s matchup given its recent success in this AFC East clash.

BetOnline is dangling an awfully low total line in this game, but I still cannot see either offense scoring more than 20 points on the night so I am going to bite on the UNDER 40.5 as my “best bet” pick.

Both of these teams start the season with something to prove. The Steelers are trying to prove that they are a Super Bowl caliber team and the Redskins are trying to prove that last year’s run to a division title was not a fluke.

Laying points on the road in a season opener can be a risky bet, but I really like Pittsburgh’s chances to come into FedEx Field and post an impressive win in front of a prime time audience on Monday Night Football. The Steelers have just too much firepower to be contained by a Washington defense that was one of the worst in the league last year in yards allowed.

You can talk all you want about the genius of Bill Belichick as the Patriots’ head coach given his proven ability to win with the players he has on the field, but the fact remains that Jimmy Garoppolo is no Tom Brady. That may not matter nearly as much in New England’s next three games, but it will against one of the most balanced teams in the league playing on opening night in front of the home-town crowd.

The actual spread in this game should be wider so I will gladly lay the six points with a “best bet” play on the Cardinals to win and cover on Sunday night

The Giants know they can score points but can they stop anybody? They get a break this week as Prescott doesn’t figure to be as dynamic as he was in the preseason and Spagnuolo should be able to confuse him with multiple looks. The return of DE Jason Pierre-Paul and addition of DE Olivier Vernon should spark the pass rush and I see NY eking out a victory behind Manning and their improved defense.

Both of these teams can score and while Oakland’s defense is ascending, the offenses should dominate this contest. The Saints didn’t make nearly enough adjustments to their squad and will be transitioning back to a 4-3 defense. It will take time for all the pieces to jell and I expect the Raiders to move the ball at will against this group. Look for a high-scoring affair at the Superdome in this one.

The Jets are notoriously tough when at home, plus they also have a defensive unit that can cause calamity for virtually any opposition. The Jets in East Rutherford are far more ferocious as they play every team tough, to get them with points here is a true value play especially considering the fact line movements suggest that much of the public rather spot points with a road favorite. Dicey play in Week One, the Jets offer more upside.

This won’t be the prettiest game of the weekend and I do expect it to be low scoring. Jackson should be able to improve the Browns offense but needs Gordon and a good RB to do it. Wentz will be doing a lot of handing off in this matchup but Cleveland knows that and should be ready.

This game can easily blow up in to a shootout and in potential shootout situations, the academic move is to always take the points. In this instance we can take back the home team with nearly a touchdown and we like this situation given the personnel that lies in Jacksonville’s ranks. Many will judge this game from a superficial angle alone, assuming that Green Bay cannot lose to Jacksonville by virtue of their namesakes. The same prognostication was assumed when the Vikings and Packers were jostling for the NFC North in 2015 when Green Bay had Aaron Rodgers and Minnesota had Teddy Bridgewater at the helm, yet the VIkes were the ones to win the division. Green Bay is one of the most prestigious names in the NFL and thus a contrarian approach can be utilized here to fade the public and lay the Packers when they are almost certainly spotting more points than required.