My week 2 picks produced some very disappointing results, with only 2 of the 5 coming through thanks to a slew of fumbles and interceptions from the Vikings and Patriots. Hopefully we will see some better ball control in Week 3!
Our top five NFL Picks for week 3 are:
One of four… That is where our picks stand so-far this week with the Monday night Saint and 49ers matchup still to come. And the culprit? Fundamentals.
The Miami vs Minnesota match sums up my frustration and has to be one of the poorest games that I can remember. Lets be clear, the Vikings should have won this game, they had almost 36 minutes of possession compared to the Dolphins 24 minutes, they had 22 first downs to Miamis 12, they had double the offensive passing yards and also out rushed the Dolphins. So why did they lose?
The Vikings only converted on ONE of FIVE visits to the Miami red zone. Lets think about this only for a second. Nine times out of ten a visit to the red zone will give you at least a field goal. Five visits = five field goals = 15 points and a Vikings win right? WRONG!
Brett Farve had another shocking evening throwing not one, not two but THREE interceptions. He also fumbled the ball once and his overall passer rating for the night? Fourty-Four. This from a QB whose end of season QB rating last year was 107.
No recap of a poor game would be complete without looking at penalties. Once again the Vikings outdid Miami, receiving SEVEN penalties for 44 yards, compared to Miami’s two for 15 yards.
The New England looks like it was a similar (although slightly less painful) story. Tom Brady who is one of my favourite QB’s had two interceptions and a fumble in their loss to the Jets.
Seattle continues the sorry tale with QB Matt Hasselback joining Brett Farve in the three interception club.
Each week before the college games you hear the coaches say the same thing… “We need to focus on fundamentals, not give away penalties and look after the ball”. After this weeks display, there should be more than a few NFL coaches preparing exactly the same speech…
Week 1 saw us pick 3 out of 5 correctly, with the Vikings going down to the Saints in a close game and the Colts falling to the Texans in what was one of the biggest upsets of the round.
For my week 2 NFL picks, I am going to go with:
Week 1 of the NFL season is finally here and so are our top five expert NFL Picks for the week.
Minnesota @ New Orleans
The Vikings are starting their season against last years champions the New Orleans saints in what will be a rematch of the NFC title game. New Orleans are the favorite with the bookmakers, however I believe that Farve will be looking to atone for his five interceptions in their last encounter and will lead the Vikings to a narrow victory in what should be a high scoring game.
Carolina @ NY Giants
Not much to say about this match-up as it should be an easy win for Eli Manning and the Giants.
Cincinnati @ New England
New England are looking like a very strong team again this year and provided the key play makers stay healthy they will be there in the playoffs. With Brady and Welker both healthy, the Patriots should be in for a very big win against the Bengals.
Greenbay @ Philadelphia
The fans in Wisconsin are expecting big things out of Aaron Rogers and the Packers this year and a panel of ‘experts’ on NFL.com even went so far as to unanimously pick the Pack as the NFC’s Superbowl team. The Eagles will put up a good fight against the packers, but Greenbay should win this one by a couple of TD’s.
Indianapolis @ Houston
The Colts are favorites with the bookies to beat the Texans, however they are still very good value at $1.70. It would be a brave man who bet against Peyton Manning and his offensive machine, so I am picking the Colts to win what should be a runway game in the end.
Picks