NFL Week 3 Betting Odds, Trends & Predictions

23

Sep 2015

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NFL Week 3 Betting Odds, Trends & Predictions

The 2015 NFL regular season moves to Week 3 and we have already seen a number of shocking upsets in the first two weeks of action. On the year, my record for my top picks stands at 4-2 after falling prey to one of those upsets last week in Atlanta’s win against the Giants.

After breaking down the stats, facts and betting trends for all of this Sunday’s NFL matchups, I am ready to release this week’s Top 3 Picks using betting odds from BetOnline.

Sunday, Sept. 27

Cincinnati Bengals at Baltimore Ravens (-2.5)

The Bengals are off to a hot 2-0 start both straight-up and against the spread with victories against Oakland on the road and San Diego at home as favorites. While they have had little problem putting points on the board against the AFC West, it could be a different story this week on road against Baltimore.

The Ravens come into their first AFC North matchup with a heightened sense of urgency after losing to Denver and Oakland on the road in their first two games. They also failed to cover in each contest as 4.5-point underdogs against the Broncos and as six-point favorites against the Raiders. Defensively, they are still ranked 11th in the NFL in total yards allowed.

Cincinnati is 5-2 SU in its last seven road games and it also has a 4-1 SU edge in its last four games against the Ravens, but when it comes to winning on the road against their bitter rivals, the Bengals are just 1-4 SU in their last five trips to M&T Bank. Baltimore has had its issues so far, but this team is too well coached to drop its home opener against a division opponent. Take the Ravens to win and cover in this one.

Pittsburgh Steelers at St. Louis Rams (OVER 47.5)

I rode the Steelers last week in their convincing 43-18 rout of San Francisco as six-point home favorites and my biggest takeaway from their first two games is that they still have one of the top offenses in the NFL. Add in the fact that running back Le’Veon Bell returns to the lineup this week and Pittsburgh should be able to light up the scoreboard again on Sunday.

The Rams looked like world beaters in a Week 1 overtime victory against Seattle by scoring 34 points only to come out completely flat in last Sunday’s 24-10 loss to Washington. I see this week’s effort falling somewhere in the middle and while St. Louis may not score enough points to win, it should be able to score enough to keep things interesting.

The total has stayed UNDER in four of Pittsburgh’s last eight games, but it has gone OVER in four of its last six games against St. Louis. The total has gone OVER in six of the Rams’ last eight home games and I see it going OVER again this Sunday afternoon given the fact that the Steelers have already scored 64 points in their first two games.

Buffalo Bills at Miami Dolphins (-2.5)

The Bills ended-up on the wrong end of a 40-32 shootout against New England last Sunday as one-point home favorites following a solid 27-14 victory over Indianapolis in their season opener as one-point road underdogs. While there is no doubt that Buffalo has done a good job scoring points so far, its defense was a bit exposed in last week’s loss.

Miami is also 1-1 both SU and ATS following a road win over Washington and a loss to Jacksonville on the road. The upside is that quarterback Ryan Tannehill continues to develop into one of the better young quarterbacks in the league and the Dolphins’ defense has found a whole new swagger with the addition of defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh.

Looking back at the recent results in the AFC East tilt, the Dolphins have gotten the best of it on their home field with a 5-2 record both SU and ATS in the last seven meetings at Sun Life Stadium. Look for Miami to draw first blood in this season’s series with another SU win at home that covers the 2.5-point spread.