Tom Selwyn (tom_selwyn) returns with more NFL bets for tonight.
Not a great week last week, but I’ll be looking to get back to winning ways this week and hopefully not have any starting QBs get an injury if I’ve back their team!
I had a look on the handicap markets for a few games I think could well be a “blowout” type match. I was considering Seattle over St. Louis, but as I got burned by a back-up QB last week (Houston keeping it close against Kansas City) I settled on the Denver Broncos -11.5 to beat the Washington Redskins.
Now, I know I’m picking on the Redskins again even after they beat the Bears last week, but they still gave up 41 points against an offense that was without their starting QB for some of the match and is nowhere near as good as Peyton Manning’s Broncos.
In the loss to the Colts where the Broncos gave up 4 sacks, 3 turnovers and punted 7 times, they still put up 33 points and over 400 yards of offense!
Manning and the Broncos will be smarting from the loss last week and looking to bounce back emphatically – the Redskins are the unlucky party coming to town.
Next up, I’ll be taking the Pittsburgh Steelers at 4/5 over the Oakland Raiders. While I think this will be a close game, the Steelers have been getting better in recent weeks and there are 2 factors that I feel will give them an advantage over the Raiders.
First is the emergence of Steelers RB LeVeon Bell. He was injured for the early part of the season, but since coming into the line-up he’s really given the Steelers running game some life and taken some of the pressure of QB Ben Roethlisberger.
Second is the Steelers defence. While they are still struggling to create turnovers (they’ve only had 2 this season), they are currently the 6th ranked defence in the league. If they are able to contain Raiders QB Terrelle Pryor, stop him from scrambling and force him to throw from the pocket I feel the Steelers will be able to get the win down in Oakland.
For my final pick I’m heading back to the NFC East again and taking the Philadelphia Eagles -5.5 beating the New York Giants. Given the poor performance of both Nick Foles and Matt Barkley at QB for the Eagles last week, I will be feeling a lot better about this pick if Michael Vick returns as expected.
I watched the Giants get their first win against the Vikings last week and despite this win, I don’t think the Giants have solved their issues.
Despite Vikings QB Josh Freeman missing on a huge number of throws to wide open receivers and the Vikings as whole hardly generating any kind of offense, they were still in the game at the end.
The Eagles on the other hand have one of the league’s top ranked offenses (even despite last week’s dismal effort) and if Michael Vick is back directing their attack against a Giants defence that has struggled defending the pass, this should be comfortable for the Eagles.
