Minnesota Vikings' Anthony Barr (55) sacks Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco in the third quarter on Sunday, Oct. 22, 2017 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minn. (Carlos Gonzalez/Minneapolis Star Tribune/TNS)It's funny. You're doing your weekly NFL predictions. You type in "Ravens by 40." And somehow it comes out "Dolphins by 3" when you hit publish.
Must be an auto-correct issue. Get me IT on the phone, now!
Wow. When we last saw Joe Flacco in person, he pretty much spent four quarters looking like he does in the photo above. And four days later, the Ravens win 40-0? And you want to bet on the NFL?
Well, it was another pretty boring week by NFL standards. The only "upset" was Carolina, a 2 1/2-point underdog, winning at Tampa Bay, where that explosive Bucs offense did manage to kick another field goal.
Three teams favored by 7 1/2 points or more won. The Eagles (13 1/2), Patriots (7 1/2) and Chiefs (7 1/2) got to stay home and pummel poor opponents. The Vikings (9 1/2) flew to London's SlipNSlide Stadium, overslept through the first half and still woke up in time to beat the Browns by 17.
As my upset special, I had faith in the Lions to win at home coming off a bye. Who knew Matthew Stafford could throw for 1.2 bazillion yards and score only 15 points on the Steelers?
And, yes, I swung and missed mightily while picking the Cowboys to be upset for the second straight week. Sorry, Dallas fans, but I'm now picking your team to beat the Chiefs.
This week, four teams are favored by 7 1/2 points or more. Six road teams are favored, including the Lions (minus-2 1/2) at Packers on Monday night.
I'm going with the Packers. No, they don't have Aaron Rodgers. But I'm hearing they're 17-0 against Detroit in Wisconsin when starting a quarterback named Brett.
Here are this week's games:
Bills minus-3 1/2 at Jets: Bills by 7
Colts plus-13 1/2 at Texans: Texans by 10
Buccaneers plus-7 1/2 at Saints: Saints by 10
Falcons plus-2 1/2 at Panthers: Panthers by 3
Rams minus-3 1/2 at Giants: Rams by 7
Broncos plus-7 1/2 at Eagles: Eagles by 3
Ravens plus-4 1/2 at Titans: Titans by 7
Redskins plus-7 1/2 at Seahawks: Seahawks by 10
Cardinals minus-2 1/2 at 49ers: 49ers by 3
Chiefs minus-1/2 at Cowboys: Cowboys by 3
Raiders minus-3 1/2 at Dolphins: Dolphins by 6
Lions minus-2 1/2 at Packers: Packers by 7
UPSET SPECIAL
Bengals plus-4 1/2 at Jaguars: Bengals by 3
Last week straight up; versus spread: 9-4; 4-9
Year to date: 77-41; 56-62
Upset specials: 3-5
Record picking Vikings games: 6-2
