Alternative Picks: Week 3, 2021

The brothers dueled to a draw in week two, allowing Tony to keep a solid four-game lead.

Here are week three picks:

1 Andy: Ravens over Lions – Lamar Jackson will never be a classic passer, but he seems to have figured out how to throw well enough to complement his outstanding run game. The Ravens are a contender. Detroit … is on the latest round of trying to figure out what has periled them for the last three-quarters of a century.
2 Tony: Broncos over Jets – So maybe it wasn’t all Adam Gase’s fault…
3 Tony: Cardinals over Jaguars – After getting the first overall pick last year, the Jags are currently 27th in points per game, 27th in points against, 27th in yards per game, 27th in passing yards per game, 26th in rushing yards per game, and 30th in time of possession. That old saying of finding what you’re good at and sticking with it? The Jags are doing the opposite–finding what they’re bad at and sticking with it. Unfortunately, what they’re bad at is playing football.
4 Andy: Panthers over Texans – I hate picking Thursday night games this high. But Houston was going to be one of the worst teams in the league when Tyrod Taylor was leading them. The likelihood is that Davis Mills will have to start this upcoming week. Carolina has looked pretty good. This could be like a bye week.
5 Tony: Browns over Bears – Panthers were my next pick as well, just to point out that Sam Darnold so far is looking like the second quarterback that may start to reach their expectations after leaving the “tutelage” of Gase. With Gase out of the league, Matt Nagy is probably the new worst coach in the league, despite being seen as an offensive genius by some just a couple years ago. I may be in the minority that doesn’t disagree with the idea of starting Andy Dalton early this season–but his handling of his latest 1st round rookie QB to date has to be concerning to even the strongest Nagy supporter.
6 Andy: Raiders over Dolphins – Jacoby Brissett isn’t the worst backup option you could have at QB. The problem is Las Vegas is sporting an improved pass rush that has the team exploding, in a good way, out of the gates, while Miami is fielding an offensive line that is exploding in a bad way. This is the kind of game promising Raiders teams from the past few years have gone out and lost to start their downfalls. I’m betting that’s not happening this time.
7 Tony: Titans over Colts – The Titans looked terrible week 1, and didn’t look great in their week 2 win over Seattle, but they did finally remember to rely on Derrick Henry. Meanwhile, the Colts (shockingly) appear to be relying on their backup QB, with Carson Wentz injured…
8 Andy: Steelers over Bengals – I’m not sure the Steelers are as good as normal and I’m pretty sure Cincinnati isn’t as bad as they usually have been in recent decades, but I still think Pittsburgh is better.
9 Tony: Bills over Football Team – Not sure I buy the line (Buffalo -9), but I do think overall the Bills are the more talented team (even though Heinicke, Gibson & McLaurin have better stat lines than Allen, Singletary & Diggs), and they’re at home. Take the Football Team in Vegas, take the Bills straight up.
10 Andy: Chiefs over Chargers – Los Angeles just doesn’t seem to have it together offensively just yet. There are some decent yardage totals — see Mike Williams breakout? — but the points aren’t finding their way on the board yet. That’s a bad sign against what will be an angry Kansas City team.
11 Tony: Patriots over Saints – Which Saints team shows up to Foxboro, the team that blew the Packers out in week 1, or the Saints that embarrassed by the Panthers in week 2? My guess is Bill Belichick has something up his (cutoff) sleeves to confuse Jameis Winston, and the home field advantage helps the Patriots eat the W.
12 Andy: Seahawks over Vikings – I know the Vikings have gotten close to winning their first two games, but come on. They’ve given up 660 yards passing and 63 points in the first two weeks. And now they’re going against one of the league’s most precision passers on a team with good wideouts and a solid run game. Seattle is better than either Cincinnati or Arizona. It is in Minnesota, so the Seahawks might not produce as prolifically as those two teams did, but they will sink the Vikings to 0-3 as the heat gets turned up on what I think is going to be Mike Zimmer’s swan song season.
13 Tony: Cowboys over Eagles – I still don’t think either of these teams (or anyone in the NFC East) is actually good, but I still think the Eagles are the worst of the division. Turns out beating Atlanta really isn’t that impressive of a feat–and losing to a 49ers team that almost had to pull a fan from the stands to play running back isn’t a great look either. I’ll take the Cowboys at home.
14 Andy: 49ers over Packers – No idea who to pick at this point. I’ll go with San Francisco because they usually run all over the Packers. Who is it going to be this week? Eli Mitchell? Trey Sermon? Ricky Patton? Earl Cooper? O.J. Simpson? Who cares. Some 49ers’ running back will remind the Packers they need to shore up their run defense.
15 Tony: Buccaneers over Rams – I wasn’t sure what to think of the Rams coming into the season–the acquisition of Matthew Stafford had them as a juicy pick for many, but legitimate questions about Stafford’s ability to put it all together on a more talented team lingered. So far, he’s lived up to the hype with a 2-0 record, 5 TDs to 1 Int, nearly 600 yards passing, and a 127.0 QB Rating. But Tom Brady is Tom Brady, so until someone knocks him off the throne, I’ll take the Bucs.
16: Andy – Somebody over … Somebody else – The Giants are at home. Both teams suck. Not even the parents of all the players will probably watch this games. Matt Ryan looks done. Gross. I’ll take New York.

Tony did eke out a one game win in straight up picks in week two.

Here are straight up picks: