NFL picks 2018, Week 7: Experts see the Rams and Chiefs staying on top

Let’s start with the Los Angeles Chargers, recently of San Diego. There’s just no love for this team. Their miniature stadium fills with fans of whatever other team is playing the Chargers at their “home” game that week. They’re second billing to the Rams, who they’ll also be renting a room from instead of having their own place.

But here they are, winners of three straight, looking to make it four this week. Their latest win came against a Cleveland Browns defense that’s no joke either. This week they get the Titans, back in contention to be the NFL’s most forgettable team ... and one you’ll usually regret picking in the end. But nobody on our panel is picking the Titans this week, even the coin and the computer think the Chargers are going to win their fourth in a row.

And what a poopfest it was! Four of our panelists picked the Cardinals to win that one. Why, I do not know. Maybe because the Broncos had been so bad and were playing on a short week ... usually not a great way to get your run defense turned around. However, the Cardinals deserve a big shoutout for their contributions to making Denver’s defense look like the same one from Super Bowl 50. As Adam Stites noted from his report, the Cardinals’ coaching is terrible.

The only undefeated team in the NFL right now, the Rams, will probably stay undefeated this week too. They’re playing the 49ers, who aren’t as bad as expected thanks to someone named C.J. Beathard.

The only four-win team in the NFC, the Saints, drew a tough one this week, a road trip to Baltimore to play the Ravens and the league’s stiffest defense. Seriously, they’re coming off a 10-sack performance against Tennessee last week. That’s probably not going to happen against the Saints, who are smartly coached to prevent total destruction of their record-setting QB and, speaking of that QB, he’s pretty good about not getting himself sacked.

But can the Saints actually win this one? I think they can. I feel like I never know which Ravens team we’re going to see from week to week. That has more to do with their offensive performance than anything else. Our panel mostly leans toward Baltimore winning this one.

I mentioned the Chargers and the Ravens already. They’re two of the six teams in that conference with at least four wins so far this season. The Patriots, Dolphins, and Bengals all have four wins as well. The Chiefs lead the way at 5-1, but they just got beat by New England.

The easy answer, as far as the best team, is probably Kansas City or New England. I don’t know though. It’s hard to feel good about the Chiefs defense over the long haul. The Patriots are the Patriots, and they always seem to find a way, but the best teams might just be the afore mentioned Ravens and the Bengals.

Yes, the Bengals.

They’ve beaten both the Ravens and the Dolphins, convincingly, this season. They probably should’ve won last week against the Steelers, but kinda got screwed on a pass interference call.

This week, they’re playing in the Big Game, taking on the Chiefs in Kansas City on Sunday night. Can’t wait for Collinsworth to explain this one to me!

Our panel is mostly taking the Chiefs to win this one. I did. The deciding factor for me is that it’s a home game for the Chiefs. But it could honestly go either way, especially with two teams so prone to falling apart at the worst possible times.

OK, you know the rules. Our panel is allowed to change up to two of their picks by the end of the week to account for injuries, etc. The computer picks come from the machine over at OddsShark, and you can find those here. The coin is a 2007 U.S. quarter. Our guest this week is Jason Marcum from Cincy Jungle, SB Nation’s home for all things Bengals.