Spread picks for every NFL game in Week 3

We’re back for Week 3 of the 2018 NFL season, and it’s already had some excitement! The Cleveland Browns finally got a win, beating the New York Jets 21-17 on Thursday Night Football. Baker Mayfield took over after Tyrod Taylor suffered an injury, and looked every bit the part of the No. 1 overall pick. Cleveland just got a whole lot more interesting in a jurry.

The return of football means fantasy football and gambling are back in our lives. There is nothing quite like a little football gambling to make games that much more exciting. This season, I am taking part in the Westgate SuperContest. SB Nation’s partners over at Odds Shark are sponsoring my entry again. The contest requires selecting five games each week and picking them against the spread.

I’ll be offering up all five SuperContest entries each week, along with picks against the spread for every game each week. Week 2 was an abject disaster. I managed 7-9 for my total picks, but I was 0-5 in the SuperContest. Coming off a strong 4-0-1 week to open the season, that leaves me at 4-5-1 on the year. Here are my SuperContest entries for Week 3.

The Saints are 1-1, but 0-2 against the spread. The Cleveland Browns gave them trouble in Week 2, but it’s worth remembering that Browns defensive coordinator Gregg Williams likely had that game circled all offseason. The Saints face a Falcons team that is reeling with injuries. They can add running back Devonta Freeman and defensive Takkarist McKinley to the injury list, with both ruled out for Sunday. It’s also worth noting that teams that failed to cover the spread the first two games of the season have gone 65-51 ATS in Week 3. That coupled with the Falcons injuries makes this an interesting pick.

I’m a 49ers fan, but I just am not seeing them hang around close enough in a shootout. The Chiefs are rolling right now while the 49ers failed to cover in their first two games. I’m comfortable sticking with the respective streaks at this point. Maybe the 49ers defense surprises, but I just don’t think the offense can score quite enough points to keep this more than a touchdown difference.

The Bengals are an undervalued squad right now, and this line suggests oddsmakers are not sure what to do with them. I’m comfortable taking advantage of that for the time being with a Panthers squad that is inconsistent at the moment.

There is sizable public money on the Packers, with people seeing that line and wondering how it can be that short. I think we see Alex Smith and company put up the points needed to win this thing outright.

I got burned by the Giants last week, but I think backs against the wall, they’re worth grabbing. I don’t like betting on Eli Manning, but there are a couple trends in their favor: 1) They qualify for the same 0-2 ATS trend as the Saints above, and 2) when a team has a home opener after starting the season with back-to-back road games, they have gone 9-26-2 ATS in that third game. I’ll roll with it and bet against the Texans.

Here are all my picks for Week 3:

BROWNS vs. Jets (+3): Browns — WIN
FALCONS vs. Saints (+3): Saints
CHIEFS vs. 49ers (+6.5): Chiefs
DOLPHINS vs. Raiders (+3): Raiders
VIKINGS vs. Bills (+16.5): Bills
EAGLES vs. Colts (+6.5): Colts
WASHINGTON vs. Packers (-2.5): Washington
PANTHERS vs. Bengals (+3): Bengals
JAGUARS vs. Titans (+9.5): Jaguars
RAVENS vs. Broncos (+5.5): Ravens
TEXANS vs. Giants (+6.5): Giants
RAMS vs. Chargers (+7): Rams
CARDINALS vs. Bears (-6): Cardinals
SEAHAWKS vs. Cowboys (+2): Seahawks
LIONS vs. Patriots (-7): Patriots
BUCCANEERS vs. Steelers (-1): Bucs