NFL: Kern picks Eagles at Falcons, Bears at Broncos, Saints at Rams, Colts at Titans, Cardinals at Ravens, Seahawks at Steelers + a Teaser
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OK, now a look at some of the things we like in the NFL. And remember, if Florida wins by more than two points at Kentucky on Saturday, we would have a two-team teaser alive with Kansas City having to win by at least two at Oakland. Hey, you never know.
So here goes. Don’t say you weren’t warned.
Eagles (over 52.5) at Falcons
I’m not sure who’s going to win this. The Eagles are the better team, and the Falcons are banged up on the offensive front, but the home team is in a tough spot coming off an opening loss. And it is a Sunday nighter, for whatever that’s worth. But I do think the Birds can score some, and I also think their defensive is capable of giving up some, especially if Matty Ice can get just enough time to expose the weaknesses in their secondary. The games up here haven’t been high scoring. But this one is down there, under a roof.
Bears (-2.5) at Broncos
The Bears’ offense was brutal at Green Bay. But the defense gave up 10 points. But Denver doesn’t exactly light it up when it has the ball either. Hard to see the Bears going 0-2, or their quarterback playing as badly as he did again. It might not be pretty, but I think the visitors can get the job done. And that’s all we care about.
Saints (+2.5) at Rams
Maybe I’m making too much of the revenge factor from last season’s NFC title game. Maybe it really is overrated. Nonetheless, I have to believe the Saints will want this one badly. They were lucky to win last week at home, so we’ll see. This one could be a shootout. I’ll take my chances with Drew Brees to come through for us.
Titans (-3) vs. Colts
I know the Colts played well last week without Andrew Luck in an overtime loss at San Diego. But the Titans went to Cleveland and won by 30, which may or may not mean as much as we learn more about the Browns. But for now, that’s enough for me to give them another shot at home only laying a field goal. Maybe I’m too easily persuaded.
Cardinals (+13.5) at Ravens
Yes, the Ravens won by 49 at Miami, which might finish third in the SEC West. Well, OK, second. And Lamar Jackson looked like an MVP candidate. But it’s one week. I don’t think the Cards are all that, or really not even close. But they played hard last week and rallied to tie Detroit, in Kyler Murray’s debut. So I can see the Baltimores hopefully only winning by like something between 7 and 10. Maybe we’ll even have to beg late for a backdoor cover. Wouldn’t be the first time. The nearly two touchdowns just seems like a lot. Hopefully a bit too much. Things do have a way of evening out in this league. You can look that up. And next week the Ravens have a trip to KC, so they could be glancing ahead.
Steelers (-4) vs. Seahawks
This is mostly a hunch. Maybe the Steelers aren’t the Steelers any more. They got thoroughly embarrassed last week. And now they’re at home against a team that barely beat the Bengals at home and has to fly all the way across the continent for a 1 p.m. game. That’s 10 a.m. Pacific time zone. Anyway, I just think the Steelboys come up with a big effort, in a spot where they really can’t afford to lose. Teams that start 0-2 usually aren’t playoff-bound.
Teaser:
Cowboys +1 at Redskins with Texas -2.5 vs. Jaguars
And I’m also going to try another two-team teaser. We’ll take the Cowboys at Washington, moving them from -5 to +1. Beating the Giants by a lot at home got everyone excited. Perhaps too excited. But as good as the Redskins looked in the first half against the Eagles, I’m still not sold. Even if they are at home, against their main rival. I’ll use the Pokes with Houston at home against Jacksonville, moving the line there from -8.5 to -2.5. I assume Houston will be in no mood, after what happened at the end in New Orleans, and I’m not sure yet that Gardner Minshew is the second coming of Nick Foles. Almost can’t believe I actually wrote that.
Those should be more than sufficient to get you through the second weekend.