expert picks – Page 21 – Syndication Server

Experts pick Lions over Football Team in a battle of mediocrity

Even though this game won’t be the most exciting, experts are picking the Detroit Lions to beat the Washington Football Team this week.

The Detroit Lions (3-5) are at Ford Field once again, this time facing off against the Washington Football Team (2-6) in Week 10 of the 2020 NFL season.

These two teams went head to head just a year ago, in a battle that produced a total of seven field goals between the two teams, resulting in an ugly 19-17 loss for the Lions.

Last week, the Lions dug a hole for themselves against division rival, Minnesota Vikings and they had no answers on how to get out. The defense couldn’t stop Dalvin Cook, and the Lions offense repeatedly shot themselves in the foot. With a sense of lackluster leadership driving this team, the 2020 season is currently in a tailspin.

The Lions roster is banged up once again this week, especially on offense. Kenny Golladay is out, whereas T.J. Hockenson, Hal Vaitai, and Joe Dahl are all questionable. The Lions called up Dan Skipper to assist, but it’s hard to ignore the holes these injuries are potentially causing.

The Football Team’s bread and butter is their high-powered defensive line that sports four 1st-round picks. They also have the top pass defense in the league according to Football Outsiders DVOA metrics. Their two main weapons on offense are Terry McLaurin and Antonio Gibson, and they will be led by Alex Smith, who gets his first start in over two years — after a near career-ending injury.

Despite a challenging defense in front of them, most experts still believe the Lions are a better overall team, and according to NFL Pickwatch, 75-percent of experts are going with the Lions at the time of this writing.

Hopefully, they come out of the gates swinging and don’t let up, or this could another disappointing week.

Big Ten and big game college football expert picks, odds for conference Week 4

OK. It’s time for Week 4 in the Big Ten, one in which the No. 3 team in the country will be sitting home because of Coronavirus concerns with an outbreak within the Maryland football program. Yes, Ohio State now has a bye-week for the game against …

As we do each week during Big Ten season, we’re bringing you our expert picks on all the league games. Also, as an added bonus you didn’t know you even craved, we’ll throw in six of the top games across the slate of all the college football games for the week. We’re the judge and jury on that one. It’s called our Pick Six and there are some pretty slim pickings this week.

As a reminder, if there’s an asterisk next to the pick, that means the team will win, but not cover. We get our odds from BetMGM. In the event of a tie, George Washington settles it via the old coin-flip.

INSTRUCTIONS: Make your pick against the spread. For example …
– If you think Ohio State will win -3.5 over Michigan: OSU
– If you think Ohio State will win outright: OSU
– If you think Ohio State will win, but NOT cover: OSU*

Here we go for Week 3 in the heartland with the standings being updated each week after all the games. After completely falling on the sword against the spread the first two weeks, we’ve bounced back a wee bit.

RESULTS SO FAR

@PhilHarrisonBW: 26-11 SU, 16-21 ATS
@MarkRussell1975: 26-11 SU, 20-17 ATS
@DanRuppert: 25-12 SU, 18-19 ATS
CONSENSUS PICK: 26-11 SU, 20-17 ATS

First up … Big Ten early games

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Colts vs. Titans: NFL experts make Week 10 picks

Who are the experts siding with in Week 10?

The Indianapolis Colts (5-3) and Tennessee Titans (6-2) are just about set for a prime-time matchup in Week 10 on Thursday night at Nissan Stadium.

While the Colts will be entering this matchup as two-point underdogs on the road, this is expected to be a tightly contested bout in Nashville. The Colts Wire staff gave their picks for the game, and now it’s time to take a look at what the experts think will happen.

Expert	Pick	Score (if applicable)
Nate Davis (USA TODAY)	Titans	27-23
Mike Jones (USA TODAY)	Titans	28-24
Jarrett Bell (USA TODAY)	Titans	27-24
Mike Clay (ESPN)	Titans	N/A
Mike Chappell (Fox59)	Titans	20-17
Bill Bender (Sporting News)	Titans	24-22
Will Brinson (CBS Sports)	Colts	28-24
Pete Prisco (CBS Sports)	Colts	23-20
Stephen Holder (The Athletic)	Colts	24-21
Kevin Bowen (1070 The Fan)	Titans	24-20
Bleacher Report	Titans	26-21

Over at Tallysight, it is pretty heavily in the favor of the Titans, who have been chosen on 75% of the featured analysts there. Most also have the Titans covering the spread at 70% while 82% of the analysts are choosing the under of 48 points.

These two teams are likely to be pitted in a close game. The Titans can run the ball extremely well with Derrick Henry, who is second in rushing yards while the Colts have one of the best run defenses in the NFL. That’s likely where the difference will be made in this game.

The Colts and Titans are set for a 8:20 p.m. ET kickoff on Fox and NFL Network.

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Just 15% of NFL experts picked Saints to defeat Buccaneers

An overwhelming 85% of experts surveyed by NFL Pickwatch sided with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to defeat the underdog New Orleans Saints.

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Kickoff is minutes away, and the New Orleans Saints are underdogs again. It’s been quite a while — this is the first time in 2020 that they have not been favored to win a game, and the vast majority of NFL experts have gone against them.

Per NFL Pickwatch, just 15% of surveyed picks came in for New Orleans. A commanding 85% of picks went to Tampa Bay, including all six members of the NBC panel on “Sunday Night Football.”

We’ll see if that confidence is rewarded. The Saints (and Saints fans in particular) have historically relished playing the underdog role during the Sean Payton era. And for what it’s worth, they’re just 5-2 in games they have been favored (and picked) to win. Maybe they can start things off on the right foot with a victory while everyone is ruling them out.

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Experts go purple and gold in the Lions at Vikings Week 9 matchup

The Detroit Lions are on the road to face the Minnesota Vikings in Week 9 and experts are leaning towards the purple and gold for the win.

The Detroit Lions (3-4) are on the road this week to face the Minnesota Vikings (2-5), hoping to get their record back to .500 and avoid falling into the division cellar.

The Vikings are on a quest this week to extend their five-game winning steak against the Lions dating back to 2017. The Vikings have outscored the Lions 143-78 during that timeframe.

The Lions fell victim to their own blunders last week, losing to the Colts with untimely turnovers and penalties. Meanwhile, the Vikings are on Cloud 9 after clinching a 28-22 victory against the Green Bay Packers riding Dalvin Cook’s four-touchdown performance.

So far this season, experts have tended to veer the opposite way of the Lions in their matchups, and this week isn’t any different. According to NFL Pickwatch, 82-percent of experts are favoring the Vikings in this division battle, at the time of this writing.

The Vikings have been hit hard this season with the injury bug and this week isn’t any different. The latest is at their cornerback group with three already out for the game, with another considered questionable. Luckily for the Vikings, their offense, led by Kirk Cousins, Dalvin Cook, and Adam Theilen, has been able to keep them competitive.

The Lions will also be without a few key players this week including starters Kenny Golladay, Trey Flowers, and Tracy Walker. While Matthew Stafford has been activated from the Reserve/COVID list, which bodes well for the Lions’ chances this week. The defense will have their hands full this week with Cook, so it’ll be interesting to see if they can continue their run defensive improvements or regress back.

The X-factor has to be Everson Griffen’s return to Minnesota. During his first interview as a Lion, he felt disrespected by Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer by just calling him a “good” player. With Flowers out, the Lions need Griffen to step up and after seeing the energy and passion I feel sorry for whoever gets in his way. (Sorry Riley Rieff).

Division games are always hard to predict because the players always come out with a little more fire. As long as the Lions have learned from their mistakes, play clean football, and here to the key concepts in this week’s Honolulu Blueprint, they should have a good shot to pull off the upset against their division foe.

Week 9 Staff Picks: Cowboys-Steelers will turn u-g-l-y with no alibi

The Dallas Cowboys return home in Week 9 to take on the undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers. Here are the Cowboys Wire’s expert picks.

There was only one (Zeke Barrera) who thought the Ben DiNucci lead Dallas Cowboys were going to go into Philadelphia and beat the first place Eagles last Sunday night. While optimism is great, it didn’t look promising from jump.

It’s a new week and the Cowboys are set to return home to play the undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers. The team will also trot out its fourth starting quarterback of the 2020 season. From an outsiders perspective, things don’t look particularly promising for America’s Team but let’s see what the Cowboys Wire staff has to say about the Week 9 contest.

Big Ten and big game college football expert picks, odds for conference Week 2

It’s week 3 of the Big Ten football season and we’ve got your expert picks, predictions, and odds for conference and other big CFB games.

OK. It’s time for Week three in the Big Ten, which means it’s like Week 30 or something for the rest of the country — well, aside from the Pac-12 that is kicking off for the first time this week.

Here we go for Week three in the heartland with the standings being updated each week after all the games. After completely falling on the sword against the spread the first two weeks, we had a bit of a bounce back.

RESULTS SO FAR

@PhilHarrisonBW: 19-6 SU, 9-16 ATS
@MarkRussell1975: 17-8 SU, 12-13 ATS
@DanRuppert: 16-9 SU, 11-14 ATS
CONSENSUS PICK: 17-8 SU, 12-13 ATS

First up … Big Ten early games

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Experts continue to sleep on Lions against the Colts in Week 8

The Detroit Lions head home to face the Indianapolis Colts, but experts are continuing to sleep on the Lions even after their lastest wins

The Detroit Lions (3-3) are heading home to face the Indianapolis Colts (4-2) in hopes of extending their two-game winning streak and staying in the playoff hunt.

The Lions got the better of the Colts with a 39-35 last-second victory back in 2016 and are hoping for a repeat performance today.

The cardiac cats made a comeback last week to pull out a last-second victory against the Atlanta Falcons, while the Colts had an extra week to prepare on their bye week. The Lions have looked improved as of late, but not enough for the experts, apparently.

According to NFL Pickwatch, 78-percent of experts favor the Colts on the road and spoil the Lions home return at the time of this writing. With this game looking like a close contest, most would have guessed this game to be a more even split, but that’s not the case as the Colts are being heavily favored.

The Colts are one of the more balanced teams and have a 4-2 record, but their schedule has been the easiest so far this season per Football Outsider’s efficiency rankings. The Colts’ opponents: Jaguars, Vikings, Jets, Bears, Browns, and Bengals are a combined record of 13-27 with ten of those wins coming from the Bears and Browns, and the Colts lost to the Browns 32-23.

On the other side of the coin, the Lions have victories over the Cardinals, Falcons, and Jaguars, whom the Colts lost to in their season opener. Outside of the Packers game, the Lions have been in every contest with the chance to pull out a victory. If it weren’t for an ill-timed drop against the Bears, we would be having a very different discussion with the Lions holding at 4-2 record and right in the division title race.

The Colts have a strong veteran presence in Philip Rivers and an offensive line that houses one of the better center-guard combos in the league. The receiving corps hasn’t been what the Colts have wanted so far, but with T.Y. Hilton in the wings, the potential for breaking out is always there. The Colts’ defense is balanced across the board, but their two stars, DeForest Buckner and Darius Leonard, are the glue that holds them together.

You can make the argument that Matthew Stafford is easily the best quarterback they will face at this juncture. He has his ups and downs this season, not having played for nearly a year, but he has looked more like himself recently, especially the poise he showed last week, leading the Lions to their third victory. On top of the defense’s continued improvement, this team is looking more on the up and up than a decline.

The Lions need to play smart, fundamental football against the Colts. As long as they continue to play the way they have been the last couple of weeks, along with nailing the key areas in this week’s Honolulu Blueprint, they will have a chance to get his home victory and extend their winning steak to three.

Big Ten and big game college football expert picks, odds for conference week 2

It’s time for our experts to pick the Big Ten and big college football games against the spread and straight-up for conference week 2.

OK. It’s time for week 2 in the Big Ten which means it’s like week thirty or something for the rest of the country — well, aside from the Pac-12 that’s kicking things off for the first time.

As we do each week during Big Ten season, we’re bringing you our expert picks on all the league games. Also, as an added bonus you didn’t know you even wanted, we’ll throw in six of the top games across the slate of all the college football games for the week. We’re the judge and jury on that one. It’s called our Pick Six.

Here we go for Week 1 in the heartland with the standings being updated each week after all the games. We didn’t fare so well against the spread this week but hang in there, we’re usually pretty good at this.

RESULTS SO FAR

@PhilHarrisonBW: 10-3 SU, 2-11 ATS
@MarkRussell1975: 8-5 SU, 6-7 ATS
@DanRuppert: 7-6 SU, 5-8 ATS
CONSENSUS PICK: 8-5 SU, 5-8 ATS

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First up … Big Ten early games

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Colts vs. Lions: NFL experts make Week 8 picks

Experts make their Week 8 picks.

The Indianapolis Colts (4-2) are ready to hit the road for a visit to Ford Field taking on the Detroit Lions (3-3) for a Week 8 matchup coming out of their bye week.

Opening the week as slight road favorites in the matchup, the Colts have won four of their last five games while the Lions are winners in three of their last four.

Here’s how the experts around the league see this game shaking out:

Expert	Pick	Score (if applicable)
Nate Davis (USA TODAY)	Lions	22-20
Mike Jones (USA TODAY)	Colts	28-24
Jarrett Bell (USA TODAY)	Colts	24-22
Mike Clay (ESPN)	Lions	N/A
Vinnie Iyer (Sporting News)	Lions	23-20
Bill Bender (Sporting News)	Lions	27-24
Will Brinson (CBS Sports)	Lions	24-21
Pete Prisco (CBS Sports)	Colts	23-17
NumberFire	Colts	N/A
Pro Football Focus	Colts	N/A
Bleacher Report	Colts	24-23

Just like the Vegas odds, the experts believe this will be a close matchup and one that could swing either way. Over at NFL Pickwatch, the Colts are favored by 74% of the experts as of Friday morning.

This will be a real test for the Colts. The Lions offense led by Matthew Stafford will be their biggest challenge yet at the quarterback position, but it should help that they are expecting to see the return of linebacker Darius Leonard from a groin injury.

The playoff push for the Colts begins this week as they are currently the No. 7 seed in AFC. With the schedule getting much tougher over the next month, this game is vital for Indy.

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