expert picks – Page 22 – Syndication Server

Experts abandon the Lions against the Falcons in Week 7

The Detroit Lions are on the road to face the Atlanta Falcons and according to experts they believe the Lions will suffer another defeat

The Detroit Lions continue their road trip, this time heading to Atlanta to face the Falcons in Week 7. The last time these two teams met, the Falcons got the better of the Lions with a 30-26 victory and introduced us to the 10-second runoff.

The Lions had a convincing win over the Jaguars last week, but the experts are not convinced the Lions have turned it around enough to beat the Falcons. According to NFL Pickwatch, 65% of the experts at the time of this writing favor Atlanta to hand the Lions their fourth loss of the season.

Last week, the experts were riding high with the Lions to beat the Jaguars, but this week, they have flipped the script. There is no arguing the Falcons are better than the Jaguars, but this is a Falcons team that just secured their first victory last week against a Minnesota Vikings team who looks to be packing it in already this season. Which begs the question: are the Falcons that good or were the Vikings were just that bad.

The Falcons have a high powered offense that possesses many weapons and ever since Julio Jones returned from injury, Matt Ryan has looked like the playmaker we are used to seeing. Fortunately for the Lions, the Falcons defense is vulnerable, especially in the air where they are 31st in the league in pass yards allowed and last in passing touchdowns allowed.

It is hard to tell if the Lions’ victory last week was a fluke due to an extra week of preparation or if there are actually figuring everything out. The defensive performance was eye-catching after allowing only 44 yards rushing. While, the offense had their best rushing game of the season, mustering 180 yards on the ground. There were some hiccups along the way, but there was plenty to work with heading into this matchup.

The Lions will have their hands full with the Falcons, but this is a game the Lions could win. If they can repeat their performance from last week, and follow the key concepts in this week’s Honolulu Blueprint, they can make their way to .500 on the season and stay in the hunt.

Experts favoring the Detroit Lions over the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 6

With their matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Detroit Lions are heavily favored to claim victory this week, with 70-percent of the experts picking them to win.

The Detroit Lions return from their bye week in the battle of big cats facing off against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 6. The last time these two teams faced off was in 2016 and that resulted in a 26-19 Lions victory.

Even though both teams have been unpredictable in 2020, but according to NFL Pickwatch, 70-percent of the experts agreed the Lions would be able to squeeze out a victory on the road against the Jaguars.

The Lions have been heavily picked against over the last three games and haven’t been favored in a game since their season opener — and this game has a much larger pick differential than in Week 1. With the Lions schedule easing up, hopefully, we will see these more often.

Coming off their loss to the Saints, the Lions desperately needed the bye week to compose themselves and figure what is and isn’t working. With their run defense in shambles and offense inconsistent, they had plenty to look over. With an extra week to prepare for this matchup, one will hope they found a way to get creative on offense and defense, either be disguised blitzes or getting their playmakers open more often.

While the Lions made history blowing four consecutive double-digit leads, the Jaguars also earned a spot in NFL infamy by allowing three winless teams to secure their first victory against them — allowing the Dolphins, Bengals, and Texans to each get their first win of the season in the last three weeks.

The Jaguars offense has the tools to keep them in games, leaning on undrafted rookie running back James Robinson and Gardner Minshew. Unfortunately, their defense and special teams have faltered and have been their untimely downfall.

The Lions desperately need to claim victory over a Jaguars team who haven’t been playing well, and if they can master the key concepts highlighted in this week’s Honolulu Blueprint, the Lions can push the trajectory arrow up and claim their second victory of the season.

Colts vs. Bengals: NFL experts make Week 6 picks

Expert picks for Week 6.

Despite the scare on Friday morning with four false-positive COVID-19 tests, the Week 6 matchup between the Indianapolis Colts (3-2) and Cincinnati Bengals (1-3-1) is on.

The Colts, who will be getting back into the facility on Friday afternoon to return to practice, are heavy favorites at home against a Bengals team that has just one win under its belt.

Here’s how some of the experts around the league are picking the matchup:

Expert	Pick	Score (if applicable)
Nate Davis (USA TODAY)	Colts	27-20
Mike Jones (USA TODAY)	Colts	24-19
Jarrett Bell (USA TODAY)	Colts	24-20
Mike Clay (ESPN)	Colts	N/A
Vinnie Iyer (Sporting News)	Colts	24-20
Bill Bender (Sporting News)	Colts	23-17
Will Brinson (CBS Sports)	Colts	21-14
Pete Prisco (CBS Sports)	Colts	24-13
NumberFire	Colts	N/A
Pro Football Focus	Colts	N/A
Bleacher Report	Colts	26-21

Over at NFL PickWatch, the Colts are viewed as commanding favorites. Of the expert picks on the site, 92% of them have chosen the Colts to come out with a win before their expected bye in Week 7.

Even though the Colts are coming off of a loss, they should find it plenty easy to get pressure on rookie quarterback Joe Burrow, who has been sacked the most times (22) in the NFL through five games.

Now that we are past the five-hour COVID-19 scare from Friday, the Colts can turn their attention back to getting into the win column before their bye week.

Week 5 NFL expert picks: Saints widely expected to beat Chargers

The New Orleans Saints received heavy support from NFL experts in their Week 5 picks to beat the Los Angeles Chargers, but it’s not certain.

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A majority of NFL experts are picking the New Orleans Saints to defeat the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 5, according to results gathered by NFL Pickwatch. 89% of the football cognoscenti likes New Orleans to come away with a victory on “Monday Night Football,” while just 11% have picked the Chargers.

It’s hardly one of the more lopsided differences in picks you’ll see around the league. The Arizona Cardinals are unanimous picks to beat the New YOrk Jets, while the Los Angeles Rams, New England Patriots, Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens, Dallas Cowboys, and Seattle Seahawks have each received 95% or more of the vote to win their games from those in the know.

But the experts haven’t exactly gotten off to a hot start this week. 92% of them picked the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to handle their business against the Chicago Bears, but Tom Brady’s Bucs were upset in a 20-19 loss.

Maybe things will go differently for the Saints. We’re guessing Drew Brees won’t have a problem remembering when it’s fourth down at the end of the game.

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Colts vs. Browns: NFL experts make Week 5 picks

Who are the experts taking in Week 5?

The Indianapolis Colts (3-1) and Cleveland Browns (3-1) are heading for what should be a highly anticipated matchup in Week 5 as both teams look to continue their winning streaks.

Vegas has the Colts entering the weekend as slight road favorites, but the line is so close that it’s truly anyone’s guess as to which team will come out on top on Sunday.

From the experts around the league, it is pretty split as well. Here’s who some of the experts are siding with in Week 5:

Expert	Pick	Score (if applicable)
Nate Davis (USA TODAY)	Colts	20-17
Mike Jones (USA TODAY)	Colts	24-19
Jarrett Bell (USA TODAY)	Browns	24-23
Mike Clay (ESPN)	Colts	N/A
Vinnie Iyer (Sporting News)	Browns	23-20
Bill Bender (Sporting News)	Browns	28-24
Will Brinson (CBS Sports)	Colts	21-17
Pete Prisco (CBS Sports)	Colts	21-17
NumberFire	Colts	N/A
Pro Football Focus	Colts	N/A
Bleacher Report	Browns	26-21

Over at NFL Pickwatch, the Colts have been selected as the winner by 52% of the experts. That could change depending on how the injury report looks for the Colts, especially considering they could be down three key starters on Sunday.

Both of these teams have been enjoying a three-game winning streak since dropping their Week 1 opener. The Colts have gotten it done with their stout defense while the Browns have controlled the line of scrimmage with the run game.

It should be a close matchup and will be incredibly difficult to predict as the weekend approaches.

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2020 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open Matchups, Placings and First-Round Leader Bets

We take a look at best value bets in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open betting odds and lines with matchups, placings, best bets.

The PGA Tour begins a two-week stint in Las Vegas with the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open this week at TPC Summerlin. The 144-man field is strong and features both 2020 major winners in Collin Morikawa (PGA Championship) and Bryson DeChambeau (U.S. Open). Kevin Na also returns to defend his 2019 Shriners title.

Below, we’ll look for the best value bets in the 2020 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open betting odds and lines with tournament matchups, placings and first-round leader (FRL) picks and best bets.

2020 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open: Matchup bets

Odds provided by BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET.

Bryson DeChambeau vs. Webb Simpson (+115)

DeChambeau (-162) is the heavy favorite in this top matchup following his US Open victory. Both have a win and multiple top 10s at this event. Simpson is more experienced at TPC Summerlin with 34 rounds played to DeChambeau’s 16.

Take the plus-money value with Simpson. He was the PGA Tour’s leader in both Birdie or Better Percentage and Bogey Avoidance last season, and he ranks one spot ahead of DeChambeau in the Golfweek/Sagarin world rankings.

Hideki Matsuyama vs. Collin Morikawa (-106)

Here, we’ll take the undervalued major champ with Morikawa a slight underdog to Matsuyama (-134). Morikawa tied for 42nd in his debut last year, while Matsuyama finished 16th in his first appearance since a 10th-place showing in 2014.

The winner of the PGA Championship is the better putter and ball striker.

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2020 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open: Placing bets

Top 5: Patrick Cantlay (+450)

Cantlay is third by the odds to win the tournament outright at +1800. He has followed up his 2017 victory at TPC Summerlin with back-to-back runner-up finishes.

Top 10: Adam Hadwin (+1100)

Hadwin has 14 career rounds played at TPC Summerlin with an average of 1.57 strokes gained per round on the field. He finished fourth last year and was 10th in 2014. His putting and short game play well here with less emphasis on distance and accuracy.

Lowest score over 72 holes – Group B: Scottie Scheffler (+400)

Scheffler shares the longest odds of the 5-man Group B with Rickie Fowler. Matsuayama (+275), Harris English (+350) and Matthew Wolff (+350) all have lower odds. Scheffler returned to play last week for the first time since being forced to withdraw from the U.S. Open due to a positive COVID-19 test. The warmup event should get him back to his consistent top-10 form.

2020 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open: First-round leader bet

Harris English (+4000)

English ranked second on the PGA Tour to Rory McIlroy in Round 1 Scoring Average last year at 68.55. He’s just +2500 to win this event and offers much better value to lead after the opening 18 holes.

MJ Daffue (+12500)

Daffue’s coming off a T-12 finish at the Sanderson Farms Championship in which he led the field with 1.96 Strokes Gained: Approach and ranked fourth with 2.62 SG: Tee-to-Green, according to Data Golf. Look for him to keep it going for at least the first round in a much stronger field.

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2020 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open odds, predictions and PGA Tour best bets

The strongest PGA Tour field we’ve seen since the U.S. Open is in Las Vegas this week for the 2020 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.

The strongest PGA Tour field we’ve seen since the U.S. Open is in Las Vegas this week for the 2020 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. The 144-man field is fronted by U.S. Open champ and Golfweek/Sagarin‘s 10th-ranked golfer, Bryson DeChambeau, who’s the tournament betting favorite at +650. Below, we look at the 2020 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open betting odds, and make our PGA Tour picks and best bets to win.

2020 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open Betting Picks – Favorite

Odds provided by BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Monday at 2:02 p.m. ET.

Scottie Scheffler (+2800)

Scheffler was the prohibitive betting favorite for last week’s Sanderson Farms Championship at +900 on the pre-tournament odds. He finished just T-37 in his first event since the Tour Championship after having to withdraw from the U.S. Open following a positive COVID-19 test.

His betting odds have risen considerably in the much stronger field, but he’s now a tremendous value while sharing the eighth-best odds to win. Scheffler placed in the top five in three of his last four events prior to his forced break, all against stiff competition in the PGA Championship and through the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

His early return to play last week is likely to prove a benefit over this week’s other top contenders.

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2020 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open Betting Picks – Contender

Matt Kuchar (+9000)

This is purely a value pick for the 32nd-ranked golfer in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings. Kuchar missed the cut at both the PGA Championship and U.S. Open against the world’s best, but he mixed in a T-25 finish at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational and a T-18 at The Northern Trust in his last five events.

He has played 13 career rounds at TPC Summerlin with an average of 1.35 strokes gained per round on the field, according to Data Golf. He has the short game and putting stroke to get back on track in Las Vegas as he prepares for another run at the Masters in a little over a month’s time.

2020 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open Betting Picks – Long shot

MJ Daffue (+17500)

The stronger field this week greatly lowers the chances for a long-shot winner in Sin City, but Daffue is coming off a T-12 finish last week at the Sanderson Farms Championship. He led the field with 1.96 Strokes Gained: Approach per round and ranked fourth with 2.62 SG: Tee-to-Green.

The 31-year-old South African also tied for 22nd at the Workday Charity Open in a strong field in mid-July. He’s one of just 13 golfers in the field debuting at TPC Summerlin, but he’s worth a shot with a $10 bet returning a profit of $1,750.

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Experts leave Lions high and dry against the Saints

The experts are favoring the New Orleans Saints against the Detroit Lions, but there is some optimism going the Lions direction

The Lions stunned not only the Arizona Cardinals but experts as well when they pulled off the 26-23 upset, bringing their record to 1-2. The Lions back home in Week 4 for a matchup against a 1-2 New Orleans Saints.

Despite a plethora of injuries, the Saints being heavily picked to win this contest, with 88-percent of experts going with the road team at the time of this writing, according to NFL PickWatch.

On a positive note: the Lions failed to break double digits in expert pick percentage over the last two weeks, but did here, giving the impression that the experts might be drinking some of that Honolulu Blue kool-aid again.

There was plenty of good to take away from the Lions’ victory last week, such as improved linebacker play and the return of Kenny Golladay, but the Lions still have several issues to figure out. For example, with this game potentially turning into a shoutout, the Lions can afford to squander their red zone opportunities again, because if they leave too many points on the board, they may never catch the Saints offense.

The Saints have had a rough road this season. They opened the year with an unfavorable schedule — facing opponents with a combined 7-2 record –and they enter this week down six starters. They have been competitive in all of their contests, mostly due to their dynamic weapon running back Alvin Kamara and quarterback Drew Brees managing the game effectively.

The Lions could look to pull off their second straight upset against the Saints at home, and if they stick to the Honolulu Blueprint, they can be .500 going into their bye next week.

Colts vs. Bears: NFL experts make Week 4 picks

Experts weigh in on the Week 4 matchup.

The Indianapolis Colts (2-1) have a big matchup ahead of them as they ready themselves for a Week 4 road bout with the undefeated Chicago Bears (3-0) at Soldier Field on Sunday.

Despite the Bears having the better record and being at home, the Colts will enter the weekend as slight road favorites for the matchup. However, the game is expected to be a close, low-scoring affair.

While Vegas slightly has the Colts, here’s how some of the experts around the league see the Week 4 matchup unfolding:

Expert	Pick	Score (if applicable)
Nate Davis (USA TODAY)	Colts	23-13
Mike Jones (USA TODAY)	Colts	27-24
Jarrett Bell (USA TODAY)	Bears	27-26
Mike Clay (ESPN)	Colts	N/A
Vinnie Iyer (Sporting News)	Colts	17-13
Bill Bender (Sporting News)	Bears	27-23
Will Brinson (CBS Sports)	Colts	24-3
Pete Prisco (CBS Sports)	Colts	28-21
NumberFire	Colts	N/A
Pro Football Focus	Colts	N/A
Bleacher Report	Colts	23-20

The experts on this are seemingly favoring the Colts a bit more than Vegas. Over at NFL Pickwatch, the Colts are favored in 60% of the picks as of this writing.

With Nick Foles now the starting quarterback for the Bears, the Colts have a bit of a challenge. But head coach Frank Reich has plenty of experience in evaluating the veteran quarterback and the Colts defense has been on fire over the last two weeks.

It should be a close matchup and one that is difficult to predict, but it seems the majority of experts are siding with the Colts to get their first road win of the season.

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Expert picks are nearly universally against the Dolphins in Week 4

Week 4 of the 2020 NFL season won’t be an easy one for the Miami Dolphins. This is a team that, despite coming off a win last week against the Jacksonville Jaguars, will struggle to bottle up the Seattle Seahawks arial attack — which is led by long-time star quarterback Russell Wilson. Wilson is playing some of the best ball in his career — he’s set the NFL record for touchdown passes in the first three weeks of an NFL season (14) and has been nearly unstoppable.

So it should come to the surprise of absolutely no one that the expert picks for this game are in Seattle’s favor. But the margin of divide between the two is still pretty stunning to see. According to NFL Pick Watch, the Dolphins are only being picked to win by 2% of submissions about this weekend’s contest — the other 98% are falling to Seattle. That isn’t the worst margin in the NFL this week (that honor goes to Baltimore’s 100% of the vote over the Washington Football Team), but it is still one of the more “disrespectful” margins in the NFL.

Respect will be hard to come by for Miami for the time being. This team will need to showcase themselves more consistently and more positively before anyone starts to give them the benefit of the doubt. That’s a natural byproduct of the Dolphins’ rebuilding efforts and just how far “behind” this team is perceived to be due to their roster teardown.

Even if a win against Seattle doesn’t come, Miami can do themselves a favor by keeping this thing competitive and staying in it until the very end — as they did with the 3-0 Buffalo Bills in Week 2. Like in Week 2, Miami may very well be without their best defensive player in CB Byron Jones but if Miami’s offense can keep things tight against the Seattle defense, pundits will have no choice but to take a little more notice moving forward.