2017 NFL Picks Week 4

As expected, I had a bit of a drop off from my 14-2 performance Week 2, but I still finished Week 3 above .500 at 9-7 (more than doubling my loss total in the process). I only had one upset pick (Indianapolis) but they won to bring my season total to 7-1. New England prevailed over Houston as my Pick of the Week, as I start 3-0.

I knew it would be a tough week picking games when I discovered there were a whopping 11 road favorites of the 16 games. Ending up with only one upset of those had me second guessing my picks, but I just couldn't bring myself to pick home upsets for Jacksonville, Chicago, New York Jets, and Buffalo. The other picks were basically toss-ups (Minnesota, Washington), but at the end of the week only 4 road favorites won their games.

I mentioned most of my 7 losses above, but for completion: Baltimore got smoked in London against Jacksonville, Pittsburgh lost to Chicago, Miami lost to the Jets somehow (ditto for Denver vs Buffalo), Carolina lost a home game to New Orleans, Tampa Bay couldn't beat Minnesota without Bradford, and Oakland just didn't show up at Washington.

Still a lot of question marks with most teams, but hopefully the picks will be easier in Week 4:

2017 NFL Picks Week 3

Week 2 was certainly a great week for my picks as I ended up with my most wins ever, going 14-2. Looking back, my previous best for wins was 13 (13-2 and 13-1-1), and my previous best for losses was 1 (13-1-1 and 12-1). It wasn't as if all the favorites won either, as I connected on 4 of 5 upset picks. I am now 6-1 in upset picks to start the season. My Pick of the Week (Oakland) won, so I start 2-0 there.

My 2 wrong picks were the Los Angeles Chargers losing at home to Miami, and Green Bay being unable to pull off the upset at Atlanta. On to Week 3:

2017 NFL Picks Week 2

That's a wrap on Week 1 of the 2017 NFL season! Lots of surprises already, including the high scoring Rams and the no scoring Bengals. Oh, and only 15 games thanks to Mother Nature. But how did I do with my picks? Not bad, thanks for asking!

I only had 4 incorrect picks, which starts my year off nicely at 11-4. I was correct in my only 2 upset picks, to start 2-0 there. My PotW also took care of business (Buffalo), good for 1-0 on the year. The losses were all home upsets (New England vs Kansas City, Houston vs Jacksonville, Cincinnati vs Baltimore) with the exception of Indianapolis losing on the road to the Los Angeles Rams.

On to Week 2, with a full slate of games in store:

2017 NFL Picks Week 1

Welcome back to my 6th year of NFL Picks! I did a little better last season (+0.5%) than the previous year, finishing at 63.4%. I tied my best playoff record at 9-2 (82%), capped off by a correct Super Bowl LI pick; only a point away from the correct score! I'll try once again to achieve 70% or better...

For those new to my picks, or those that need a refresher:

• Winners will be bolded
• Upsets will be italicized
• *Pick of the Week* will be offset by asterisks
• Picks will be made straight up, though upsets are determined by the spread
• Upsets determined from SportsLine
• Click the "NFL Picks" tag below to see all of my previous picks

Let's get to the first picks of the 2017 NFL season, with only 15 games on the slate thanks to Hurricane Irma:

Thursday, 8:30pm

Kansas City Chiefs at New England Patriots

Sunday, 1pm

New York Jets at *Buffalo Bills*

Atlanta Falcons at Chicago Bears

Jacksonville Jaguars at Houston Texans
Philadelphia Eagles at Washington Redskins
Arizona Cardinals at Detroit Lions
Oakland Raiders at Tennessee Titans
Baltimore Ravens at Cincinnati Bengals
Pittsburgh Steelers at Cleveland Browns

Sunday, 4pm

Indianapolis Colts at Los Angeles Rams
Seattle Seahawks at Green Bay Packers
Carolina Panthers at San Francisco 49ers

Sunday, 8:30pm

New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys

Monday Night Football

New Orleans Saints at Minnesota Vikings (7:10pm)
Los Angeles Chargers at Denver Broncos (10:20pm)

Byes: Miami, Tampa Bay