NFL Week 3 Preview
Best Bets
1.5 Pts Houston Texans to beat the New England Patriots (10/11 Sky Bet)
2 Pts Arizona Cardinals (-4 Handicap) to beat the Buffalo Bills (Evens Paddy Power)
1.5 Pts Oakland Raiders to beat the Tennessee Titans (11/10 Sky Bet)
Last week started with a lot of promise as the New York Jets ran out winners against Buffalo Bills to secure an early win for us. Over the weekend we were less successful however with a few losses. This all added up to a small loss, and we are looking to put that right in week 3.
The league is off to an interesting start and Arizona, Carolina, Green Bay, Seattle & Cincinnati all have losses to their name already. Teams such as the Giants and the Texans are impressing early and as usual the Patriots are excelling despite not having their star quarterback. We see a few value picks this week so let’s get on with it!
1.5 Pts Houston Texans to beat the New England Patriots (10/11 Sky Bet)
Thursday night football brings us a great match this week as the Texans travel to play the Patriots. Both teams are 2-0 and have started fast and can be considered real contenders this season. New England will likely have to go with their third string quarterback this week which is rookie Jacoby Brissett. He played through the closing stages against Miami on Sunday and actually looked pretty good under the circumstances. He isn’t going to be the kind of replacement that Jimmy Garoppolo was however and the Patriots have to expect a significant drop off in quality here. The Patriots have hinted that Garoppolo could be fit for the game on Thursday, but based on the level of pain he appeared to be in on Sunday this seems unlikely. I doubt the Patriots would allow Jimmy G to suit up hurt as he will be pivotal to the Patriots if Tom Brady picks up an injury later in the season.
When we think about the ideal situation for a rookie quarterback it’s far from being thrown into a matchup against the Texans. Their pass rush is unbelievable and their secondary isn’t bad either. Houston have one of the stingiest defences in football and Jacoby Brissett is going to be completely on edge for most of the game. He is likely to force up some passes early which could lead to a few picks for the Texans. Other than this it is likely that New England will run the ball heavily to try and take some pressure off Brissett.
The Texans have looked better this year on offence and now have a reliable quarterback in Osweiler who can generate steady points for the Texans. Against a strong Patriots defence don’t expect the Texans to light it up, and a conservative strategy for the Texans will likely get the job done against a makeshift Patriots line-up. Make a play on the Texans to take this one in what will likely be a low scoring affair.
2 Pts Arizona Cardinals (-4 Handicap) to beat the Buffalo Bills (Evens Paddy Power)
The Cardinals are angry after losing to New England in week 1 and that’s scary for the rest of the league. They travel to Buffalo on Sunday who couldn’t get the job done last week against the New York Jets. Buffalo look an absolute mess and without a few deep plays against the Jets they would have gone down to a heavy defeat. We really can’t see anything other than a heavy defeat for the Bills this week against a stacked Arizona line-up.
The Cardinals were ruthless in week 2 and destroyed the Buccaneers in every aspect of the game. Tampa Bay is a better team than Buffalo and this one really could be a blowout! Arizona picked off Winston four times on Sunday and a similar display isn’t out of the question if Tyrod Taylor resorts to throwing it deep under pressure. Make a play on the Cardinals to win this one on the handicap, which they should do with ease!
1.5 Pts Oakland Raiders to beat the Tennessee Titans (11/10 Sky Bet)
One of the big talking points of the league at the minute is how bad the Raiders defence is. With a bolstered secondary and the likes of Khalil Mack in the pass rush nobody expected the Raiders defence would be this bad. We think that this will be the week where the Raiders defence starts to perform how many expected it would. The Raiders unit should be too talented for the Titans and we expect Oakland to secure a win and get themselves off to a 2-1 start.
The Titans offence is struggling currently and Oakland were unlucky to give up some scoring drives on Sunday with some deflected passes. Marcus Mariota hasn’t been firing and Oakland should be able to put some real pressure on him in the pocket and get some stops. On the other side of the field the Oakland offence has been firing on all cylinders. They have both a strong passing and rushing attack and should pile up points with relative ease against the Titans.
Make a play on Oakland to turn the tables on defence and get a bounce back win.