Week 7 NFL Confidence Pool: Fade 49ers Again

Our strongest plays again paid dividends and even our weaker selections clicked, but there were a few bumps in the middle last week, but overall we took care of business in our NFL Confidence Pool picks. Let’s check out Week 7, where we rate our most confident straight up pick (14 with four teams on a bye) all the way to our least confident (1). The point spread on each game is in parentheses, but these picks are not against the spread.

Week 6 Straight Up Record: 10-6 (83 of possible 120)

14. Rams: Rams (-10) at 49ers: All of Sportsbook Review’s best online sportsbooks are dealing the Rams at double digits in this game and for good reason. The Niners battled the Packers on Monday night, only to come up short in the closing moments, and will be working on a short week against an explosive offense.

13. Colts: Bills at Colts (-7½): As reluctant as we are to value a team like Indianapolis this highly, let’s be clear that this is much more of a fade of the Bills than an endorsement of the Colts. One thing that Andrew Luck and his band of Colts can do that Buffalo can’t is score. We’d say that’s pretty important in – well, ya know – winning.

12. Chiefs: Bengals at Chiefs (-6): The Bengals are what they always are during Marv Lewis’s tenure – paper tigers. The Chiefs fell for the time last week against the Patriots and won’t be in the mood for any nonsense when the Cats come calling.

11. Eagles: Panthers at Eagles (-5): Carson Wentz and the Philly offense looked like they finally got their Super Bowl mojo back last week when they punished the Giants. In addition, the Eagles have had 10 days to prep for a middling Panthers squad after their Thursday night victory.

10. Falcons: Giants at Falcons (-6): Matty Ice and the Falcons know how to put points on the board, but stopping the other team from doing the same has been the issue this season. However, in Monday night’s clash, they face an opponent that doesn’t know how to score because their quarterback should be announcing the game and not playing in it.

9. Chargers: Titans at Chargers (-6): Perhaps the Bolts should be higher on this list, but this game is being held in London and the Titans are coming off a humiliating shutout loss to the Ravens. That said, the Chargers can put up points in hurry and should be too much for Tennessee to match offensively.

8. Jaguars: Texans at Jaguars (-5½): Last week’s 40-7 beatdown at the hands of the Cowboys made no sense whatsoever for a team that allegedly has a lock-down, stone-cold, steel-wall defense like the Jags. If this team has any shred of self-respect they will take out their frustration on their divisional foes from Houston this Sunday.

7. Patriots: Patriots (-3½) at Bears: The New England offense has come alive since Julian Edelman returned from suspension and Josh Gordon getting up to speed with the playbook. Chicago may be chagrined after bowing to Miami in OT last week but a decent defense does not often contain a great offense.

6. Bucs: Browns at Bucs (-3): Say what you want about the Bucs, but they own the No. 1 passing attack in football and the Browns are not a team particularly adept at stopping an air show. The Chargers beat them up last week and the Bucs will do the same this week.

5. Lions: Lions (+4) at Dolphins: Whether Ryan Tannehill starts or not, we are firmly ensconced in backing the underdog in this one. The Fish are fraudulent, masquerading as a 4-2 team in October that will reflect a 7-9 record in January. The Lions are coming off a big win over Green Bay and then their bye, which should mean the Cats will be fresh, healthy, and ready to roll.

4. Vikings: Vikings (-3½) at Jets: New York’s offense has kicked into high gear over the last few weeks, but the Vikings are the better team from top to bottom and should edge Gang Green in their own backyard.

3. Saints: Saints (+2½) at Ravens: New Orleans is 8-1 straight up over their last nine October games and the way Drew Brees is moving this offense, it should be 9-1 after they’re finished shredding this usually good Baltimore defense.

2. Cardinals: Broncos at Cardinals (+1½): Sportsbook Review’s best online sportsbooks are dealing this Thursday ugly matchup at anywhere from Broncos -1 to -2, but we believe they’ve got the wrong favorite. The Cardinals’ David Johnson should be able to run roughshod over the bottom-ranked Denver run stop unit (surrendering 161.3 rushing yards per game) and bring the boys from the desert their second victory of the season.

1. Cowboys: Cowboys (+1½) at Redskins: Crossing my fingers that the Boyz don’t become too full of themselves after melting the Jaguars last week, but they are 4-0 straight up over the Redskins in their last four meetings and this one should be no different if they stay focused.