NFL – Week 3 – Sunday Games
Week 3 of the 2016 NFL season sees 8 games in the 1pm Eastern time slot and 5 games in the later 4pm Eastern time slot. I have selected some tips from three of these games.
Early Games – 1pm Eastern or 6pm UK
Arizona Cardinals at Buffalo Bills
The 1-1 Arizona Cardinals travel across country to play the 0-2 Buffalo Bills in one of the early games on Sunday. The Cardinals lost their opener in a close game to New England due to a missed Field Goal. They rebounded in week two to annihilate the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Against the Bucs every facet of the game – offence, defence and special teams were working well. They started to show why they were favoured to win their division – the NFC West before the season started. I like QB Carson Palmer and RB David Johnson to have big games in Buffalo.
The Bills were wretched in their week one loss to Baltimore where they gained only 160 total yards. They rebounded in week two losing a high scoring shootout to the New York Jets. It is perplexing that after the game the Bills sacked their offensive co-ordinator. Crazy! In the loss to the Jets the Bills passing game worked well with almost 300 yards. Sadly, the defence surrendered 493 total yards.
I can only see one winner in this game – Arizona. The Cardinals need to win these sorts of games to be in contention for the division win at season end. I cannot see the Buffalo defence getting enough stops to prevent the Cardinals winning this game fairly easily. I like them here giving Buffalo a 3.5 points head start.
Denver Broncos at Cincinnati Bengals
I like the visiting team in this game too. Denver has started the defence of their Super Bowl crown with two dominant performances by their defence. They won against Carolina and last week against Indianapolis with two defensive touchdowns. They still have some questions at QB with Trevor Siemian but hs has shown an ability to keep drives alive. I think they will rely on their defence here and a running game led by CJ Anderson and rookie Devontae Booker.
The Bengals squeaked past the New York Jets in week one, mainly due to the Jets missing a PAT and FG. In week two they lost to division arch rivals the Pittsburgh Steelers. Thus far the Bengals running game hasn’t worked very well and I cannot see that improving a lot in week 3. The Bengals will need another week one type performance from WR AJ Green to challenge the Broncos. He will face better cornerbacks in this game than against the Jets (Darelle Revis is so over-rated) and I think he fails to break 100 yards. The Bengals defence must also produce turnovers in this game for them to stay in contention.
Again, I will back Denver at +3.0. I can see them winning by a touchdown or more so I see this as great value.
Late Game 4pm Eastern or 9pm UK
Pittsburgh Steelers vs Philadelphia Eagles
My third pick comes in a game with two unbeaten teams. The Steelers were fancied by many to be Super favourites in the AFC. They have started the 2016 season impressively. They had a comeback victory against Washington in week one and a win in the rain against the Bengals last Sunday. In each game they featured each aspect of their offence – the passing game in week one and the running od DeAngelo Williams in week two. The Steelers offence is very adaptable with QB Ben Rothlisberger. They can attack from anywhere at any time and this is a going to be tough for the Eagles to counter. I think WR Antonio Brown has a big game on Sunday – you might want to look at his player performance once these markets become live on Saturday/Sunday.
The Eagles are 2-0 with wins over teams who were expected to finish bottom of their divisions. They beat Cleveland 29-10 in week one and Chicago 29-14 last Sunday. These are games they should have won. The Steelers are a completely different proposition. Rookie QB Carson Wentz has performed well so far but the Steelers defence is a lot better than the two he has faced so far. Expect him to face lots of blitzs and disguised coverages from the Steelers secondary. The Eagles running game hasn’t been producing many yards so far. I see the Steelers clamping down on RB Ryan Matthews and Darren Sproles and forcing Carson Wentz to throw the ball a lot.
I go with the visiting team again to win with a 3.5 point handicap.
NFL – Week 3 – Sunday Games -Tips
Back the Arizona Cardinals -3.5 to beat the Buffalo Bills with a 3.0/10 stake at 2.0 with Paddy Power.
Bet here:
WON – Back the Denver Broncos +3.0 to beat the Cincinnati Bengals with a 3.0/10 stake at 2.05 with Ladbrokes.
Bet here:
Back the Pittsburgh Steelers -3.5 to beat the Philadelphia Eagles with a 3.0/10 stake at 2.00 with Coral.
Bet here:
