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NFL Picks, Week 4: Predicting The Weekend's Matchups

Week 4 is upon us. Place your bets. Don't blame me when you lose.

You probably don't know me. And I probably don't know you. If you're reading this and planning on basing your Las Vegas sports betting spree on my choices, you're probably not the smartest tool on the tree. Nevertheless, I have gone 11-5 in the last two weeks and am now 30-18 (straight up) on the season. Not great, not terrible - probably on pace with a lot of the so-called experts at this kind of thing. I'm not an expert, but I have the access codes to write here and you don't. Here are my picks, with the current odds, as they come courtesy of Odds Shark.     

Carolina Panthers @ Chicago Bears (-7): The Bears have been playing pretty well despite their porous offensive line, and have a solid, veteran defense to throw up against the rookie Cam Newton. Pick: Bears

Buffalo Bills @ Cincinnati Bengals (+3): The Bills are rolling, and the Bengals are reeling. The rookie-led Bengals will have a hard time keeping pace with the Bills' high scoring offense. Pick: Bills

Tennessee Titans @ Cleveland Browns (-2): This will be an interesting game. Mike Holmgren knows Matt Hasselbeck as well as anyone and will design a defensive gameplan to take away his strengths. That being said, Hasselbeck has been enjoying the best start to a season in his long career. Who would have guessed that? I'm going with Hasselbeck's underdog Titans in this game. Pick: Titans

Detroit Lions @ Dallas Cowboys (-3): This should be a fun game. Both teams have looked legit, but it's hard to bet against the streaking Matt Stafford right now. Going with the road-dogs in this one. Pick: Lions

Pittsburgh Steelers @ Houston Texans (-3): Another game to watch. The Steelers easily handled my Seahawks two weeks ago but didn't look as dominant against the Manning-less Colts last week. On the other hand, the Texans have looked very strong, taking New Orleans to the wire on the road last week. Pick: Texans

New Orleans Saints @ Jacksonville Jaguars (+6): The Jags haven't looked especially strong behind Blaine Gabbert and they're not facing a rookie-led team like the Panthers this week. Pick: Saints

Minnesota Vikings @ Kansas City Chiefs (-3): I'm going to make sure I don't watch this game. I'm a little surprised that the Chiefs are favored in this one, and because of that surprise I'm going with the Vikings. Pick: Vikings

San Francisco 49ers @ Philadelphia Eagles (-7): The 49ers will have a tough road trip this weekend but the Eagles haven't looked like the Dream Team Vince Young envisioned. Still, I'm not going to be on the 49ers in this one. Pick: Eagles

Washington Redskins @ St Louis Rams (+1.5): The Redskins have been surprisingly good with Rex Grossman at the helm, and the Rams have been surprisingly awful with Sam Bradford under center. I think the Rams will bounce back this week at home. Pick: Rams

NY Giants @ Arizona Cardinals (+3): I would have guessed the line on this game would be larger than 3 points in favor of the Giants. They dispatched the Eagles pretty easily last week and will look to continue rolling on the road. The Cardinals defense hasn't been great and their offense struggled against the lowly Seahawks last week. Pick: Giants

Atlanta Falcons @ Seattle Seahawks (+3.5): I'm a homer, but this game looks to be pretty interesting. The Falcons have been very underwhelming thus far and have struggled on the road. The Seahawks are infinitely better in their home stadium and got some momentum last week with a win over division rival Cardinals. I think it will be closer than everyone thinks, but I'm still picking the Falcons. Pick: Falcons

Denver Broncos @ Green Bay Packers (-13) Packers. Do you want an explanation? Pick: Packers

New England Patriots @ Oakland Raiders (+4): Really looking forward to this game as well. The Raiders manhandled the Jets last week and look to keep things going at home against the reeling Patriots. The Pats defense has been suspect but I'm not betting that Tom Brady is going to throw 4 picks again this week. Pick: Patriots

Miami Dolphins @ San Diego Chargers (-9): I've picked the Dolphins to win the last two weeks and they've let me down both times. I'm picking the Chargers, but watch the Dolphins pull out an upset this week just to spite me. Pick: Chargers

NY Jets @ Baltimore Ravens (-3.5): I just don't have a ton of confidence in the Jets right now. The Ravens had a setback against the Titans two weeks ago but looked more like themselves last week by blowing out the Rams on the road. Pick: Ravens

Indianapolis Colts @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-10): The Colts played the Steelers strong last week but I'm going with the young Bucs. Pick: Buccaneers