WOW! Was that not the best opening week of sports betting you have ever seen? I mean I am certainly not one to brag but I do have to say three-and-one is quite the record. If you followed along with my picks and put $100 on each game you would be up $200 right now by just listening to me! Now of course I am a man who admits when he is defeated and I was certainly upset when Northwestern’s quarterbacks couldn’t pass for more than 126 yards combined with no touchdowns and three interceptions. I will take the blame for that one though. I should have known better from a coach who in a press conference Monday morning said, “I understand there are 40,000 experts on Twitter that can call plays for me. My email address is hashtag I don’t care.” What the hell does that even mean??? Clearly my one (one) loss is bothering me this week but it does not take away from the fact I went three-and-zero in NFL picks. With the Jaguars, Giants, and Rams all covering, Sunday was actually a very pleasant day for me as it did not consist of me screaming at my TV worrying I was going to have an aneurism. The past is the past though and this week I am feeling as good if not better in my picks. Let’s dive in shall we. 

NFL:

Atlanta Falcons minus four – Last week was a rough one for Atlanta as they dropped a game to the Colts by three points. The beautiful thing about the NFL is that on any given Sunday any team can prove they belong or prove they are just here for a paycheck. I am giving the Falcons one more week to show me they can do what they are supposed to do. The Titans should be an easy win for the Falcons especially if the Titans inexplicably keep trotting Marcus Mariota out there. I have nothing against Mariota except for the fact he is a genuinely bad quarterback. The dirty birds get back on track this week and give the home of celebrities such as T.I., Usher, and John Mayer a performance they will be proud about. 

Arizona Cardinals plus four – This pick comes down to which bird of prey is superior. Do me a favor and google “What is a Seahawk?” Spoiler alert! They aren’t real! The internet spews about how Seahawk is “bird jargon” for Osprey. Not good enough for me. The Seahawks haven’t beaten anybody convincingly and the Cardinals are only looking better with the more reps Kyler Murray continues to get. Cardinals will keep it close at home and might outright win this one. 

Jacksonville Jaguars plus three – Gardner Minshew led us to the promised land last week so why not hop on the back of his success and ride gun slinger out. The Denver Broncos are struggling right now as they haven’t won a game yet this year. Joe Flacco just looks bad and they are not playing inspiring football. I am assuming the only reason that the Broncos are favored is because of the altitude but I am pretty sure Gardner Minshew is on a constant high so that should be no problem. 

Kansas City Chiefs minus six – The Kansas City Chiefs take on the Detroit Lions this week in Detroit and I am liking what I am seeing. Detroit is “undefeated” this year with a two-zero-and-one record beating the Eagles (who don’t have people that can catch the ball currently on the roster), Chargers (they play offense in the first half and I guess stop trying to score in the second half), and tying with the Cardinals (they played week one where Kyler Murray looked awful and blew a 17-three lead at halftime). The Chiefs on the other hand are still one of the most dynamic offenses in the league and Patrick Mahomes is throwing the ball further than previously thought was humanly possible by NASA. I believe that the Chiefs walk into the motor city and give Detroit a reality check that they desperately need. 

Signing off, Pearl’s Picks.