Sports Handicapping – Tips, Picks and Betting

“NFL Weekly Picks ATS for Week 1”

Well, it’s that time of the year again—time for football fans to scour the Internet looking for news related to NFL weekly picks. Week 1 is difficult, indeed, due to myriad uncertainties about team cohesion in a rapidly-growing free agent world. Preseason is not a good indicator of regular season prowess which complicates matters.

When looking at popular NFL weekly picks for week 1 there are a number of surprises, at least to me. Take Atlanta at Pittsburgh, for one. The Falcons are a 2.5 point favorite against the perennial playoff-bound Steelers. I find it hard to believe that Ben Roethlisberger’s four-game suspension for violating the league’s personal conduct policy—which was reduced from the original six games—is the driving force behind the Steelers’ underdog status at home. Perhaps backup Byron Leftwich’s injury which has relegated Dennis Dixon as the starting QB for Pittsburgh has provided the impetus for the betting line. While Matt Ryan is rapidly becoming an elite QB with a slue of weapons, doubts still remain as to whether Atlanta can beat the Steelers at home. Just look at the Chargers’ history in Pittsburgh the past few seasons when they have clearly been the better team but lost to the Steelers at Three Rivers.

Another surprise is Dallas, favored by three points, at newly reinvigorated Washington. With former Broncos’ head coach Mike Shanahan at the helm and Donovan McNabb as QB, the Redskins are not the embarrassment they were last season under Jim Zorn. Shanahan is a no-nonsense coach with a penchant for winning despite his last couple of seasons in Denver. Coupled with the Cowboys’ questionable preseason and that the underdog in this divisional match-up has gone 19-7 in the past 26 games, Dallas fans shouldn’t be overly confident.

Finally, Green Bay is slightly favored (-2) against the Eagles at home. Despite Philadelphia’s release of McNabb in favor of Kevin Kolb, Andy Reid’s teams have typically garnered several September point-spread victories. The Packers are rumored to be Super Bowl contenders; however, they have not fared well in Philadelphia and “experts” are calling for an Eagles’ win.