Falcoholic NFL picks, Week 3

Week 3 of the 2016 NFL season is upon us, and it’s time to make our picks for this week’s slate of games. Go ahead and submit your picks here.

We have some tough calls this week. The Atlanta Falcons are on the road against the New Orleans Saints on the 10th anniversary of the first game back in the Super Dome after Hurricane Katrina. This one’s going to be a challenge.

Tonight we have the Texans facing off against the Patriots in Foxboro, and the Patriots are actually underdogs at home. The Texans look competent on offense and that defense is something else, and the Patriots are starting Jacoby Brissett with Julian Edelman as the backup.

The Vikings looked really good against the Packers last week, even with Sam Bradford under center and Adrian Peterson, who hasn’t been all that effective through two weeks, lost to injury. That defense is aggressive and opportunistic. The Panthers are still tough, though, especially at home.

The Rams haven’t scored a touchdown yet this season, and Jameis Winston turned the ball over five times in the Buccaneers’ loss to the Cardinals last week. This one might be a catastrophe.

The Bears are going to be without Jay Cutler, who sprained his thumb in last week’s loss to the Eagles, and they lost a ton of other players to injury in that game. It’s going to be a rough go against a Cowboys team that looks solid under Dak Prescott’s leadership.

Here are our editors’ picks for Week 3:

So far, I’m really, really bad at picking these games. Here are our editors’ standings through Week 2.

Everyone but Dave picked the Falcons to lose to the Raiders last week, and guess what? We were all happy to be wrong. I’m sticking with the strategy of picking against the Falcons every week because a) I am apparently wrong a lot and b) it’s obviously a reverse jinx. You’re welcome.

Matt Chambers, however, is taking the opposite approach:

"I haven't correctly picked a Falcons game yet, but I'm still tied for first. I've got the Falcons winning against the Saints so that is the kiss of death for Atlanta."

David Walker points out that the Falcons’ lack of pass rush could impact more than just their ability to win the real game on Monday night. It could mess up his picks.

"After an impressive showing in Oakland, I'm holding out hope that the offense has turned a corner. Unfortunately, a dismal pass rush could very well keep me on the losing side of these damned predictions."

How did you do on your picks last week, and how do you stack up against your fellow readers so far this season? Check out the updated reader results through Week 2 below.