NFL Picks Against the Spread Week 3: Favorites Who Will Fail to Cover

The NFL's Week 3 slate sees more than one favorite attempting to cover the spread against a quality team. 

From road favorites trying to cover in a hostile environment to home teams hosting potential playoff squads, playing the role of favorite isn't always easy in the NFL. In fact, according to TeamRankings.com, underdogs have a combined record of 18-14-1 against the spread this season.

Here's the full list of predictions and odds for this week's games and a breakdown of the favorites who aren't likely to cover.

Houston Texans (-2.5) at Baltimore Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens are the defending Super Bowl champions, but you'd never know it by looking at this line. The Ravens are getting 2.5 points at home against the Houston Texans.

On one hand, this line is understandable. The Ravens didn't dominate the lowly Cleveland Browns and were routed in their opening week game against the Denver Broncos. That doesn't mean they should be the underdog at home against the Texans, though.

Unless the Texans plan on Matt Schaub tossing seven touchdowns like Peyton Manning did in Week 1, there won't be much resemblance to that game.

Ray Rice isn't expected to start, but Bernard Pierce has emerged as a reliable option behind him.

The Browns offense is anemic, but the Ravens showed that they are still capable of playing lockdown defense. Considering the Texans needed overtime to beat the Tennessee Titans at home, the odds of them traveling to Baltimore and picking up the win seem unlikely.

Green Bay Packers (-2.5) at Cincinnati Bengals

This game is yet another example of a road team giving a few points to an AFC North opponent on the road. Yet again, it seems like Vegas is asking the away team to really impress this week.

The Bengals didn't start the season off strong with a three-point loss to the Chicago Bears. They struggled to find a running game (63 yards) and lost the turnover battle on the road (three to one). However, coming home was just the trick as Giovani Bernard sparked the running game (127 yards), and the team played turnover free.

Going against the Packers will be a bit more difficult. Aaron Rodgers is on a different planet compared to Ben Roethlisberger, but the Bengals should ride the newfound running game and their tough defense (ranked sixth against the run) to a victory at home.

Oakland Raiders at Denver Broncos (-15)

No, this doesn't mean that the Raiders will beat the Broncos. That would be absurd. However, these kind of spreads are difficult to cover.

According to TeamRankings.com, teams who are favored by 14 points or more are just 1-4 against the spread going back to last season.

The Raiders, as bad as most experts figured they would be this season, are off to as good a start as they could hope. They opened the season with a close four-point loss to a 2012 playoff team in the Indianapolis Colts and took care of business against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Broncos have been the NFL's most dominant team with wins over the New York Giants and Baltimore Ravens, but Terrelle Pryor and the Raiders have what it takes to score the backdoor cover.