NFL Picks Week 3: Updated Lines and Final-Score Predictions for All Games

It is still far too early to truly know the Super Bowl contenders for the 2014 NFL season, especially with so many injuries flying around, but you can feel a lot better about your team if it's 2-0 than if it's 0-2.

After all, only 12 percent of the teams to start 0-2 since 1990 went on to make the playoffs, while 63 percent of the teams that started 2-0 in that same span reached the postseason.

Week 3 is sure to bring more thrilling finishes, upsets and perhaps a greater sense of how the rest of the season will unfold. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the point spreads and predictions for every game on the Week 3 slate.

*Point spreads are courtesy of Odds Shark as of Monday afternoon.

Road Team	Home Team	Point Spreads	Prediction	Reason
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Atlanta Falcons	ATL -6	Falcons 30-17	Atlanta's high-powered offense bounces back at home against reeling Bucs
San Diego Chargers	Buffalo Bills	BUF -1	Chargers 24-20	San Diego rolls with its momentum from upsetting the defending champs
Tennessee Titans	Cincinnati Bengals	CIN -7	Bengals 31-14	Bengals look unbeatable at home even with a hampered A.J. Green
Baltimore Ravens	Cleveland Browns	EVEN	Ravens 21-17	Baltimore may be better than thought, crushed Pittsburgh and hung with Cincinnati
Green Bay Packers	Detroit Lions	DET -1	Lions 35-24	Lions' high-powered offense has its way with defense that struggled to stop the Jets
Indianapolis Colts	Jacksonville Jaguars	IND -7	Colts 31-20	Colts get prescription they need after 0-2 start: the Jaguars
Oakland Raiders	New England Patriots	NE -16	Patriots 31-10	Go with Tom Brady and company against reeling Raiders even with this high point spread
Minnesota Vikings	New Orleans Saints	NO -10.5	Saints 34-21	Saints finally get a home game and respond accordingly
Houston Texans	New York Giants	HOU -1	Texans 21-10	Giants have given no indication that they are trustworthy team
Washington Redskins	Philadelphia Eagles	PHI -7	Eagles 28-24	Eagles need another comeback against Kirk Cousins but get the job done
Dallas Cowboys	St. Louis Rams	EVEN	Cowboys 28-21	DeMarco Murray gets the job done against dangerous front seven
San Francisco 49ers	Arizona Cardinals	unlisted	49ers 31-24	49ers bounce back from loss against Cardinals team that may miss Carson Palmer against stout defense
Kansas City Chiefs	Miami Dolphins	MIA -4.5	Dolphins 20-17	Chiefs will miss Jamaal Charles down the stretch of tight game
Denver Broncos	Seattle Seahawks	SEA -5	Seahawks 31-20	See below
Pittsburgh Steelers	Carolina Panthers	CAR -3	Panthers 17-6	This defense will prove too tough for the Pittsburgh offense
Chicago Bears	New York Jets	NYJ -2.5	Bears 24-20	Another night road game means sluggish start, but Bears offense gets it done in fourth quarter

Game of the Week: Denver Broncos at Seattle Seahawks

Scott Eklund/Associated Press

It would be easy to sit back and point to the Seattle Seahawks' dominant 43-8 victory over the Denver Broncos in the last Super Bowl and say it will happen again Sunday.

After all, the main pieces are the same on both sides, and that game took place on a neutral field. The Week 3 showdown is in Seattle, which is arguably the most difficult place to play in the entire league.

However, the Seahawks looked vulnerable in their loss to the San Diego Chargers. The nine-point loss was Seattle’s largest since Week 9 in 2011, and it dropped Russell Wilson’s road record to 9-8.

For comparison, he is an incredible 16-1 at home.

Jack Dempsey/Associated Press

Still, much of that game was rather explainable outside of the fact that Seattle was on the road. The air temperature was 95 degrees at kickoff and even hotter on the field, the Chargers were sporting their all-white jerseys while Seattle was in dark blue (leaving it susceptible to the heat) and San Diego was a desperate and talented team trying to avoid the dreaded 0-2 designation.

The most telling statistic of the game was the time of possession, which drastically favored San Diego since it had the ball for more than 42 minutes.

Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett put the loss in perspective, via Terry Blount of ESPN.com: “[Antonio Gates] did some great things, but we didn’t tackle well. It still was a close-fought game and a battle to the final minute. Everybody in the NFL wants to see us lose, but people wish they were us and we’ll keep playing.”

Justin Edmonds/Getty Images

It should be a different story in Seattle. In fact, the Seahawks haven’t lost a home game against an AFC opponent since they fell to the Cincinnati Bengals in October 2011. The crowd will be rocking, and Seattle will look to prove that it is still the best team in the league.

Still, it’s unreasonable to expect a repeat performance from the Super Bowl just because this one will be in front of the heralded 12th man in Seattle.

Peyton Manning is one of the all-time greats, and he has Demaryius Thomas, the emergent Emmanuel Sanders and tight end Julius Thomas at his disposal. Thomas already has four touchdown catches this year and will likely be the main point of emphasis for Seattle in its preparation.

Gregory Bull/Associated Press

After all, Antonio Gates just burned the “Legion of Boom” for three touchdowns, and you can bet Manning and Julius Thomas study the tape from that game in preparation.

Ed Werder of ESPN noted that the tight end could be a problem for the Seahawks:

Look for the Broncos to feature Thomas but also attempt to establish the run game and keep the Seahawks offense on the sideline like San Diego did.

That is still much easier said than done against Seattle at home. There is a reason the Seahawks are so dominant in front of the raucous 12th man, and they will look much more like the team that shut Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers down than the one that lost to San Diego.

What’s more, Seattle only ran the ball 13 times against San Diego and will likely try to rectify that. If Marshawn Lynch gets running downhill early and keeps Manning off the field, this one will gradually go Seattle’s way. 

Manning and Thomas will find a way to score and keep this much closer than the Super Bowl, but Seattle will eventually pull away at home.

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