Week 3 NFL Picks: Mid-Week Vegas Odds, Lines and Predictions

If 0-2 NFL teams are serious about getting to the postseason in 2015, Week 3 is vitally important to the remainder of the season.

The Seattle Seahawks, Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles, Indianapolis Colts, New York Giants and Detroit Lions are in a bit of trouble already, and the hole will get significantly darker and deeper should they fall to 0-3 this season.

As a result, a much better and more complete effort can be expected from all of them, and it would be surprising if at least three of those teams don't pick up their first victories of the season.

We have turned the page on Week 2 and moved ahead to games in the final weekend of September. Two weeks of action mean we have gained quite a bit of information on Roger Goodell's 32 teams, but we will need to get through Week 4 before we have the big picture on the 2015 season.

In this piece, we look at this week's lines provided by Odds Shark and make predictions on every game and go into detail on three of them.

Giants find their stride against overmatched Redskins

The Redskins opened some eyes by evening their record in a Week 2 victory over the St. Louis Rams that was impressive for a number of reasons.

The Rams came into the game after they flashed their speed and defeated the defending NFC champion Seahawks in their opener.  One of the major advantages they had as they went to Washington was a big edge in team speed. The Rams are one of the fastest teams in the league, while the Redskins are one of the slowest.

But Jay Gruden's team did not let this disadvantage cause issues. The Redskins won the battle on both sides of the line of scrimmage and discovered a new force in the running game, as Matt Jones ran for 123 yards on 19 carries.

It was an impressive effort and will give the Redskins a game plan to follow this year, but it won't result in many victories the rest of the way. It almost certainly will not help against the Giants this week.

Tom Coughlin's team is winless after the first two games, blowing late leads against the Dallas Cowboys and Atlanta Falcons each of the first two weeks. Eli Manning has absorbed much of the blame for his clock-management gaffes in both of those games, and the pressure on him to turn things around is quite high.

Manning has a lot going for him despite those problems, as he signed a contract extension days before the start of the season. More importantly, he has Odell Beckham Jr. on the receiving end of his passes, and they should be able to exploit the Washington secondary.

The Giants are 4-0 straight up and against the spread in their last four games against the Redskins, and that trend should continue Thursday night at Met Life Stadium. The Redskins are 4-10 ATS in their last 14 road games.

Bears will offer little resistance in trip to Seattle

Game	Line	Over/Under	Selections
Washington at N.Y. Giants	NYG -4	44	N.Y. Giants; Over
Cincinnati at Baltimore	Balt. -2.5	44.5	Baltimore; Under
New Orleans at Carolina	Car. -3	45	Carolina; Under
Oakland at Cleveland	Cle. -3	42	Oakland; Under
Atlanta at Dallas	Atl. -1	45	Dallas; Under
Tampa Bay at Houston	Hou. -7	40.5	Houston; Over
San Diego at Minnesota	Minn. -1	45	Minnesota; Under
Jacksonville at New England	NE -14.5	47.5	Jacksonville; Under
Philadelphia at N.Y. Jets	NYJ -1	46.5	N.Y. Jets
Pittsburgh at St. Louis	Even	47.5	Pittsburgh; Over
Indianapolis at Tennessee	Ind. -3	45	Indianapolis
San Francisco at Arizona	Ariz. -7	44	Arizona; Under
Buffalo at Miami	Mia. -2.5	43.5	Buffalo; Under
Chicago at Seattle	Sea. -16	43.5	Seattle
Denver at Detroit	NL	--	Detroit
Kansas City at Green Bay	GB -7.5	49	Green Bay; Over

The Chicago Bears have fulfilled expectations by losing their first two games of the season to the Green Bay Packers and the Arizona Cardinals.

However, few expected the Seahawks to take an 0-2 record to CenturyLink Field when they open the home portion of their schedule against the Bears.

The Seahawks are huge 16-point favorites to get on the board with their first victory of the year, and that line speaks as much to the Bears' problems as it does to the Seahawks' strengths.

The Bears will try to register the upset with backup quarterback Jimmy Clausen getting the start in place of Jay Cutler. An injury to Cutler forced Clausen into action when Cutler reportedly pulled his hamstring while attempting to chase down Tony Jefferson after a second-quarter interception that resulted in an Arizona touchdown.

Seattle's pass rush, led by defensive end Michael Bennett (2.0 sacks), should be all over Clausen. When the Seahawks have the ball, Russell Wilson, Marshawn Lynch and new tight end Jimmy Graham should have a field day against a Bears defense that does not appear to have any significant playmakers.

The Bears were among the league's worst defensive teams in 2013 and 2014, and little appears to have changed through the first two games.

The impost is huge, but the Seahawks will run roughshod over the once-proud Bears.

Lions wake up at home against Peyton and Co.

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Detroit head coach Jim Caldwell earned a great deal of respect last year when the team went 11-5 and earned a spot in the playoffs.

The Lions looked like that same playoff team through the first 22 minutes of their opener against the San Diego Chargers when they rolled to a 21-3 lead.

Since that time, the Lions have been badly outplayed by the Chargers and the Minnesota Vikings. At the same time, the Denver Broncos used late defensive touchdowns over the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs to score back-to-back season-opening victories.

The Lions are on high alert as they open the home portion of the schedule. They have some key problems, the Vikings battered as quarterback Matthew Stafford, who has already taken significant physical abuse in just two games. Additionally, the Lions are trying to adjust to life without Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley on the defensive line.

Meanwhile, the Broncos are learning that Peyton Manning is just a shell of his former self. While he led a late game-tying drive against the Chiefs, he is having a difficult time throwing medium- and long-range passes. As a result, the Denver offense is having a difficult time putting together big plays.

The desperation factor will be huge here, because the Lions can't afford to fall any further behind the 2-0 Green Bay Packers in the NFC North.

Look for Stafford to shake off the bruises and lead the Lions to their first victory of the season.