NFL Week 3 Picks: Latest Odds and Top Experts' Predictions Around the Web

The New York Giants picked up their first win of the season Thursday night, defeating the Washington Redskins 32-21 at home. It was a resounding win for the G-Men, one not nearly as close as the final score indicates.

Eight other NFL squads will be looking to follow the Giants' lead and earn their first win in Week 3. Perhaps most notable among these slow starters is the Seattle Seahawks, defending NFC conference champions and 2014 Super Bowl runners-up. 

One would think Seattle can't possibly fall to 0-3, but the league has already demonstrated that parity and chaos are two true constants of the modern NFL—with the New England Patriots' continued excellence the third and Aaron Rodgers' mastery of all things related to the forward pass the fourth.

Cleveland, Jacksonville, Oakland and Tampa Bay picked up wins in Week 2, likely shattering a great many survivor-pool leagues. Some of the experts around the league were surely flummoxed. Let's see who they're taking in Week 3.

Matchup w/ Spread	Mike Freeman, Bleacher Report	Mike Ditka, ESPN	Joel Thorman, SB Nation	Peter Schrager, Fox Sports	Jason La Canfora, CBS Sports	Consensus (# of picks from listed contributors at each site)
ATL (-2) at DAL	ATL	DAL	ATL	DAL	ATL	ATL 35-8
IND (-3.5) at TEN	IND	TEN	IND	IND	IND	IND 38-5
OAK at CLE (-3.5)	OAK	CLE	CLE	OAK	OAK	CLE 25-18
CIN at BAL (-3)	BAL	CIN	BAL	BAL	CIN	CIN 22-21
JAX at NE (-14)	NE	NE	NE	NE	NE	NE 42-1
NO at CAR (-3)	CAR	CAR	CAR	CAR	CAR	CAR 41-2
PHI at NYJ (-2.5)	NYJ	NYJ	PHI	PHI	NYJ	NYJ 34-9
TB at HOU (-6.5)	TB	TB	HOU	TB	HOU	HOU 36-7
SD at MIN (-2.5)	SD	MIN	MIN	MIN	SD	MIN 28-15
PIT (-1.5) at STL	PIT	PIT	PIT	STL	PIT	PIT 36-7
SF at ARI (-6.5)	ARI	ARI	ARI	ARI	ARI	ARI 41-2
BUF at MIA (-3)	MIA	BUF	MIA	BUF	BUF	BUF 27-15
CHI at SEA (-14.5)	SEA	SEA	SEA	SEA	SEA	SEA 43-0
DEN (-3) at DET	DEN	DEN	DEN	DEN	DEN	DEN 36-7
KC at GB (-6.5)	GB	GB	GB	GB	GB	GB 40-3

Note: Picks come from writers and contributors at Bleacher Report, Fox Sports, CBS Sports, ESPN and SB Nation. Spreads courtesy of Odds Shark. 

Tough Calls

Oakland Raiders (1-1) at Cleveland Browns (1-1)

David Richard/Associated Press

Both these teams are coming off rather surprising Week 2 wins. The Raiders won a surprise shootout with the Baltimore Ravens 37-33 at home, while Cleveland rode three Travis Benjamin touchdowns (two receiving, one returning) to a 28-14 win over the Tennessee Titans.

Oakland's win is the more impressive one, as the Titans are a work in progress with a rookie starting quarterback in Marcus Mariota. Oakland quarterback Derek Carr only has one year of seasoning on Mariota, but he should prove to be a much tougher test for the Cleveland secondary.

Carr lit up Baltimore for 351 yards and three touchdowns against one interception. Rookie wideout Amari Cooper was the favorite target, catching seven passes for 109 yards and one long touchdown. Cooper has a tough test ahead of him in Cleveland cornerback Joe Haden, while Carr expects the defense as a whole to come after them.

"They're aggressive, physical," Carr said, via Cleveland.com's Dan Labbe. "They try to pride themselves on that. I think the world of them. I think they're very talented. I think they're very good. I can't say enough good things about them, but again, looking forward to, just like every week, going out and competing against those types of defenses."

The Browns secondary is no Legion of Boom, and could still be without corner Justin Gilbert, as he suffered a setback in practice Thursday, via Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal:

"

After sitting out the first two games of the season with a hip flexor injury, Gilbert began practice Thursday healthy as the Browns (1-1) prepared to host the Oakland Raiders (1-1).

However, shortly after practice started, Gilbert had his upper right leg wrapped by an athletic trainer during the half-hour portion open to reporters and watched the action from the sideline. It looked as if an ice pack was strapped to Gilbert's hamstring.

"

One would think Cleveland would again call on Johnny Manziel to lead the team against Oakland after delivering a win in Week 2, but head coach Mike Pettine has elected to go with Josh McCown, per Cleveland.com's Mary Kay Cabot. 

Brad Penner/Associated Press

ESPN.com's Pat McManamon noted that despite Manziel's knack for the big play—he has three touchdowns of 50-plus yards this season, all to Benjamin, per Pro-Football-Reference.com—McCown was the Browns' original choice: 

"

The Browns' thinking goes this way: We go back to McCown because he was our guy. He gets the chance because we believe he gives us our best chance. If McCown wins, which we expect, great. If he doesn't, we can always make the call to Manziel.

Pettine was right about one thing Monday. He said that coaches never make decisions based on "seeing what a guy has." They can't with their jobs depending on the number in the win column. Pettine said the team will find out what Manziel can do over the natural course of events.

"

It's something of a disappointment for neutral observers, as a Carr-Manziel duel would've been very intriguing considering they're both second-year guys who have already had wildly different starts to their respective careers. If the Browns secondary holds, McCown doesn't have to be prolific, as his team features two solid backs in Isaiah Crowell and Duke Johnson.

Oakland counters with running back Latavius Murray, and also boasts one of the most exciting young pass-rushers in the league in Khalil Mack, whom Browns tackle Joe Thomas compared to the great Lawrence Taylor.

“I never played against LT, so maybe I’m blowing smoke, but I’ve seen him play and dominate and to me they’re comparable types,” Thomas said Thursday, via Ulrich. “They’re both 6'2", 250-ish, lift a house, run a 4.3, destroy people at will. Just look back to what [Mack] did in college. It’s amazing he wasn’t the No. 1 pick."

Mack's traditional stats on the young season are pedestrian at best, so maybe this is the game where he snags a sack or two on the relatively immobile McCown and delivers the Raiders a win in their first road game of the season.

Buffalo Bills (1-1) at Miami Dolphins (1-1)

Bill Wippert/Associated Press

It's still early, but this matchup looks like the battle to not get left behind in what could be the league's toughest division.

QB Ryan Fitzpatrick and a stingy defense has the New York Jets at 2-0, and the Patriots are 2-0 for obvious reasons involving Tom Brady throwing to Rob Gronkowski and Bill Belichick outcoaching whomever is busy avoiding his scowl from the opposite sideline in a given week. The Bills and Fins are bringing up the rear.

Bills running back LeSean McCoy hasn't yet been at full strength this season, and his hamstring injury still lingers this week. This hasn't been much of a problem, though, with Karlos Williams and Boobie Dixon proving to be fine backups and quarterback Tyrod Taylor making Rex Ryan and the Bills coaching staff look pretty darn smart for electing him as the starter.

Date Opponent	Result	COMP-ATT	YDS	TD	INT	RSH YDS	RSH TD	QBR
9/13, Indianapolis	W 27-14	14-19	195	1	0	41	0	88.2
9/20, New England	L 40-32	23-30	242	3	3	43	1	32.6

Sure, Taylor threw three picks against New England, but he still accounted for four scores and kept the team fighting until the end.

He is bound to have a true letdown game this season, though. On the road against a division rival coming off a draining loss to the Pats could be the time. The Dolphins let Blake Bortles kill them with deep passes last week, most of them to Allen Robinson in a 23-20 Jaguars win. 

Taylor has flashed the ability to make the big play with his arm, but still hasn't had much time to prove he can do it consistently. He's also struggled on 3rd- and 4th-and-long this season, throwing two picks in 10 attempts, per ESPN.com.

Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated Press

He might not have to do much, as Miami's run defense hasn't been up to snuff this season. They've allowed 284 yards on 4.1 yards per carry, per ESPN.com, although they haven't yet given up a rushing TD. Defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh believes the team can improve on defense.

"You've got to respect every single team's run game, and that's the first goal. We've got to go out there and stop them," Suh said, via the South Florida Sun-Sentinel's Omar Kelly. "Obviously if we don't stop them we're not going have many opportunities to pass rush and get after the quarterback."

Even if the Bills offense isn't necessarily prolific, the defense can make up for it. Miami's rushing attack has been abysmal to start the season. They're 30th in the league in yards, and ostensible lead back Lamar Miller is averaging 2.9 yards per carry. If Buffalo's pass rush can get to Ryan Tannehill—who has had a fine start to the season but has been sacked five times—Miami's offense could come to screeching halt in this contest.