Week 3 NFL Picks: Predictions for Sunday's Games, Odds Guide and Over/Under Tips

Playing late-week lines can be a risky move for would-be bettors in the NFL landscape.

By the time the weekend rolls around, lines have moved thanks to general betting and the house has made some adjustments of its own, making for what could be a tougher time. 

Luckily for bettors still trying to make some headway early in the season, this is only Week 3—we're still seeing oddities like Ryan Fitzpatrick blowing opponents out of the water and, perhaps strangest of all, the Cleveland Browns winning games. 

Picking and choosing spots to strike is as important as ever, though, so here is a stab at how the remaining slate will play out based around the available lines. 

Week 3 NFL Odds

Buffalo at Minnesota (-17) | O/U 41

Cincinnati at Carolina (-3) | O/U 43.5

Denver at Baltimore (-5) | O/U 43

Green Bay (-3) at Washington | O/U 46

Indianapolis at Philadelphia (-7) | O/U 47.5

New Orleans at Atlanta (-3) | O/U 53

N.Y. Giants at Houston (-6) | O/U 41.5

Oakland at Miami (-3) | O/U 44

San Francisco at Kansas City (-7) | O/U 56

Tennessee at Jacksonville (-6.5) | O/U 39.5

L.A. Chargers at L.A. Rams (-7) | O/U 48

Chicago (-5.5) at Arizona | O/U 

Dallas at Seattle (-1.5) | O/U 44.5

New England (-7) at Detroit | O/U 51.5

Pittsburgh (-1.5) at Tampa Bay | O/U 53.5

Green Bay (-3) at Washington

Always roll with the better quarterback. 

Fine, maybe not always, but almost always when it comes to Aaron Rodgers. 

Hobbled knee or not, Rodgers has completed 69.4 percent of his passes with four touchdowns and no picks, leading to a win over the Chicago Bears and a tie with the Minnesota Vikings. It's not an ideal start, but not the worst either given the brutal divisional stretch to start the year. 

For bettors, this line has to be more about the middling Washington Redskins. 

Those Redskins are at 1-1 but could be winless were it not for a season-opening game against Arizona. Week 2 was a poorly attended home opener against the Indianapolis Colts where Alex Smith couldn't score a touchdown and Adrian Peterson ran for 20 yards on 11 carries. No wideouts are stepping up for the unit, the running game is a mess and, as a result, Smith isn't threatening defenses down the field. 

Which is bad news against this Green Bay defense: 

Rodgers has improved help, to say the least. He's still going to do his damage, but the defense is showing some exotic looks sure to fluster Smith and to cap it all off, he's getting starting running back Aaron Jones back. 

With Washington out of sorts even at home, Rodgers should pick apart this contest almost causally while the opponent doesn't have the coherent attack needed to keep pace. 

Prediction: Packers 28, Redskins 20 

L.A. Chargers at L.A. Rams (-7) 

Jae C. Hong/Associated Press

This would be the exception to the rule about quarterbacks mentioned above. 

Philip Rivers of the Los Angeles Chargers has looked great through two games, completing 73.1 percent of his passes with six touchdowns and one interception. But there are two slight problems: 

• His Chargers are only 1-1
• He's faced a cupcake defensive schedule

For comparison's sake when it comes to the "cupcake" comment: 

This isn't saying Rivers is guaranteed to implode, but he faces an uphill battle against a defense boasting Aaron Donald and Ndamukong Suh up front, pressuring him into throws against a secondary headlined by Marcus Peters, Aqib Talib and Lamarcus Joyner.

This has been the blueprint for the Rams so far after a 33-13 thumping of the Oakland Raiders in Week 1 and a 34-0 blanking of the Arizona Cardinals the week after. The superb game flow has Jared Goff and the offense comfortable, while the defense has picked off four passes and yet to allow a passing touchdown.

For this Sunday afternoon kickoff, look for the Rams to limit big plays, which means a ball-control offense and a comfortable win against a team riding higher than it should in the public-perception department thanks to facing downtrodden defenses. 

Prediction: Rams 27, Chargers 14

Chicago (-5.5) at Arizona

Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

It doesn't get much easier than grabbing the Bears over the Cardinals at this spread. 

These Cardinals have lost two games by a combined score of 58-6, getting absolutely nothing from a slower-than-usual Sam Bradford, who has 243 yards and two interceptions through the two games. 

Stunningly enough, the Cardinals haven't utilized former MVP candidate David Johnson well either, giving him only 22 carries and just 11 targets in the passing game, rarely lining him up at wide receiver, where he did much of his damage during his 2,100-yard season in 2016. 

The Bears are going to feast, to say the least. Khalil Mack has only made a strong Akiem Hicks-led unit better, and it has 10 sacks over two games, resulting in coming up one point shy of the Packers to start the season and taking home a win over Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks in Week 2. 

Despite it being so early in the season, health is going to play a big part in this one: 

On paper, Arizona's defense should have some chance at disrupting Mitchell Trubisky, who has only mustered a pair of touchdowns and interceptions. But if he's conservative and taking care of the football, a strong ground game and that elite defense should have the Bears cruising. 

Barring something dramatic, Arizona is the new Cleveland from a smart betting perspective. 

Prediction: Bears 30, Cardinals 17

Odds via OddsShark