Week 3 Recap

Week 3 turned out to be a pretty chill affair; there were not a lot of tense moments watching the three games I picked this week.  Baltimore was in total control most of the game, San Diego's +3 1/2 wasn't in doubt (as the Chargers' ineffective secondary and the late touchdown didn't put the cover in doubt), and save for one late drive that could have put the under in the Philly-KC game in jeopardy, the pick looked solid throughout.  In all, it was a pretty rare and beautiful thing-- going 3-for-3 without the late fourth quarter panic is always great.

That being said, I did somewhat regret not playing the Atlanta - Miami game; that one was tight and went to the finish, but Vegas cashed a big, big ticket on that one.  As I wrote last week, the line looked like the books were begging for money on Atlanta, which they got.  I usually love to play those games, but I had a feeling that Miami might have been over-valued coming off the road win in Indy.  Of course, after the Colts went to San Francisco and punched the Niners in the teeth, the Dolphins' win at Lucas Oil Stadium looks even more impressive.  In any case, that was a big win for the books-- that game and the Green Bay game were big winners for the house.

The emergent story lines are always interesting in the NFL-- it's what makes the season and the sport in general so compelling.  The woes of the Giants and Steelers are something to watch, especially since there is most likely going to be value at some point in these teams as underdogs. The Miami - New Orleans game is going to tell us something about Miami for sure; as big a win as that was for the Dolphins, the Falcons are a team that very often plays poorly on the road.  If they can win or at least make it close, they might be the team to beat in that division.  I'm also looking at how SF rebounds after a divisional beatdown and a very ugly home loss to a young Colts team (well, most of the team is young, but a large amount of the credit goes to veteran Ahmad Bradshaw for controlling the game late with an impressive performance).  Week 4 has historically been a pivotal week; four games into the season, we start to get a picture of where the teams are at, and what possibilities lie ahead. 

NFL 2013 Week 3: 3-0
NFL 2013 Season Total: 5-0