NFL betting tips: Best bets, predictions and picks for Week 3
Resident tipster Ross Williams checks out Sunday’s big NFL match-ups and throws a big-priced punt into his weekly Best Bets.
NFL betting tips: Week 3
2pts Los Angeles Chargers (+6.5) to beat Kansas City Chiefs at Evens (General)
2pts Arizona Cardinals (-7.5) to beat Jacksonville Jaguars at 10/11 (General)
1pt New England Patriots (-1.5) to beat New Orleans Saints & Under 46.5 Total Match Points at 7/4 (Sky Bet)
1pt Justin Fields (Bears) to score 2+ Touchdowns at 14/1 (Sky Bet)
Los Angeles Chargers @ Kansas City Chiefs
- When: Sunday at 18:00 BST
- TV: Sky Sports NFL/Free to watch on Sky Bet
Picking against the Chiefs – at Arrowhead – is usually extremely foolish, but I do think the generous spread in this huge AFC West match-up makes for an intriguing prospect on Sunday.
Kansas City will be eager to bounce back against their divisional rivals, having suffered defeat at the hands of Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens last weekend. However, the Chargers are also coming off a tight loss and, with no real pressure on them, I fancy Justin Herbert and his troops to give Mahomes and co. a real run for their money.
This should be the shootout that the Chargers and Cowboys promised a week ago.
The Chiefs will do what they do, and you’d fully expect them to put up 30 points on home soil.
However, Herbert was excellent in his two encounters with Kansas City in his rookie year – throwing for over 300 yards in each – and if the first two weeks of the season are anything to go by, this Chiefs’ defence has taken a step back from the level they were playing at in 2020.
Both Keenan Allen and Mike Williams have been heavily-targeted this season by their quarterback, and both will look extremely dangerous against a secondary that is consistently allowing for accurate passing play.
The Chiefs may be the best fourth-quarter team we’ve ever seen, so I won’t go quite as far as saying they’ll lose this match-up. But do I think the Chargers can keep this one close? Absolutely.
Arizona Cardinals @ Jacksonville Jaguars
- When: Sunday at 18:00 BST
- TV: NFL Red Zone on Sky Sports Mix/Free to watch on Sky Bet
The Jaguars have been nothing short of awful in the first two weeks of the season, and it’s tough to imagine things getting much better in week three.
Urban Meyer’s first fortnight in Jacksonville has seen his team concede 60 points and more yardage than all but three teams in the NFL. Plus, the offence just hasn’t got going, with rookie quarterback Trevor Lawrence struggling to put together a complete 60 minutes due to the lack of talent around him.
Meanwhile, the Cardinals have started the season like a house on fire. They aren’t the finished article, but they’ve quickly become one of the league’s most exciting outfits, led by the dynamic Kyler Murray who has already thrown his hat into the way-too-early MVP discussion.
Only Tampa Bay have scored more points than Arizona’s 72 and the NFC West outfit are averaging a massive 445 yards per game, only bettered by the Las Vegas Raiders.
All told, it’s a landslide that Jacksonville should not be able to handle on Sunday.
Tyrod Taylor gave the Jaguars defence all kinds of problems on opening day and, with all due respect to the veteran quarterback, he no longer belongs in the same conversation as Murray.
The scare in Minnesota last week will have Arizona focused on polishing this game off as soon as they can, and I can’t imagine they’ll take the foot off the gas until they’re comfortably two touchdowns ahead, at the very least.
New Orleans Saints @ New England Patriots
- When: Sunday at 18:00 BST
- TV: NFL Red Zone on Sky Sports Mix/Free to watch on Sky Bet
After the performance that was served up against Carolina last week, I think we can officially say that the Saints’ mammoth victory over Green Bay in week one was a red herring.
New Orleans crashed back to earth with a bang a week ago and I don’t believe a trip north to New England is even close to the ideal bounce-back opportunity. Sean Payton’s team were held to a remarkably low 128 yards against the Panthers, and things could be even trickier when they face a Patriots defence that ranks in the top five for both yardage and points allowed.
Alvin Kamara was a non-factor in week two and the Saints need him to have a much better day if they have any hope in this one. However, even if Kamara performs better, the lack of talent besides him is a major worry.
Jameis Winston will have to get the passing game going to secure a victory, but who is he going to throw the ball to? Marquez Callaway is currently the #1 receiver on the depth chart, but he doesn’t even feature within the top 100 players in the league in terms of targets this season.
Everything points to the Saints struggling to get on the board, and that bodes well for anyone tempted by the under.
The Patriots have looked solid through two weeks and I expect them to get a win here, but they’re hardly prolific themselves.
As Mac Jones continues to learn and grow, the Patriots have a commitment to the run game and safer, high-percentage throws. Averaging 20.5 points, New England are great at doing just enough, and I expect something similar on Sunday against a New Orleans defence that will admittedly challenge them if somewhere near their best.
Chicago Bears @ Cleveland Browns
- When: Sunday at 18:00 BST
- TV: NFL Red Zone on Sky Sports Mix/Free to watch on Sky Bet
With Andy Dalton on the sidelines, Sunday will mark the first start of Justin Fields’ career and – of course – it just had to be in Ohio.
I don’t expect Fields to guide the Chicago Bears to victory in the state where he made his name, but it wouldn’t at all surprise me if the young quarterback put together an eye-catching individual performance.
The Bears will likely be chasing this game, with Cleveland’s offence boosted by the return of Odell Beckham, and that puts plenty of pressure (but also opportunity) on the young shoulders of Fields.
He’s a good thrower of the ball, but inevitably he will need time to work on his reads and adapt to the speed of the professional game, so I fully expect Fields to revert to his not-so-secret weapon on lots of occasions on Sunday.
With a frightening defensive line in front of him, Fields will be chased out of the pocket frequently, but that may not necessarily be a bad thing. The former Ohio State Buckeye ran for over 1100 yards in college and found his way into the end-zone 19 times.
He’s also already experienced the thrill of an NFL touchdown, as he ran in for one in the Bears’ season opener in Los Angeles.
On Sunday, sign me up for two Fields scores, as one of college football’s greatest competitors of the modern era brings his toughness to the NFL.
Odds correct at 1215 BST (25/09/21)
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