Staff Picks: Panthers, Bengals and Rams

It was a disastrous week for me (and also Erickson), and everyone else went 7-9 on what I thought was the hardest slate of the year. Stopa and Pianow are still in a two-man race for first place with four weeks to go. We have three consensus picks, the Panthers, Bengals and Rams.

Enjoy the games.

	Erickson	Pianowski	Liss	Stopa	Del Don
Colts -3.5 at Titans	Colts	Colts	Titans	Titans	Colts
Falcons -8 at Panthers	Panthers	Panthers	Panthers	Panthers	Panthers
Bengals +9 at Steelers	Bengals	Bengals	Bengals	Bengals	Bengals
Giants -2 at Vikings	Giants	Vikings	Giants	Vikings	Giants
Packers -7 at Lions	Packers	Lions	Lions	Lions	Lions
Raiders +4 at Jaguars	Jaguars	Raiders	Jaguars	Raiders	Raiders
Buccaneers -2 at Redskins	Redskins	Redskins	Redskins	Buccaneers	Redskins
Browns +1 at Bills	Bills	Bills	Bills	Browns	Browns
Rams +9.5 at Saints	Rams	Rams	Rams	Rams	Rams
Seahawks +5 at 49ers	49ers	Seahawks	49ers	Seahawks	49ers
Patriots -3 at Bears	Patriots	Bears	Bears	Patriots	Bears
Dolphins +5.5 at Jets	Jets	Jets	Dolphins	Jets	Jets
Broncos -5.5 at Cardinals	Cardinals	Cardinals	Cardinals	Broncos	Cardinals
Chiefs +7 at Chargers	Chargers	Chiefs	Chargers	Chiefs	Chiefs
Eagles -3.5 at Cowboys	Cowboys	Cowboys	Cowboys	Eagles	Eagles
Ravens -3 at Texans	Ravens	Texans	Texans	Ravens	Ravens
Best Bet	Giants	Raiders	Redskins	Buccaneers	Jets
Last Week's Record	5-11	7-9	5-11	7-9	7-9
2010 Record	94-93-5	101-86-5	89-98-5	103-84-5	93-94-5
Best Bet Record	4-8-1	6-6-1	7-6	9-3-1	8-4-1
Consensus Pick Record	25-18-1
2009 Record	123-130-3	132-121-3	131-122-3	130-123-3	126-127-3
2008 Record	132-114-10	128-118-10	124-122-10	125-121-10	130-116-10
2007 Record	127-120	118-129	127-120	N/A	130-117
2006 Record	118-129	N/A	139-108	N/A	N/A
2005 Record	121-126	N/A	127-120	N/A	N/A
2004 Record	124-124	N/A	130-118	N/A	N/A
2003 Record	121-126	118-129	124-123	N/A	N/A
2002 Record	113-136	123-126	141-108	N/A	N/A
2001 Record	124-113	117-120	118-119	N/A	N/A
2000 Record	123-117	134-106	141-99	N/A	N/A

Consensus Picks

This week we have three consensus picks: the Panthers, Bengals and Rams.

Last week we went 1-3, putting us at 25-18-1 on the year. We finished 2009 at 19-23-1 on consensus picks, and were 24-19-2 on them in 2008.

Comments:

Writer	Comment
Erickson	This line is off in some places while they wait to hear if Favre plays. If anything, if he tries to gut it out, I'm going to want to be on the Giants even more, though I'll probably be able to get a better price... I wanted to invest in the Dead Cat Bounce with the Broncos, but I think that's already been priced into the line... The Chiefs have laid an egg twice on AFC West road games, plus the Chargers' collective backs are against the wall.
Pianowski	The trickiest slate of the season. I'd take 8-8 right now.
Liss	Talked myself into the Titans and Jaguars. Liked the Redskins, Rams, Bills and 49ers right away.
Stopa	Are you tired of me saying it yet? I say it every week, but let's say it again - the Bucs beat teams like the Redskins... The Chargers are maddening. Sometimes they look like the best team in the NFL; other times they look lost. When in doubt, take the points... I expect the Ravens and Jets to bounce back... The Jaguars and Raiders are very comparable, so I'll take more than a FG in what strikes me as a 50/50 sort of game... The Seahawks/Niners line should be 3, not 4.5... I have to go ugly with the Lions, Bengals, Panthers and Titans... Brett Favre is like that big zit on your forehead that won't go away. Neither will the Vikings.
Del Don	Lots of home dogs this week, but no best bet jumped out at me. I'll take the Jets, who should bounce back after getting embarrassed on Monday night.

The players:

•Jeff Erickson: RotoWire Senior editor, 2001, 2008 Staff Picks Champ. Writes the Value Meter. Covers and roots for the Bengals.

•Scott Pianowski: Fantasy expert for Yahoo! Sports, and also contributes to Rotowire.com. 2009 Staff Picks Champ. Roots for the Patriots.

•Chris Liss: RotoWire Managing Editor, 2000, 2002, 2006 Staff Picks Champ, 2003, 2004 co-champ. Writes Beating the Book and Surviving the Week in addition to Staff Picks. Covers and roots for the Giants.

•Mark Stopa: Staff Writer, Writes Working the Wire. Roots for the Bills.

•Dalton Del Don: RotoWire Senior Staff Writer. 2007 Staff Picks Champ. Writes the Game Capsules and the Barometer. Covers the Eagles and roots for the 49ers.