Editor’s Note: We here at Last Word on Sports are happy and proud to welcome Forrest Dolan to the writing team. Forrest has been writing at http://therealsportssavant.blogspot.ca for several years.
Forrest is an avid fan of most sports and will be providing us with articles on NBA, College Football and Basketball, Baseball, Golf, NASCAR and NFL, which is his specialty, specifically his weekly NFL picks. Last season he achieved a cool 180 – 87 record, good for the best record on picking “to win” of all major published analysts in the United States last season. He was also well above .500 picking against the spread and over/unders. Forrest looks to repeat his success this season and is now giving you his picks here at LastWordOnSports.com.
The NFL continues to surprise us with unfathomable outcomes through just the second week of play. In Week 2 we had some rare performances from teams and individuals. This was a week where we saw Tom Brady and the Patriots lose a home opener for the first time in their stadium’s history and scored under 20 points since before anyone can remember. The Cardinals, who beat those Patriots won a road game on the east coats after going winless on the east coast a year ago. Miami somehow became an offensive force behind their rookie AB, scoring 35 points in a game, matching their high score from 2011 when they scored 35 once. We saw Dallas go on the road and get blown out by a rookie QB and score only 7 points after beating the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants last week. For the first time ever, Peyton Manning had 3 interceptions in a single quarter. The Saints are 0-2 and there are only six teams left in the NFL that are undefeated after two games! What a crazy year of the NFL it has been already and we still have 15 weeks of the regular season to go.
As for my game and score predictions for Week 2, it was all about a tale of two halves of the day making all the difference in my NFL picks. What started as a shocking and abysmal day of picks had a rapid rebound in the late and Monday games. At the end of the 1:00PM EST games(and the Thursday game previous), my picks record was a mediocre 6-4 to win, an awful 2-6-2 versus the spread, and a bad 4-6 with the over/under. Above all, the one thing I pride in my picks is always getting at least one pick right out of the three per game, but in these first 10 games I had recorded two dreadful strikeouts, something I have very rarely experienced. It was looking like a calamity of a week for my NFL picks to the likes I had never seen. I tried to stay positive and remember that I had such an amazing run of winning picks all of last year for a reason. I needed to trust in myself and my late game selections to at least even my picks for the week out. Boy, did they ever.
In the 4:00PM EST games, Sunday night and eventual Monday night games, my picks came roaring back posting a 5-1 record to win, an amazing 5-1 versus the spread and 4-1-1 record in the over/under. In those six games I tallied 3 game pick trifectas and would have had a 4th if not for a push in the over/under in the Lions/49ers game. In all, the horrible first part of my day and consequent barnstorm of winning picks in the late games evened my day out to a nice 11-5 record to win and respectable 7-7-2 and 8-7-1 records versus the spread and over/under. I feel like that late charge of picks is just the momentum I need to get my Sports Savant prognostication in full effect. I’m feeling a big week of winning picks for Week 3.
*WEEK 2 RESULTS*
Trifecta: 5
Picks with a “*LOCK*” indicated next to the game score are my Savant Spread Locks of the Week.
Don’t forget to check lastwordonsports.com every week to see my game picks and check the previous week’s picks for individual game pick results! And now I present my Week 3, Sports Savant, NFL picks…
New York(N) @ Carolina(-2.5) (o/u 49.5)
Savant Spread Pick: Carolina and the points to win ~ 34-29
Over/Under Pick: Over
—
Result: New York(N) 36 Carolina 7 / Total Points 43 /
Winner: – Spread: – O/U: –
*Strikeout*
St. Louis @ Chicago(-7.5) (o/u 44)
Savant Spread Pick: St. Louis with the points; Chicago to win ~ 23-17
Over/Under Pick: Under
Tampa Bay @ Dallas(-8) (o/u 46.5)
Savant Spread Pick: Tampa Bay with the points; Dallas to win ~ 24-17
Over/Under Pick: Under
Minnesota v. San Francisco(-6.5) (o/u 43)
Savant Spread Pick: San Francisco and the points to win ~ 31-21 *LOCK*
Over/Under Pick: Over
Tennessee v. Detroit(-3.5) (o/u 47)
Savant Spread Pick: Detroit and the points to win ~ 24-20
Over/Under Pick: Under
Cincinnati @ Washington(-3) (o/u 49)
Savant Spread Pick: Washington and the points to win ~ 31-27
Over/Under Pick: Over
Miami v. New York(A)(-2.5) (o/u 40)
Savant Spread Pick: New York(A) and the points to win ~ 23-16
Over/Under Pick: Under
Kansas City @ New Orleans(-9) (o/u 53)
Savant Spread Pick: New Orleans and the points to win ~ 34-24 *LOCK*
Over/Under Pick: Over
Cleveland v. Buffalo(-3) (o/u 44)
Savant Spread Pick: Buffalo and the points to win ~ 27-20 *LOCK*
Over/Under Pick: Over
Jacksonville @ Indianapolis(-3) (o/u 42)
Savant Spread Pick: Indianapolis and the points to win ~ 21-17
Over/Under Pick: Under
Arizona v. Philadelphia(-3.5) (o/u 43)
Savant Spread Pick: Arizona to win ~ 19-17 *LOCK*
Over/Under Pick: Under
Atlanta @ San Diego(-3) (o/u 47.5)
Savant Spread Pick: Atlanta to win ~ 31-28
Over/Under Pick: Over
Denver v. Houston(-2) (o/u 45.5)
Savant Spread Pick: Houston and the points to win ~ 24-20
Over/Under Pick: Under
Oakland v. Pittsburgh(-4.5) (o/u 44.5)
Savant Spread Pick: Pittsburgh and the points to win ~ 27-16
Over/Under Pick: Under
New England @ Baltimore(-3) (o/u 49)
Savant Spread Pick: Baltimore and the points to win ~ 27-23
Over/Under Pick: Over
Seattle @ Green Bay(-3) (o/u 46.5)
Savant Spread Pick: Green Bay and the points to win ~ 23-19
Over/Under Pick: Under
Legal Stuff: These picks are for entertainment purposes only. No picks are guaranteed. Don’t bet more than you can afford to lose. Only bet with reputable sports books or on Proline. We take no responsibility for the success of the picks – it’s gambling after all.
