Week 3 NFL Picks:
2025 Edition

Shoutout to the top performers of Week 2! Six entrants got 12 games correct. UnusualMan47* won the week thanks to his tiebreaker prediction, but friend of the show Andrew Perez also got 12 games right along with RedzoneKillers, bradybakerr1, DamDash671, and Flurbo.

This year we are hosting our pick'em contest on Sleeper, and just because you missed the first two weeks doesn't mean you can't still join and try to catch the pack.

Let's get to our concensus misses and lone wolf picks from Week 3.

*If you want to be shouted out by name, be sure to let us know who you are!

Big Misses

This week featured 7 games where the three of us were in agreement and went down with the ship together. Those games were:

Miami Dolphins at Buffalo Bills (-10.5) - All three Sportsballers took the Bills and laid the points. They were at home, the Dolphins had looked terrible, and we all felt like McDaniel could be jobless by Monday. The Bills got the expected win, but fell just short of covering the spread in a 31-21 victory.

Pool results: 11% took MIA

Houston Texans at Jacksonville Jaguars (-1.5) - All three Sportsballers took the Texans and the points. The Texans had a shot at the end but a big interceptions for the Jaguars sealed the deal on a 17-10 home win.

Pool results: 32% took JAC

Cincinnati Bengals at Minnesota Vikings (-4.5) - All three Sportsballers took the Bengals and the points. Minnesota's defense ruled the day, though, and the Vikings won big at home by a 48-10 margin.

Pool results: 39% took JAC

Pittsburgh Steelers (-1.5) at New England Patriots - All three Sportsballers took the Patriots and the points at home. It was a close game into the fourth quarter, but a late touchdown pass from Rodgers to Calvin Austin gave the Steelers a 7-point lead and they held it to the gun.

Pool results: 68% took PIT

Las Vegas Raiders at Washington Commanders (-3.5) - All three Sportsballers took the Raiders and the points. With Jayden Daniels out with a knee injury, none of us had confidence the Commanders would win the game at all, much less by more than a field goal. Unfortunately for us, Marcus Mariota led a solid offensive attack on Sunday and the Commanders took the 41-24 win.

Pool results: 62% took WAS

Dallas Cowboys at Chicago Bears (-1.5) - All three Sportsballers took the Cowboys and the points. They were stunned as the Bears practically routed the Cowboys to the tune of 31-14 with Caleb Williams enjoying his best day as a pro to date.

Pool results: 15% took CHI

Arizona Cardinals at San Francisco 49ers (-1.5) - All three Sportsballers took the 49ers and laid the points. In yet another close call, they missed it by a single point as an Eddy Piñeiro field goal at the gun gave San Francisco a too-narrow 16-15 victory.

Pool results: 23% took ARI

Lone Wolf

We also had several games where one of us went off the beaten path. Here are those games and whether our lone wolf got the kill or unexpectedly found himself as the prey:

Atlanta Falcons (-4.5) at Carolina Panthers - Cory was the lone member of the Sportsballers to take the points. He made Eric and Evan look like fools as Carolina shut out Atlanta by a 30-0 margin on their home field.

Pool results: 14% took CAR

Green Bay Packers (-9.5) at Cleveland Browns - Evan was the lone member of the Sportsballers to lay the points, completely unafraid of an enormous line on the road. His co-hosts benefited as the NFL's top ranked defense held Green Bay to just two scores and the Browns ultimately won by a 13-10 margin.

Pool results: 21% took CLE

Los Angeles Rams at Philadelphia Eagles (-3.5) - Evan was the lone member of the Sportsballers to take the points, and he had the lone wolf win on lock until the final play of the game when the Eagles blocked a field goal attempt to win the game and then returned it for a touchdown and a 7-point victory.

Pool results: 70% took PHI

New York Jets at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-7.5) - Eric was the lone member of the Sportsballers to take the points. The Bucs had a shot to cover the spread with a late field goal, but the Eagles weren't the only team wearing green to return a blocked field goal for a touchdown in the waning moments of their early-window game. A third straight game-winning drive by Baker Mayfield gave the Bucs the 29-27 win, but Eric got the lone wolf win.

Pool results: 13% took NYJ

Indianapolis Colts (-3.5) at Tennessee Titans - Cory was the lone member of the Sportsballers to take the points. The Titans failed to take advantage of home field advantage and lost by three touchdowns.

Pool results: 85% took IND

Denver Broncos at Los Angeles Chargers (-2.5) - Cory was the lone member of the Sportsballers to take the points. It was a close call for Eric and Evan, but a 23-20 win on a Cameron Dicker game winner sealed the deal.

Pool results: 71% took LAC

New Orleans Saints at Seattle Seahawks (-7.5) - Evan was the lone member of the Sportsballers to lay the points. It was never particularly close; Seattle led 21-0 by the end of the first quarter and 38-6 at the half.

Pool results: 67% took SEA

Kansas City Chiefs (-5.5) at New York Giants - Evan was the lone member of the Sportsballers to lay the points and take the Chiefs big on the road. The Giants kept the line in play into the fourth quarter, but a late opportunity to backdoor it doinked harmlessly off the crossbar (not on a kick!) and the Chiefs held on for a comfortable 22-9 victory.

Pool results: 77% took KC

Detroit Lions at Baltimore Ravens (-5.5) - Eric was the lone member of the Sportsballers to lay the points. The Lions executed a nearly-flawless opening drive to take a 7-0 lead and only fell behind the spread for about three and a half minutes total.

Pool results: 67% took DET

Standings

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