NFL picks 2018, Week 11: Experts taking Rams and Steelers to win

Last week was rough. It felt like all the games were blowouts, and most of them were. However, some of those sure-thing teams just happened to be on the wrong side of the blowout. We had unanimous incorrect picks on FIVE games. Five. It’s not unusual to see everyone whiff on that one upset, any given Sunday kind of game each week, but five is really something special.

But enough about last week. I am confident that this week’s picks will not steer you wrong.

This week’s toilet bowl

We have another toilet bowl on the schedule this week. The Raiders are at the Cardinals, in a battle for draft position. The Cardinals are getting most of the picks from our panel, and that makes sense. Arizona actually seems to want to play sometimes, and Josh Rosen and Larry Fitzgerald seem to have finally found a connection. Fitz has caught 14 of 22 targets for 152 yards and a touchdown over the last two games.

The Raiders have scored nine points in their last two games, total. So, yeah, the Cardinals look like the pick here. Then again, we said the same thing about the Jets against the Bills last week.

Chiefs vs. Rams picks

Here’s the game we really want to see. I know these are straight-up picks, but I have to point out that the over/under is 62 points. I’d feel pretty safe betting the over on this game.

The Chiefs are 6-0 against the Rams over the years, but that includes all those awful teams from the Rams Jeff Fisher days and before that.

This one is a home game now for the Rams. Well, technically it was a home game for the Rams when it was scheduled to take place in Mexico City, but then the field turf at Estadio Azteca was bad enough that it couldn’t even pbad muster with a league that’s let Dan Snyder host games year in and year out in his Maryland mud hole.

Five our experts and the computer are picking the Rams to win this one. Two of them and the coin are taking the Chiefs.

The Rams did lose receiver Cooper Kupp, but they’re still pretty loaded offensively with Brandin Cooks, Todd Gurley and Robert Woods. I’d be more worried about the L.A. secondary withstanding Chiefs offense. Then again, you could say the exact same thing about Kansas City’s defense here.

Best of the rest

There’s one pick for the Jaguars to beat the Steelers. That game could be the one where the bulk of us get it wrong. The Jags may realize that beating the Steelers this week would not be in their best interest.

We’ve got a lot of folks eyeing a rebound from the Ravens. They might honestly be better off without Joe Flacco. The Bengals brought in Hue Jackson to be the badistant to the regional manager, so that’s kind of subtraction by addition.

That Bears-Vikings game should be a humdinger. I lean toward Minnesota winning this one, but it’s a true toss up, especially being a home game for Chicago.

The rules

OK, let’s get to the picks. Our guest this week is Joe McAtee, the site manager at the one and only Turf Show Times, SB Nation’s home for all things Los Angeles Rams.

The computer picks come to us via OddsShark. The coin is a quarter from 2007 that gets flipped every Tuesday morning, heads for the home team. Panelists are allowed to make changes for up to two of their picks by Friday to account for injuries, etc.