NFL Expert Picks Week 4: Four Undefeated NFC Teams Predicted
NFL expert picks for Week 4 are coming in from ESPN. One of the interesting Week 4 NFL picks has the ESPN experts going with the Pittsburgh Steelers over the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday night, October 1. ESPN.com releases weekly predictions from experts with the network, but not all the picks from the coming week have been submitted yet. It’s possible that a few of the analysts are waiting for more injury reports to come out.
Despite the Steelers missing Ben Roethlisberger for the next few weeks, the ESPN analysts feel the team has enough talent to beat the Ravens at home Thursday night. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, CBS Sports analysts picked the opposite, feeling that Joe Flacco and the Ravens would be too talented to fall to 0-4 on the season. If the Ravens do lose this game, the team would be in a huge hole that might be impossible to get out of in 2015.
There is an early Sunday, October 4 game on the schedule as well. The Miami Dolphins host the New York Jets at 9:30 a.m. ET in London and the Week 4 NFL expert picks side with the Jets. This is an AFC East battle, with the Jets looking to move to 3-1 with a victory. The Dolphins would drop to an ugly 1-3 already if they lose on early Sunday morning.
There are a lot of unanimous predictions from the games this week, showing it could be another one-sided day of football on October 4. The ESPN experts pick the Carolina Panthers over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Atlanta Falcons over the Houston Texans, the Cincinnati Bengals over the Kansas City Chiefs, the San Diego Chargers over the Cleveland Browns, the Green Bay Packers over the San Francisco 49ers, and the Arizona Cardinals over the St. Louis Rams. It most cases, the home team is favored in these match-ups, with the Falcons selected to move to 4-0 on the season.
In the rest of the split decisions from early games on Sunday, the ESPN analysts picked the Buffalo Bills over the New York Giants, the Indianapolis Colts over the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Philadelphia Eagles over the Washington Redskins, and the Oakland Raiders over the Chicago Bears. KC Joyner (30-18) and Adam Caplan (26-22) have sided with the Jaguars over Colts, predicting the team to take over first place in the AFC South. That’s a very bold prediction, but one the oddsmakers are disagreeing with.
In the later Sunday games, the Week 4 NFL expert picks from ESPN favor the Denver Broncos to beat the Minnesota Vikings and then the Dallas Cowboys to beat the New Orleans Saints. The Dallas vs. New Orleans game is on Sunday night football, with NBC providing game coverage at 8:30 p.m. ET. The Saints are without Drew Brees and the Cowboys are without Tony Romo, making it a battle between backup quarterbacks.
As for the Monday night game (October 5) between the Seattle Seahawks and Detroit Lions, the experts are going with the Seahawks to improve to 2-2 on the season. This is the first time that the ESPN experts have unanimously picked the Seahawks to win this season, and it comes despite early reports that Marshawn Lynch might not play in the game. That could end up being a game-time decision that frustrates fantasy football owners trying to set lineups over the weekend.
In addition to predicting that the Baltimore Ravens will fall to 0-4, the ESPN analysts predict the same fate for the Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, and New Orleans Saints. It’s a really rough way to start the season, likely eliminating all four teams from making the postseason. The Week 4 NFL expert picks also have the Arizona Cardinals, Carolina Panthers, Green Bay Packers, and Atlanta Falcons all moving to 4-0 atop the NFC standings.
[Image Sources: Christian Petersen And Jamie Squire / Getty Images]
