2018 Week 1 NFL Picks

By the Football Garbage Time Staff

If you followed last year, you won over 60% of your picks, and we aim to do even better this year.

And if you’ve been following us, you know that we here at Football Garbage Time have gone head to head against Wally, Will and Ray at Urban Sports Scene on our NFL Picks for the last 3 seasons.  Why?  Because they’re awesome competitors, they KNOW their sports, and, heck, they’re just good guys!  But this year, we’ll have their picks up right HERE each and every week, so keep it tuned in, to both us and them, because we’ll be picking all season all long.

Without further to do, here we go:

Week 1 Games

Ha Kung Wong’s Picks

Ha Kung’s Thoughts:

Last year I ended up with a 62% record for the season, so that’s three years in a row with over a 60% pick rate.  The first week of the season is always tough because we have so little information on the teams in their current composition, but I have confidence I’ll get you all started on the right foot.

Lock of the Week => Baltimore Ravens (-7.5) over Buffalo Bills 

Nathan Peterman, he of 5 interceptions over half a game fame, is your new Buffalo Bills starting QB.  Yikes.  The defense is a shambles and your receiving core basically consists of Shady McCoy, Kelvin Benjamin and a supporting cast of nobodies.  The Ravens on the other hand has one of the top 5 defenses in the league, has a newly incentivized Joe Flacco with new weapons in Michael Crabtree and John Brown, plus all the upside in the world with RB Alex Collins.  And they’re playing at home.  Yeah, I think the Ravens got this.

Upset of the Week => Cincinnati Bengals (+2.5) over Indianapolis Colts

I’m an Andrew Luck believer, but he hasn’t had regular game action in 2 years, plus there’s a huge mess in the backfield with Marlon Mack injured, Robert Turbin suspended for 4 games, and Nyheim Hines not able to hold on to the ball.  And scarier than that is the Colts complete lack of defense.  The Bengals aren’t good, but Andy Dalton is competent, particularly with AJ Green at 100% health, and Joe Mixon plus Giovanni Bernard makes for a solid backfield compared to what the Colts have.  I have no faith in the Colts being able to slow down the “ginge” and company, so I’m going with the underdog here.

Joanne Kong’s Picks

Joanne’s Thoughts:

Check out Joanne’s thoughts and predictions for the Jacksonville Jaguars @ New York Giants game in her game preview!

UPDATE: Joanne has switched her pick for HOU @ NE to NE.

Ryan Whitfield’s Picks

Ryan’s Thoughts:

A new season is upon us, and a new term of dominance begins. I just missed out on my second straight title last season, but look to make it 2-of-3 this season. Make no mistake, game to game, week to week, season to season, I embody consistency in this pick em league. I only hope Ha Kung leads off with my picks so you can just stop scrolling now. [Editors Note: No chance, buddy.] But, he’ll most likely make you wait til the end of the article for the home run picks. Here are my high level thoughts on some of week 1’s matchups.

Opening night we will see the defending champ fall for the second straight season. The Eagles are too banged up (apologize for regurgitating last seasons playoff line), Foles did not look great this summer and there is no Jeffery. Don’t forget the Falcons are a good team and I expect them to play spoiler on opening night.

My big upset this week: The Browns take down the Steelers. This is not like last season, Bell is not reporting. Roethlisberger is not the same guy on the road as he is at home, and this Browns team got better this off-season. Brown’s with the big upset.

The hype has started to go too far for the Titans in my estimate. Vrabel is a first year coach, and I still need to see more consistency out of Mariota before I can begin to feel comfortable taking them on the road with any regularity. Also, see our pre-draft work last year, no one was higher on Corey Davis than I (save for the Titans front office clearly), but can we all wait til we see it before we anoint him the next star? I’m taking Miami.

I’ll take the Vikings, Patriots and Saints at home. And I’ll finish the week with the Packers, Lions and Rams (Oh My) in the primetime finales.

Follow me on Twitter @RyanWhitfieldNE

Also listen to more of Ryan’s breakdown in this week’s Football Garbage Time Podcast!

Scott King’s Picks

Scott’s Thoughts:

The nfl season is finally here and we’re ready to make some picks.  The preseason is a worthless waste of time where only bad things can happen.  My picks this week are very safe, nothing usual early in the season.  I am taking the Giants at home over the Jags as my upset of the week.  Yes the Giants were bad last year but it’s a new year with new coaches and new players.  I think Barkley can change the offense and with OBJ on the edge, this can be interesting.  I can’t take Bortles over Eli in NJ.

Wally’s Picks

Wally’s Thoughts:

Check them out in the Urban Sports Scene Podcast!

Ray’s Picks

Check out Ray’s Picks and Thoughts in the Urban Sports Scene Podcast at the 33:27 mark!

Check back next week for our Week 1 results and Week 2 picks!

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