Week 7 of NFL action is here, and it’s time to set our weekly NFL confidence pool picks. Four more teams head to their bye week: Buffalo, Washington, Jacksonville, and the Los Angeles Chargers all get a rest week. That leaves us 28 teams and 14 games worth of action. Spoiler alert: I like a lot of underdogs to win outright this week. That means we’ve got to be smart about where and how to call our shots. Let’s dive into The Confidence Playbook and make our Week 7 NFL confidence pool picks.
Can’t Miss – High Confidence Picks
1. Texans Over Giants
2. 49ers Over Falcons
3. Browns Over Titans
4. Rams Over Raiders
5. Vikings Over Colts
I couldn’t love the Texans more this week. Backed into a corner at 0-4, they’ve won two straight games. Now they get JJ McCarthy making his first start for the dumpster fire New York Giants? Sign me up.
San Francisco just keeps rolling. It almost feels like we haven’t even seen the best version of this team yet. Atlanta has had flashes, but clearly isn’t there yet. Roll with the hot hand.
If you’d have told me before the season, I’d ever have had the Cleveland Browns as the third-ranked team in this article. I wouldn’t have bet it at 100/1 odds! But here we are. It’s the perfect spot for a Browns team that hasn’t been bad to beat up on a terrible team coming off a win they were gifted. Stars align (holds breath), give me Deshaun Watson.
The Rams were a massive disappointment last week, losing outright to the Arizona Cardinals. The dream team, isn’t so far. However, they get a Raiders team that’s lost three in a row and proven to be a bit of an early-season fraud. Las Vegas will probably keep this closer than they should. But give me Sean McVay at the end of the day.
Minnesota has a killer defense and is coming in rested off a bye week. The Colts got their GM fired last week, losing to the worst team in the league. Give me all of Brian Flores’ defense in this game.
Feelin’ Good – Confident Picks
6. Steelers Over Saints
7. Broncos Over Cardinals
8. Panthers Over Buccaneers
9. Patriots Over Bears
10. Chiefs Over Seahawks
Bonjour, we’ll head to France for this next pick. I will say, it does feel a little sacrilegious to bet against the Saints in France, but here we are. It’ll be all business for Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy on this trip. Their defense is the difference at the end of the day.
Denver has had a rocky (insert dad joke laugh here) start to their season. Arizona is coming off a big win over the Rams. Things settle out here and go back to where they should. Denver is the much better team.
Carolina isn’t sure if they’ll face Jalon Daniels or Baker Mayfield just yet. Either way, this Panthers team is for real. They’ve been taking care of business, and the early Week 6 bye was well placed after being a little beaten up. I’ll take the Panthers at home in this game.
If Thursday Night Football is part of your pool, let’s head to Soldier Field. The Bears welcome in the New England Patriots in what should be an exciting game. Overall, the Patriots are a little more of a complete and experienced team; I think that’s the difference in prime time.
Sunday Night Football is going to be an exciting one. Kansas City goes into the home of the 12th man. I expect this one to be extremely close. But give me Kenneth Walker as the difference in this game. Remember, he plays for KC now.
Hold Your Breath – True Toss Ups
11. Cowboys Over Eagles
12. Jets Over Dolphins
13. Ravens Over Bengals
14. Packers Over Lions
Philadelphia is in a bad place right now. This game feels very trappy, however. Dallas should win, but it’s hard to trust them. I’ll take them; I’m just not overly confident in it.
Jets vs Dolphins. Remember in about April when we wish we could watch games like this? It’s hard to trust either team; New York is slightly better (low bar), so we’ll ride them with.
Ravens and Bengals is a classic tough AFC North game that should be entertaining. We know it’ll be close; I’ll take the home underdog with or without Lamar Jackson.
Speaking of tough North division games, how about one in the NFC? Green Bay showed early this season they weren’t good. But they’ve improved quite a bit. The Lions haven’t overly impressed me. I’m calling for a Packers upset in Detroit this weekend.
