This week in the NFL, we get an extra day of the week with games, now that college football has vacated Saturdays. We get, as the NFL Network calls it, "a special Saturday night edition of Thursday Night Football." I've always wondered how you can have Thursday night football on Saturday. Anyway, our 'expert' picks against the spread started out successfully as the Falcons trounced the Jaguars, covering the 11.5 point spread.
We move on to the Saturday night game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. See our pick after the jump.
Dallas Cowboys at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+7.0): The Cowboys seem to be in a bit of a free fall after two disastrous losses in which their kicker, Dan Bailey, hit a game-tying or game-winning field goal, only to have had a time out called before. He missed both successive kicks and Dallas has lost control of the NFC East. Tampa Bay has lost seven straight games, including a 41-14 loss to the woeful Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 14. Dallas has a good offense, albeit inconsistent. Jacksonville, a terrible offensive team, put up 41 against the Bucs. Dallas also absolutely needs this game. Bad news for Rahim Morris and his players. this will not be pretty. Pick: Cowboys, -7.0.