The Marble Ryan Lock of the Week

I'll be completely honest: watching the Cowboys roll all over my pick on Sunday night was a serious blow to my confidence. The loss cast a shadow over my whole week, and I couldn't help but feel like the AAA paper that was the Marble Ryan Lock of the Week had been reduced to junk status. So here we are, 1-2 and badly in need of a payday, because in the gambling world, unlike when we place our money with hopelessly mismanaged financial institutions, Hank Paulson ain't walkin' t'ru that door.

The end of the first quarter of the season is perhaps the toughest time to be a speculator; weeding out the early pretenders from the truly solid teams can be a tricky business. Conversely, one needs a highly refined football sense to distinguish the good teams that are simply off to bad starts from the real train wrecks.

As usual, heading into Week 4, we have more questions than answers: Is Texans QB Matt Schaub just knocking off the rust, or is he so upset about going bald at 27 that his game will never recover? Are the Bengals really starting to right the ship, or was last week's strong performance (and big time cover) yet another case of the Giants playing to the level of their opponent?

It appears as if the Vegas handicappers are trying to figure out the answers themselves, which leaves us with some interesting opportunities in the spread market. However, even with so many potential traps to fall into, I think I've found a convincing story to get behind.

The Titans take on the Vikes in Nashville this week, and I'm liking what Jeff Fisher is cooking up this year. Tennessee has proven to be one of the most hard-nosed, toughest, meanest teams in the lig this year and should prove to be a nice matchup for the burly Scandanavians. AD is the truth at running back, but judging by last week's performance, it looks like NFL defensive coordinators are figuring out how to stop an offense with exactly one skill position player who would start for any other professional team, including the Montreal Alouettes. Minny is good for no more than 10 points per game most weeks, and barring some kind of history-making performance from Peterson (which I admit is entirely possible), the Titans should easily cover the 2.5 points Vegas is taking from them.

On a side note, we love Kerry "Bottle Rocket" Collins at RGIOQB, and I would urge anyone that makes money off the Titans this week to donate a portion to your local non-profit rehab organization. You never know, someone in that clinic might one day throw four picks in the Super Bowl for your favorite team.

The pick: Tennessee (-2.5) over Minnesota