Can Pat Mahomes, Chiefs cover vs. Titans?

With the rise in popularity of football betting contests, the Yahoo Sportsbook staff is offering its top football picks for this weekend’s slate. And much like those contests, these lines locked as of Thursday night, so they won’t reflect subsequent movement.

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Nick Bromberg

Season record: 20-10

Eastern Michigan (-3) at Bowling Green

Bowling Green’s win over Minnesota is one of the outliers of the season. The Falcons enter this game on a three-game losing streak and while Eastern Michigan is 1-2 in the MAC, those three games are against three of the conference’s best teams.

Northwestern at Michigan (Under 51)

Northwestern’s bad rushing defense and Michigan’s stellar rushing offense is a bad combination for the Wildcats. But all that running and the teams’ relatively slow tempos make it also feel a lot like a game that ends 30-7 instead of in the 50s.

USC at Notre Dame (Under 57.5)

USC hasn’t gotten the interim coach bounce it was looking for after firing Clay Helton, and Notre Dame’s strength has been its defense. The Irish’s win over Virginia Tech on Oct. 9 was the first time since Week 2 that a Notre Dame game had more than 54 total points.

Carolina Panthers (-3) at New York Giants

The Panthers’ pass rush should get after Daniel Jones, and I don’t have enough confidence in the Giants’ defense to keep this one close. Maybe Sam Darnold has a nice day in his first game back at MetLife Stadium.

Detroit Lions at LA Rams (Under 50.5)

The Lions have failed to score more than 17 points since racking up a bunch of garbage-time points in Week 1. There’s nothing that makes me think Detroit and Jared Goff will suddenly reverse that trend in Goff’s first game against the Rams.

Frank Schwab

Season record: 13-16-1

Carolina Panthers (-3) over NY Giants

Story continues

I’ve been on the Panthers all seven weeks, and I’m not sure if there’s a support group to help me. Either way, I don’t like this Giants team and they’ll be getting a Panthers team with its…