NFL Week 10 Predictions

Last week’s record: 8-5

Overall record: 90-39

Lock of the Week: 6-for-9

Chicago (4-4) @ San Francisco (3-5): Chicago’s defense is not stopping anybody, and their offense is not good enough to outscore teams in a shootout. As long as Alex Smith does a better job of protecting the ball, San Francisco will pick up a win.

San Francisco wins, 23-20

Buffalo (3-5) @ Tennessee (2-6): This game will be all about Chris Johnson. Because Tennessee has been so bad, Johnson hasn’t gotten the attention that other running backs have gotten, but he is playing great. Buffalo has been stout against the pass but horrible against the run. Tennessee will win on the shoulders of Johnson.

Tennessee wins, 26-14

New Orleans (8-0) @ St. Louis (1-7): This won’t be close. As always, Steven Jackson will do whatever he can to keep St. Louis hanging around, but the Saints are the better team by far. The only thing to watch for is another slow start from the Saints. It won’t happen, but it would be troubling if it does.

New Orleans wins, 44-10 (Lock of the Week)

Tampa Bay (1-7) @ Miami (3-5): Will Tampa’s defense be able to stop the Wildcat? In short, no. Tampa’s offense is getting better, but they’ll be facing a better defense than the one they faced last week. Miami has to win if they want to stay in the AFC playoff picture.

Miami wins, 24-17

Detroit (1-7) @ Minnesota (7-1): Detroit usually plays the Vikings tough, so this will be closer than most think, but it will still end up being a blowout. The Vikings are rested and at home, while the Lions just lost to a bad Seahawks team. Case closed.

Minnesota wins, 28-13

Jacksonville (4-4) @ New York Jets (4-4): Whichever team loses this game will fall out of playoff contention. The Jets have been on a bad streak since their fast start, and the Jags aren’t a very good team to begin with despite their record. These two seem pretty evenly matched, so home field will tip the scale toward the Jets.

New York Jets win, 17-14

Cincinnati (6-2) @ Pittsburgh (6-2): Because Cincy has a victory over Pittsburgh this season, this game is more important to the Steelers. The Bengals have a pretty easy schedule after this, so they would be on the fast track to the division title with a win.

Pittsburgh dominated the Bengals for three quarters in Cincy and then let it slip away in the fourth quarter early this season. Now with the defense playing like it did last year, the Steelers will not let that happen again.

Pittsburgh wins, 27-14

Denver (6-2) @ Washington (2-6): The Redskins’ two victories have come against the Rams and the Bucs. Yes, Denver has struggled, but they’ve struggled against good teams. Washington is in complete disarray, which makes this a perfect rebound game for the Broncos.

Denver wins, 17-6

Atlanta (5-3) @ Carolina (3-5): The Panthers have looked a lot better in the past few weeks now that they’ve started using their running game. With that said, Jake Delhomme is still under center. They will not have a lead late in the game, and they have shown that they are not willing to throw the ball in that situation. Atlanta, on the other hand, can rely on Michael Turner to get the win.

Atlanta wins, 28-20

Kansas City (1-7) @ Oakland (2-6): Two bad teams playing each other for the second time this season? No thanks.

Oakland wins, 14-7

Dallas (6-2) @ Green Bay (4-4): This is very close to being a must-win for the Pack. Not quite, but just about. Looking back over their schedule, they don’t have any quality wins. Dallas is coming in on a roll, and a win against them would be huge for the Packers. For Green Bay to get the win, they have to slow down the Cowboys’ offense, but they’ve shown no evidence that they can stop anybody right now.

Dallas wins, 29-18

Seattle (3-5) @ Arizona (5-3): Arizona will win this game if they don’t beat themselves like they did against the Panthers. They did whatever they wanted against the Bears, and there is no reason as to why they wouldn’t do the same against Seattle’s average-at-best defense.

Arizona wins, 30-16

Philadelphia (5-3) @ San Diego (5-3): Neither team can be counted on right now. However, fans are falling over themselves to get onto the Chargers’ bandwagon. But they’re not a great team. They’ve been better over the last few weeks, but they’ve played bad teams. Fans continue to wait for the Chargers to run off a bunch of games against good teams, but they’re an average team.

For Philly, they need to get off to a fast start. The defense will be fine, and as long as the offense hits a few big plays, they will win.

Philly wins, 29-21

New England (6-2) @ Indianapolis (8-0): Like all of their games, this will be close. It will probably come down to the last drive. That means this comes down to which situation you would feel more comfortable in: Tom Brady, Randy Moss, and Wes Welker against a decimated Colts secondary, or Peyton Manning and his receivers against an opportunistic secondary. I’ll take Brady & Co.

New England wins, 30-26

Baltimore (4-4) @ Cleveland (1-7): Does it matter who starts for Cleveland? Both QBs are pretty bad, and the team is worse. Baltimore will absolutely run through the Browns.

Baltimore wins, 35-10

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NFL 2009 Week Nine Wrap-Up

Week Nine gave the top teams some separation. With so many bad teams, the playoff picture is starting to take shape early this year after big performances. With huge games in Pittsburgh and Indianapolis in Week 10, the AFC’s top teams could also separate themselves from the rest of the pack.

Atlanta (5-3) def. Washington (2-6), 31-17: Washington made a little bit of a comeback late, but they had dug themselves too big of a hole. Michael Turner is rolling now, which helped Atlanta to one of their best offensive outputs of the year against a decent defense.

Arizona (5-3) def. Chicago (4-4), 41-21: The Bears have to get their stuff together. Their defense, recently one of the best in the league, has been horrible in their last two games against NFL opponents.

Yes Brian Urlacher has been hurt and Tommie Harris stupidly got himself ejected from the game, but those are no excuses for these performances. The Cards just destroyed them. And how much confidence do the Cards have in Matt Leinart?

Cincinnati (6-2) def. Baltimore (4-4), 17-7: Great, great performance from the Bengals. They took apart every aspect of the Ravens’ game and after they took the lead, the game was never in doubt.

Cincy’s underrated defense made Baltimore look foolish and out of rhythm all game. Now that they’ve been swept by Cincy, Baltimore may have to focus on a Wild Card berth.

Indianapolis (8-0) def. Houston (5-4), 20-17: Houston made a ton of mistakes, but they still had a chance to take the into overtime. Indy let them hang around, but Houston couldn’t finish off the comeback. This game showed that they’re not quite ready to be a great team.

A critical spot in the game came when Houston back Ryan Moats fumbled inside the five yard line. Indy didn’t immediately challenge it after he was ruled down, but Houston let ten to fifteen seconds run off the clock until the two minute warning.

The Colts eventually challenged the play and it was reversed. Horrible clock management by both Matt Schaub and Gary Kubiak that may have cost them points.

New England (6-2) def. Miami (3-5), 27-17: Miami is better than they’re 3-5 record, but they will not see better results unless they pass the ball better. The Wildcat is fine, but they will never go deep into the playoffs with that as their primary weapon.

New England were ready for it and while they didn’t completely stop it, they were able to control it. The Patriot offense is hitting their stride just in time for their big game next week.

Tampa Bay (1-7) def. Green Bay (4-4), 38-28: Green Bay is in trouble. After losing two to the Vikings, they need to beat bad teams like Tampa. The Bucs stepped up in the fourth with 21 points behind Josh Freeman, who looked pretty good. The Packers have got to get everything figured out and very quickly.

Jacksonville (4-4) def. Kansas City (1-7), 24-21: Jacksonville has quietly crept back into contention, but don’t expect them to stay there. Beating Kansas City is nothing to be overly proud of especially when you have to hang on to do so. Mike Sims-Walker continued his breakout season, posting big numbers again.

New Orleans (8-0) def. Carolina (3-5), 30-20: New Orleans started out slowly but Carolina couldn’t hold them off. The Cats finally decided to get their running game going at the beginning of a game, but they seem afraid to put the ball in Jake Delhomme’s hands with the game on the line: which is why they are 3-5.

For the Saints, they cannot keep getting off to starts like this, especially against good teams. It doesn’t matter how explosive an offense is if they fall too far behind teams better than Miami or Carolina.

Seattle (3-5) def. Detroit (1-7), 32-20: Detroit uncharacteristically got off to a huge start, but like Carolina couldn’t sustain it. They pushed the ball up the field, but Matt Stafford turned the ball over way too much. Seattle showed some life on offense in coming back from being down by 17 points.

San Diego (5-3) def. New York Giants (5-4), 21-20: The Giants completely blew this game. It should’ve been over after Philip Rivers’ late pick that put the G-Men inside the red zone. Instead, they had to settle for a field goal and then let Rivers easily go down the field for the game winner. The way the Giants played defense on the last drive was embarrassing and essentially guaranteed them their fourth consecutive loss.

Tennessee (2-6) def. San Francisco (3-5), 34-27: The Titans will not be playing in the postseason, but they are playing inspired ball. The defense still isn’t looking great, but they look like a different team. Alex Smith was just average, turning the ball over in bad spots while Vince Young looked poised throughout.

Dallas (6-2) def. Philadelphia (5-3), 20-16: Philly’s offense is built on the big play and when they don’t hit a few, they won’t be successful. Dallas limited Philly’s explosive receivers and got the big play they needed from Miles Austin. This was a good win for Dallas.

With that said, nothing Dallas does will be impressive until they win games in December. They’ve always played well from September to November, but they always fall apart in December. They will not have done anything until they win late in the season.

As for Philly, most have been second-guessing Andy Reid’s decisions. The first challenge was not a smart one. The second challenge was risky only because they had just one timeout but even after all the replays, it looked like McNabb got the first down. The field goal was fine as well. The defense had played well enough to that point to get the ball back to their offense.

Pittsburgh (6-2) def. Denver (6-2), 28-10: This was the most complete game the Steelers have played all year. They couldn’t get anything going in the first half on offense, but they dominated the second half. The best part for Pittsburgh was that they emphatically shut the door with their running game, something they’ve been unable to do all season.

For Denver, they got dominated for the second straight week. The defense has looked vulnerable and the offense is not producing. Suddenly, they have a considerable amount of problems with the Chargers right behind them.

Top 12 Teams (Last week’s ranking in parenthesis)

1. New Orleans Saints (1): They’re not a perfect team, but they also won’t be tested at all until the Pats come to the Superdome in a couple of weeks. Next week: at St. Louis (1-7)
2. Indianapolis Colts (2): They’re very good, but we’ll know if they have the ability to make a deep playoff run after this Sunday night. Next week: vs. New England (6-2)
3. Pittsburgh Steelers (3): They dominated Denver in Denver and the running game is starting to take off. Next week: vs. Cincinnati (6-2)
4. Minnesota Vikings (4): How good of a bye week did they have? They got some much needed rest and their two closest division opponents suffered horrible losses. Doesn’t get much better than that when you don’t even play. Next week: vs. Detroit (1-7)
5. New England Patriots (5): Tom Brady is looking more and more like his 2007-self. That’s bad news for the rest of the NFL. Next week: at Indianapolis (8-0)
6. Cincinnati Bengals (8): They throttled the Ravens and now they have their biggest game in years against the Steelers this week. Next week: at Pittsburgh (6-2)
7. Arizona Cardinals (10): Very good bounce back performance, but they need to build on it. Next week: vs. Seattle (3-5)
8. Dallas Cowboys (11): This was a big win for Dallas’ fragile psyche. They are now in control in the NFC East. Next week: at Green Bay (4-4)
9. Philadelphia Eagles (6): They have to find a way to score when the big plays aren’t working. They won’t win very many games if they don’t. Next week: at San Diego (5-3)
10. Atlanta Falcons (12): They have finally gotten Michael Turner going, which is critical to their success. Next week: at Carolina (3-5)
11. Denver Broncos (7): They have to start throwing the ball down the field. Their offense is too safe to be effective against good teams. Next week: at Washington (2-6)
12. Houston Texans (NR): They came very close to taking Indy to overtime on the road. Penalties killed them, but they still played well. Next week: BYE

Team to Drop Out of the Top 12

Baltimore Ravens: Aside from the Denver game, they’ve looked average on defense. Now the offense looks stagnant. They are simply not one of the 12 best teams in the league.

That’s all for this week’s wrap-up. Since there’s a Thursday game this week, my picks will be in on Thursday afternoon. Check them out if you get a chance!

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NFL Week Nine Predictions

Last week’s record: 9-4

Overall record: 82-34

Lock of the Week: 5-for-8

Washington (2-5) @ Atlanta (4-3): Atlanta looked pretty good in their loss last week to the Saints while the Redskins haven’t looked good all year. Atlanta’s offense won’t look as good as most people will expect it to look because Washington’s defense is better than most think, but Atlanta will still win easily.

Atlanta wins, 30-18 (Lock of the Week)

Arizona (4-3) @ Chicago (4-3): Arizona has been very inconsistent this year, which means they should look great here after last week’s loss. The Bears seem to have no idea on whether they want to be a good team or a bad team and Jay Cutler has been wildly inconsistent all year. Kurt Warner had a bad outing last week, so look for him to throw a few touchdowns and lead the Cards to a win.

Arizona wins, 23-17

Baltimore (4-3) @ Cincinnati (5-2): The Baltimore defense is embarrassed at how they played during the last drive a few weeks ago against Cincy. They are very prideful and they showed it against the Broncos by playing defense the way fans are used to seeing the Ravens play.

With that said, Baltimore needs this much more than Cincy does. They cannot afford to get swept with both of their Pittsburgh games still ahead of them. The Bengals will come out trying to throw the haymaker early, but Baltimore will absorb it and come out on top on the back of their defense.

Baltimore wins, 20-16

Houston (5-3) @ Indianapolis (7-0): This is the biggest game in Houston Texans history. They will have a lot working for them here. Indy is ravaged with injuries on the defensive side of the ball. Matt Schaub has been pretty good this year and relatively injury-free. Indy didn’t look great last week.

However, Owen Daniels is out for the rest of the year and he was to Schaub what Dallas Clark has been to Peyton Manning for years. Indy will pull this out, but don’t be surprised to see Houston get the upset.

Indy wins, 28-21

Miami (3-4) @ New England (5-2): The last time the Dolphins went into New England, they embarrassed and surprised the Pats. At the time, Tom Brady was on the shelf and the Wildcat was virtually unknown in the NFL. The Patriots will be ready this time. In addition, the Patriots don’t lose coming off of a bye. Miami will keep it close for a while, but the Pats will win.

New England wins, 33-20

Green Bay (4-3) @ Tampa Bay (0-7): This will be a good game for Green Bay to get back on track. For the second time this year, their offensive line got beat up by Minnesota’s front four and they need some confidence. That coupled with facing a rookie quarterback making his first start should make for an easy win.

Green Bay wins, 34-6

Kansas City (1-6) @ Jacksonville (3-4): This game will be bad. Maurice Jones-Drew will run wild on Kansas City’s poor run defense, which will be enough for the Jags.

Jacksonville wins, 20-10

Carolina (3-4) @ New Orleans (7-0): Carolina finally showed glimpses of what they could be against Arizona, but New Orleans is not Arizona. The Saints have shown a few chinks in the armor recently, but they won’t be challenged this week. Carolina turns the ball over too much and the Saints turn turnovers into touchdowns.

New Orleans wins, 37-17

Detroit (1-6) @ Seattle (2-5): Both teams are coming off of a loss, but Detroit’s is much worse. Seattle lost to a good Dallas team, but they did compete in the first half, so all is not bad in the northwest. Neither team does anything particularly well, so this will come down to Seattle’s home field advantage.

Seattle wins, 19-14

San Diego (4-3) @ New York Giants (5-3): Very interesting game. On one side, there are the Giants who looked like world beaters in their first five games. Since then, they have come crashing down to Earth with losses to pretty good teams, two of which were blowouts.

On the other side, there are the always overrated Chargers. They have again gotten off to a slow start, and that will eventually catch up with them. They’ve also padded their record by beating bad teams, but that stops this week.

New York will go into this game with more urgency than San Diego will. They will have their fans behind them. They will not lose their fourth in a row. They can’t afford to lose; San Diego can.

New York Giants win, 26-20

Tennessee (1-6) @ San Francisco (3-4): Tennessee looked pretty good last week against a bad team. San Francisco looked good last week against a very good team. Alex Smith has breathed new life into the Niner offense and going against a bad defense should do nothing to derail the San Fran.

San Francisco wins, 24-13

Dallas (5-2) @ Philadelphia (5-2): Win or lose, Dallas will make a statement. Whether or not that statement is positive is up to them. They have been getting praise recently, and rightfully so, but now they go into Philly where they got absolutely destroyed last December.

For Philly, they need to force Tony Romo to turn the ball over, something he hasn’t done over the past month. That means he’s due for a few. This won’t be the laugher it was last year, but Philly has too many weapons for Dallas to handle.

Philly wins, 31-21

Pittsburgh (5-2) @ Denver (6-1): Was Denver exposed last week? Maybe, but they’re still a good team. That being said, Kyle Orton has been playing well, but now he must make plays especially against an opportunistic Steeler defense. Pittsburgh will undoubtedly try to keep Denver’s receivers in front of them and force Orton to throw the ball down the field. He won’t be effective doing that and the Steelers will hand Denver their second loss.

Pittsburgh wins, 26-13

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NFL Week Eight Predictions

Last week’s record: 9-4

Overall record: 73-30

Lock of the Week: 5-for-7

Houston (4-3) @ Buffalo (3-4): Buffalo’s defense has looked great against the pass, but they’ve played against a shaky rookie and a veteran with no confidence. Matt Schaub has played better than both of those quarterbacks this year and his offense should be able to move the ball, especially on the ground. Buffalo’s offense will not be able to keep pace.

Houston wins, 27-16

Cleveland (1-6) @ Chicago (3-3): After looking as atrocious as the Bears looked last week, they need a good performance. They will be at home and against a really bad team, so expect them to go up big early. As always, the Browns’ offense will be stagnant, which means this will be over by halftime.

Chicago wins, 32-12

Seattle (2-4) @ Dallas (4-2): Dallas looked the best they’ve looked in a long time last week. This game should continue that trend. Seattle is once again riddled with injuries, especially on the defensive side of the ball. That doesn’t bode well for them against a very good rushing attack and a red-hot receiver. The Seahawks will have to put up a lot of points to have any chance.

Dallas wins, 34-21

St. Louis (0-7) @ Detroit (1-5): Will anybody watch this game? Detroit is bad and St. Louis is horrible. Matthew Stafford will probably be back for Detroit and he was playing well before his injury, which should give a boost to the Lions, who were actually looking like an NFL team before he got hurt. That will be enough to give the Lions the win.

Detroit wins 19-10

Minnesota (6-1) @ Green Bay (4-2): Stats, momentum, and all other numbers go out the window in a game like this. This will be pure emotion and determination. In the first game between these two this year, Minnesota’s front seven were all over Aaron Rodgers all game and Brett Favre played nearly flawless. Minnesota barely hung onto win that game. This is at Lambeau and there will be a playoff-like atmosphere. Green Bay needs this more in the standings and they will win it because they will want it more.

Green Bay wins, 30-27

San Francisco (3-3) @ Indianapolis (6-0): Alex Smith looked great last week in relief, but Indy is a bad opponent for him to have in his first start back. He’ll probably be playing from behind most of the game, which will cause Smith to force passes. Granted he was behind last week, but Indy will not let up like Houston did.

Indy wins, 33-18

Miami (2-4) @ New York Jets (4-3): If the Jets are going to win, they have to stop the Wildcat. They had a lot of trouble stopping it a few weeks ago in Miami and judging by how Rex Ryan reacted after the game, the defense focused solely on stopping it. That’s why Miami will have Chad Henne come out and throw the ball more than he normally does. If Ted Ginn, Jr. can hold onto the ball, it should throw the Jets off enough to get a big win.

Miami wins, 28-20

Denver (6-0) @ Baltimore (3-3): Baltimore really needs this game. Prior to their bye week, they lost three tough games against three pretty good teams. This will be a low-scoring game, but Denver now has a better defense than Baltimore, so they get the edge. If Baltimore can keep it close in the first half and somehow get seven to 10 points in the second half than they will have a very good chance. But Denver has not given up many second half points this season.

Denver wins, 26-16

Jacksonville (3-3) @ Tennessee (0-6): Vince Young will be back under center for the Titans in what will be a great opportunity for him and the team. Most will be watching the Green Bay-Minnesota game, so Young won’t be in the spotlight and Tennessee is getting an inconsistent Jaguars team. Tennessee will finally get a “W” and Young will play relatively well.

Tennessee wins, 19-13

Oakland (2-5) @ San Diego (3-3): Oakland played very well against the Chargers in Week One, but that game was in Oakland and the Raiders were playing off of the emotion of the crowd. Now we’re in Week Eight and JaMarcus Russell has weighed Oakland down. They don’t look anything like the Raiders from Week One. San Diego will continue their trend of looking great against bad teams in beating Oakland.

San Diego wins, 28-13

New York Giants (5-2) @ Philadelphia (4-2): Although it won’t be the most important game in Philly on Sunday, this is still very important in terms of the NFC East. The Giants looked great in their first five games against bad-to-mediocre teams, but flawed over the past two against good teams. Philly has been just as inconsistent.

This may come down to whether or not the Giants have fixed what’s wrong with them, which is a mystery to most. They need to go back to what they did in their first five games, but the home field advantage will be enough for the Eagles.

Philly wins, 23-20

Carolina (2-4) @ Arizona (4-2): As long as Jake Delhomme is under center for Carolina, no team will be intimidated by them. Teams are just loading up the box to stop Carolina’s running game and Delhomme is turning the ball over at a rapid pace. As a result, Steve Smith is being completely taken out of games. Arizona will use that exact formula to win the game easily.

Arizona wins, 24-8 (Lock of the Week)

Atlanta (4-2) @ New Orleans (6-0): Tony Romo found holes throughout Atlanta’s secondary last week. Imagine what Drew Brees will do. The Saints are clicking on all cylinders right now and while Atlanta will keep it close, the Saints will be too much for them.

New Orleans wins, 37-31

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NFL Week Seven Predictions

Last week’s record: 10-4

Overall record: 64-26

Lock of the Week: 4-for-6

 

Chicago (3-2) @ Cincinnati (4-2): Regardless of what Cedric Benson says, he wants revenge against the Bears. He will have a good game, but nothing crazy. This will come down to which defense holds up. The Bears made too many mistakes to beat a good team last week, but they will cut down on those and get a nice road victory.

Chicago wins, 28-20

 

Green Bay (3-2) @ Cleveland (1-5): This will likely be more of a scrimmage for the Pack than it will be a game. The only thing Green Bay needs to watch out for in this game will be protecting Aaron Rodgers. They have continued to give up sacks, even against bad teams like the Lions.

Green Bay wins, 27-8

 

San Diego (2-3) @ Kansas City (1-5): Simply put, this is a must-win for San Diego. They’ve already fallen too far back of the division-leading Broncos and they cannot afford to go to 2-4. Matt Cassel is on a bit of a hot streak now and the Chiefs have played well all year, but the Chargers’ urgency will be too much for Kansas City to overcome.

San Diego wins, 26-14

 

Indianapolis (5-0) @ St. Louis (0-6): This could get ugly very quickly. There is no way St. Louis will pull the upset. In addition, Bob Sanders is coming back and will do no favors to anybody playing (or watching) in a Rams jersey.

Indy wins, 44-9 (Lock of the Week)

 

Minnesota (6-0) @ Pittsburgh (4-2): Pittsburgh has won nine straight games at Heinz Field. Rashard Mendenhall has revived the running game. Ben Roethlisberger is playing out of his mind right now. This will be the Vikings’ toughest test thus far and they will go into it with a banged up, average secondary. This will be pretty close throughout, but the Vikings don’t have the firepower on defense to stop the Steelers’ surging offense.

Pittsburgh wins, 29-17

 

New England (4-2) @ Tampa Bay (0-6): Just like they did to Tennessee last week, New England will make short work of the Bucs. The only way this game will be even remotely close is if the Pats get off to a slow start after a longer trip than usual. The Pats will get off to a fast start and this will not be close.

New England wins, 31-13

 

San Francisco (3-2) @ Houston (3-3): This is a very interesting game. Houston is trying to avoid another .500 season while the Niners are trying to prove that the Atlanta game was just a hiccup. The Niners will be rested and they will be out to prove a little more than Texans are. Also, don’t expect Michael Crabtree to do much of anything this week or the next few weeks.

San Francisco wins, 20-17

 

New York Jets (3-3) @ Oakland (2-4): The Jets just need to protect the ball and they will win this game. They went crazy on the ground against Buffalo last week and judging by how the now confident (or overconfident) Raiders play defense, they should be able to do it again this week.

New York Jets win, 23-10

 

Buffalo (2-4) @ Carolina (2-3):  Neither team has shown much of anything this year nor will either be doing anything after Week 17. Nonetheless, Buffalo will win this game the same way they won last week. They will give up way too many rushing yards and force the quarterback into way too many turnovers.

Buffalo wins, 17-10

 

Atlanta (4-1) @ Dallas (3-2): Atlanta just beat a team that made too many dumb mistakes to win. Sound familiar? That is exactly what the ‘Boys do against good teams like the Falcons. Dallas will keep this close, but dumb mistakes throughout the game will prevent them from winning.

Atlanta wins, 28-17

 

New Orleans (5-0) @ Miami (2-3): Miami must keep the ball away from Drew Brees and company for as long as possible, much like they did against Indy. Even if they are able to do that, they still need to make sure they don’t give up big plays. That is too many things that need to go right for the Dolphins to beat the best team in the NFL.

New Orleans wins, 27-24

 

Arizona (3-2) @ New York Giants (5-1): The Giants will take the field upset at how they played last week. Anquan Boldin may not take the field at all. This will be a shootout, but the Giants defense will step up when needed to prevent the Cards from taking a late lead and preserve a Giants win.

New York Giants win, 29-24

 

Philadelphia (3-2) @ Washington (2-4): These two teams have certainly had interesting weeks. Like the Giants, Philly will come out angry after losing to a horrible team and the ‘Skins may come out a little motivated for their head coach, Jim Zorn. All of that motivation will disappear quickly when the Eagles jump out to a quick lead and cruise to a win.

Philly wins, 31-11

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NFL Week Five Predictions

Last week’s record: 10-4

Overall record: 54-22

Lock of the Week: 4-for-5

Houston (2-3) @ Cincinnati (4-1): Cincy is coming off of another big win as they come home to face the Texans. After their big victory over Pittsburgh in Week Three, they almost had a letdown at Cleveland. This is another trap game for the Bengals. That’s not to say that the Texans are as bad as Cleveland, but they’re not the Steelers or the Ravens. Look for Houston to put up good numbers on offense and do just enough on “D” to get a huge road win.

Houston wins, 24-22

Detroit (1-4) @ Green Bay (2-2): The Lions have looked considerably better this year than they did at any point last year. The Packers have looked better on defense, but they haven’t been able to protect Aaron Rodgers at all. Some of that is due to injuries, but they must do a better job than they’ve done in their first four games. Green Bay should come out rejuvenated and put on a nice offensive show for the home crowd to get a divisional win.

Green Bay wins, 31-17

Baltimore (3-2) @ Minnesota (5-0): The Ravens started out the season on fire, but have since cooled off. Because of that, the next month is crucial for them. They have the Vikes, a bye, Denver, and then their second game with Cincy. They need a win here.

Personally, I think Minnesota is a tad overrated, but they’re still a very good team. The key for Baltimore will be to play much better defense than they have so far. The Ravens will be upset at how their last couple of games have ended and they’ll take it out on Minnesota and hand them their first loss.

Baltimore wins, 29-26

New York Giants (5-0) @ New Orleans (4-0): The Giants finally get out of the JV part of their schedule and have a big game against the Saints. The Saints’ defense has been ball-hawking all year and if they are going to be successful against the Giants, they have to continue that. However, I really like the Giants here. If they execute, they should win.

The one thing that can derail the Giants in this game is their receivers. They’ve looked much better thus far than most thought they would, but this is the first god team they’ve faced. How they handle everything will be big in determining who wins.

New York Giants win, 20-16

Cleveland (1-4) @ Pittsburgh (3-2): The Browns are coming off a pathetic performance and now face a team that they’ve had very minimal success against over the last several years. Pittsburgh’s offense is quietly becoming pretty good and Troy Polamalu is coming back so the Steelers should win this easily.

On another note, Aaron Smith went down for the year last week and while the effects probably won’t be felt in this game, it will be huge for the rest of the year. Smith is ridiculously underrated and when he went down two years ago, the run defense fell apart. Pittsburgh must do a better job of accommodating this time around.

Pittsburgh wins 38-7

Carolina (1-3) @ Tampa Bay (0-5): Carolina continues its quest to .500 this week and they should get one step closer this week with a win over the Bucs. I think that the most interesting part of this game will be whether or not Josh Freeman will get his shot. The Bucs will probably be 0-6 after this game and have the Pats next week. Does 0-7 constitute bringing the rook in?

Carolina wins, 20-10

Kansas City (0-5) @ Washington (2-3): The Chiefs came pretty close to pulling off an upset last week, but in coming up short, they’re still searching for their first win. That means that Washington is the perfect opponent as they’ve given three teams their first wins this year. The Redskins just seem to be falling apart, while the Chiefs have actually played decently all year, just unable to get a win. They will get their first this year and continue the Washington’s slide.

Kansas City wins, 17-14

St. Louis (0-5) @ Jacksonville (2-3): This may end up being one of the Rams’ best chances to get a win this year. Unfortunately for them, I think the Jags win this one big. They got embarrassed last week in Seattle and Maurice Jones-Drew let his teammates know it. I think the rest of the team takes that as a challenge and they win big here to get back on track.

Jacksonville wins, 32-11

Philadelphia (3-1) @ Oakland (1-4): Until Oakland gets someone other than JaMarcus Russell under center, they will not have much success at all. When receivers are constantly having balls thrown in the ground, they begin to lose confidence and that’s contagious. The Eagles will pick this team apart and win easily.

Philly wins, 44-14 (Lock of the Week)

Arizona (2-2) @ Seattle (2-3): This is a big game in terms of how things might shake out in the NFC West. The Niners have beaten everybody in their division, so the loser of this one may have to concentrate exclusively on a wild card. Both are coming off of victories, but this one will boil down to which team plays like they should play; by that I mean both teams have been inconsistent thus far. Whichever team plays the way they are capable of playing will win. In this case, it will be the Cards.

Arizona wins, 18-16

Tennessee (0-5) @ New England (3-2): The Titans were simply not competitive last week against Indy. That is tough to change in one week, especially when your next opponent is the Pats. New England had too many fundamental breakdowns last week and I look for them to turn that around this week.

New England wins, 27-13

Buffalo (1-4) @ New York Jets (3-2): This one will be all Jets defense. They had their first bad game last week in Miami and Rex Ryan let them know. The offense will have problems going against a decent Bills defense and their receivers are banged up. The Jets’ defense will swallow up the Bills offense, where things just are not clicking.

New York Jets win, 17-3

Chicago (3-1) @ Atlanta (3-1): Jay Cutler has been very good since his disaster game at Green Bay weeks ago. Now he and his team go into another tough building to face a very good team. This one will be a bit of a shootout, but Matt Ryan and his receivers will make a few more plays than Cutler and his receivers.

Atlanta wins, 28-21

Denver (5-0) @ San Diego (2-2): If the Broncos win this game, it may be a smooth ride to the division title (although after last year, I’m sure Broncos fans don’t want to hear that). San Diego has looked below average on defense all year, which means that Philip Rivers will have to play great to win this game. Denver’s defense should be able to slow down Rivers and the offense just enough to take a commanding lead in the division.

Denver wins, 23-17

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NFL Week Four Predictions

Last week’s record: 11-5

Overall record: 33-15

Lock of the Week: 2-for-3

Detroit (1-2) @ Chicago (2-1): Detroit is still coming off of the high of their first win since 2007, but I don’t think they’ll get a winning streak going this week. The Bears have looked much better in the past two weeks than they did in Green Bay three weeks ago. The Bears’ defense will force Matthew Stafford into a few picks, and they will finally play a game that doesn’t come down to the last few plays.

Chicago wins, 22-12

Cincinnati (2-1) @ Cleveland (0-3): The Browns are a pathetic mess right now. It amazes me how this team was so close to making the playoffs two years ago, and now they are back to not being able to get out of their own way. The only problem Cincy will have is not having a letdown after a huge win. The Bengals will win easily.

Cincy wins, 30-9 (Lock of the Week)

Seattle (1-2) @ Indianapolis (3-0): Going into this game, it’s looking like Matt Hasselbeck will have to sit this one out. Seneca Wallace actually played pretty well last week, and he won’t have nearly as much pressure as he normally would with Dwight Freeney probably being out of the game. However, the Colts are making so many big plays right now, and Seattle simply won’t be able to keep up.

Indy wins, 34-20

New York Giants (3-0) @ Kansas City (0-3): The Chiefs are not moving the ball anywhere near good enough to stay with the Giants. KC looked horrible against Philly last week and they got lit up by a backup quarterback. Eli Manning is going to cut them up. The really good Giants’ running game is going to run wild. This game will play out similarly to how KC-Philly game played out last week.

New York Giants win, 31-10

Baltimore (3-0) @ New England (2-1): This is a big game on a lot of levels. Baltimore has had a pretty easy schedule thus far and now they get the Big Bad Pats. The Patriots are pretty banged up right now, and of course, we have no idea if Wes Welker will play or not. The Ravens’ offense is moving the ball up and down the field really well right now and they are about to go up against an average defense. Tom Brady will keep it close, but the Ravens will pull it out.

Baltimore wins, 26-20

Tampa Bay (0-3) @ Washington (1-2): There are plenty of reasons to pick Washington in this game, but I’m picking them solely because if they lose this game, there may be a lot of people in the organization that will have an extremely stressful week. They just lost to a team that went winless last year and are about to face a team that has a bad defense and just benched their starter for a second-year, unproven guy. The ‘Skins have to win this game.

Washington wins, 20-7

Tennessee (0-3) @ Jacksonville (1-2): Last week I said that the Titans were the only 0-2 team that could afford to go to 0-3. Now they have to win. They can’t afford to go to 0-4. Jacksonville, on the other hand, got a much needed win last week, so they won’t have the sense of urgency that the Titans will. Tennessee will blow this game open in the second half.

Tennessee wins, 36-21

Oakland (1-2) @ Houston (1-2): Honestly, Houston should win this game easily. But, I never know which Houston team is going to play. They looked horrible in Week One, pretty good in Week Two, and pretty average in Week Three. On the other side, Oakland has a huge problem in JaMarcus Russell. He is playing so bad right now I’m pretty sure Tom Cable is upset that they released Jeff Garcia (who they can re-sign now). JaMarcus Russell plays atrociously again and the Texans get the victory.

Houston wins, 24-16

Buffalo (1-2) @ Miami (0-3): The Dolphins are reeling right now. They’ve lost Chad Pennington for the rest of the year, and now the future has become the present much quicker than they anticipated with Chad Henne taking the reigns. Buffalo’s defense played pretty well last week, but their offense really needs to step up. The Bills are also pretty banged up, but they still have enough to pull out the win.

Buffalo wins, 19-13

New York Jets (3-0) @ New Orleans (3-0): This will make it four weeks now that I’ve picked against the Jets. Hey, they have to lose sometime. This is the classic “Unstoppable Force vs. Immovable Object” when the Saints’ offense and Jets’ defense are on the field. I almost always go with defense in these situations, but I’m going with the offense to get the better end of the ordeal this time.

New Orleans wins, 27-17

Dallas (2-1) @ Denver (3-0): Most fans think that the Broncos will eventually come down to Earth with the schedule they have coming up. I agree, but it will not happen this week. I’m going out on a long, fragile branch, but I think Denver pulls this out. They are playing great defense right now and the Cowboys didn’t look great in their win over Carolina this past Monday. I think this is a statement game for Denver and they’ll win a close one.

Denver wins, 24-21

St. Louis (0-3) @ San Francisco (2-1): It is looking like Marc Bulger will have to sit this one out, which means that means Kyle Boller will play. I don’t trust any team that has Kyle Boller under center. Frank Gore probably won’t play, but Glen Coffee played pretty well last week, and the Niners will probably be working on a short field a lot. Once again, Steven Jackson will have to play out of his mind for the Rams to get their first victory this year.

San Francisco wins, 28-6

San Diego (2-1) @ Pittsburgh (1-2): LaDanian Tomlinson and Shawne Merriman will both likely play, while Willie Parker and Troy Polamalu will both likely be out. All of those are big because LT adds another weapon to a potentially potent offense, and the Chargers have a different defense without Merriman. Parker just had his best game of the season and Pittsburgh has struggled without Polamalu. In the end, this will all come down to who wants it more. San Diego has never won a regular season game at Pittsburgh and a late Pittsburgh score will keep that streak alive.

Pittsburgh wins, 21-16

Green Bay (2-1) @ Minnesota (3-0): This one isn’t as big as it will be when the Vikes visit Lambeau, but it is still a huge game. The Pack have to come out and put up scores early to quiet what will undoubtedly be a loud, emotionally-charged atmosphere. Obviously, that will be tough for Green Bay with all the sacks they have allowed. Now they run into a pretty good defense, and I think that is where the game will be won for Minnesota.

Minnesota wins, 30-24

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Terrell Owens Is In The Right This Time

Some of the things Terrell Owens has done on his former teams have been ridiculous, ignorant, and idiotic. There have been things that he has done to completely rip teams apart—specifically the Philadelphia Eagles—that have made him look like a petulant child.

However, in this case, I believe that Terrell Owens is completely in the right.

For those who don’t know what I am talking about, let me briefly explain.

At T.O.’s press conference after Buffalo’s 27-7 loss to New Orleans this past Sunday, one of the reporters continuously asked Owens questions along the lines of whether or not he liked the plays that were being called. Owens, for once, did not throw his quarterback Trent Edwards under the bus as the media undoubtedly wanted him to do.

Coming into this season, Owens and teammate Lee Evans, who is ridiculously underrated, were expected to be a great receiving tandem for the Bills. Owens and Lee combined with Buffalo’s backfield should have made the Bills an explosive offensive team.

Thus far, it has not worked out very well.

If I were running a team, I would never want Owens on my team in the first place because when things don’t go right, it is usually only a matter of time before Hurricane Owens causes major damage. He only has five catches on the season, but some of that may be due to the fact that Buffalo fired its offensive coordinator two weeks before the season started.

Some of that is also due to Edwards overthrowing him and Owens simply dropping passes.

Obviously, it is still pretty early, but Owens is clearly getting frustrated and it culminated against New Orleans when he went without a catch for the first time in 185 games.

Of course with Owens not catching a ball, the media, specifically the reporters at the press conference, expected Owens to go off and start the demolition process.

These questions were clearly designed to bait Owens into saying something that would put Edwards in an extremely difficult and awkward position for the remainder of the season.

I have absolutely no problem asking a player whether or not they liked the plays that the coordinator or head coach is calling. It’s a very legitimate question. I have a problem when the question is rephrased and asked over and over again within a span of five minutes as if reporters think all athletes are morons who will not recognize that they are repeatedly being asked the same questions.

Now Owens is being killed in the media for not saying anything?

T.O. later said that he felt like he was in a “no-win situation” with the media, and he is definitely right; but he has made this bed over the course of his career, and now he has to lay in it.

From the latter part of his career in San Francisco until he left the Cowboys, he has spoken his mind whenever someone put a microphone or a camera in front of him. Regardless of how ignorantly I thought those reporters acted, Owens has to expect this until the day he is enshrined in Canton.

He has to expect this because of his actions on previous teams.

He has to expect this because his skill set isn’t what it used to be.

He has to expect this because he has dropped a lot of balls over the past couple of years.

He has to expect this because he’s Terrell Owens.

I don’t want this to come off as me being a Terrell Owens apologist. That cannot be farther from the truth. However, in this case, Terrell Owens is right. At this point, if he says something, he’s throwing his quarterback under the bus. If he doesn’t say anything, like he did on Sunday, he must be frustrated and ready to blow up at any second.

Perhaps from this point on, he should just go the Rasheed Wallace route and say that “both teams played hard.”

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NFL 2009 Week Three Wrap Up

It is still pretty early in the season, but we learned a few very important things this past weekend. Reports of the New England Patriots’ demise were greatly exaggerated. The San Francisco 49ers are for real. The Cincinnati Bengals have matured a lot over the past year. Here are some more observations from around the league:

Detroit (1-2) def. Washington (1-2), 19-14: It finally happened. For the first time in 20 games, the Detroit Lions have won and may be the happiest 1-2 team in NFL history. They did it by playing hard and refusing to be beaten again. On the other side, I don’t know if there has ever been another team to lose a game, come out with the same record as the winning team, and feel worse than the ‘Skins do right now. With everything that has gone on this year, Jim Zorn could be in trouble.

Green Bay (2-1) def. St. Louis (0-3), 36-17: Not too much to say about this game. This was one of those where the Rams stayed relatively close throughout, but you never got a sense that the Packers felt at all threatened or that anyone thought the Rams would pull out a victory. Now the Pack have a huge game against the Brett Favre-led Minnesota Vikings.

Minnesota (3-0) def. San Francisco (2-1), 27-24: There are no moral victories in sports, but this is about as close as you can get to it. The Niners proved that they will be around in December. They would have won if not for an amazing pass by the aforementioned Favre and a miraculous catch by the recently cut Greg Lewis. This was a pretty entertaining game between two pretty good teams. One of the few negatives for San Fran was Frank Gore’s ankle injury.

New England (2-1) def. Atlanta (2-1), 26-10: The Pats really took over in the second half and won this game behind a surprisingly strong running attack. Tom Brady still looked a bit off, but probably the best he’s looked all season. These are the types of games that Atlanta still has not learned to win and they will not be a championship team until they do.

New York Jets (3-0) def. Tennessee (0-3), 24-17: Who would have thought that the Titans would have already equaled their 2008 loss total by Week Three? It is one thing to lose when you are playing bad, but it has to be excruciating when you know you’re a good team and you’re playing well enough to win. However, when the quarterback’s last thirteen passes fall harmlessly to the turf, something’s not working. The Jets continue to play great defense and decent offense as they keep on rolling.

Philadelphia (2-1) def. Kansas City (0-3), 34-14: Kansas City’s offense just looks completely lost at times. Philly put up far too many points for Kansas City to keep up because the Chiefs don’t have any DeSean Jacksons or LeSean McCoys. Kevin Kolb once again played pretty well in relief and now that Philly has their bye week coming up, they can rest up some nagging injuries and Donovan McNabb should be back under center in Week Five.

New York Giants (3-0) def. Tampa Bay (0-3), 24-0: This was like a college game where the obviously better team gets called off by the coaches, so as to not embarrass the inferior team. This was domination in every sense of the word. I’ve said for weeks now how bad Tampa’s secondary is, but on Sunday the G-Men shredded them on the ground going for over 200 yards. Nothing much to see here.

Baltimore (3-0) def. Cleveland (0-3), 34-3: You can pretty much copy and paste everything I wrote from the Giants-Tampa game and just replace Giants with Ravens and Tampa Bay with Cleveland. The Browns are horrible and the Ravens are really, really good. Again, nothing to see here.

Jacksonville (1-2) def. Houston (1-2), 31-24: Houston has to be the most schizophrenic team in the entire NFL. I am fully aware that these two teams always play each other pretty close, but Houston was coming off of a big win and, with their next few games, had a good shot to go into the middle of the season with one or two losses. Jacksonville came in and capitalized on Houston’s mistakes and picked up a much needed victory.

New Orleans (3-0) def. Buffalo (1-2), 27-7: This game was actually a lot closer than the score indicated as Buffalo’s defense played very well for most of the game. Their teammates on offense didn’t. Trent Edwards missed a couple of deep balls and they were just pretty stagnant all day. Drew Brees & co. picked it up towards the end of the game, although they didn’t explode as they had in Weeks One and Two.

Chicago (2-1) def. Seattle (1-2), 25-19: First of all, whoever thought it was a good idea for Seattle to wear those HORRIBLE jerseys should be fired and banished from the league. Secondly, I thought that Jim Mora Jr.’s little rant on his kicker Olindo Mare was ridiculous. Nobody is perfect. Kickers are going to miss sometimes. Yes he should have made the kicks, but Mora Jr. just completely threw his kicker under the bus and it just really bothered me.

As for the actual game, Seneca Wallace played pretty well in relief but made the bad under pressure-pass that was intercepted deep in his own territory. Other than that Seattle played well enough to win, but Jay Cutler and Devin Hester stepped up in the end.

Cincinnati (2-1) def. Pittsburgh (1-2), 23-20: Right now, the Steelers have two big problems. They have moved the ball pretty well all year, but they are having problems putting the ball in the paint when they get into the redzone. They should have had a much larger halftime lead than they did. The other is Troy Polamalu’s injury in late game situations. Pittsburgh is having trouble stopping teams late in the game.

As far as Cincy goes, they deserve a ton of credit. They couldn’t do anything for the first 29 minutes of this game. They kept their composure against a team that has had their number for years and won the game. Huge win for the Bengals.

Denver (3-0) def. Oakland (1-2), 23-3: It’s time to give Denver credit. Regardless of how good anyone thinks they are or who they’ve played, they are now 3-0, which is more than most teams can currently say. They just destroyed Oakland as the Raiders continued to show their ineptness.

San Diego (2-1) def. Miami (0-3), 23-13: This one was relatively close as the Chargers let the Fins hang around for a while, but that all came crashing down (even though Chad Henne played relatively well, save for the interception) when Chad Pennington went down for the year. The Chargers again just looked alright, but they now start to get ready for a big game next week against the Steelers.

Indianapolis (3-0) def. Arizona (1-2), 31-10: Indy continued to produce the huge plays on Sunday night in the desert. The Colts also looked pretty good on defense against a great offense that has looked suspect all year. Arizona has to become more consistent on both sides of the ball if they want to make it back to where they were last year, much less the playoffs.

Dallas (2-1) def. Carolina (0-3), 21-7: This was a pretty sloppy game that was decided by turnovers, although they weren’t Jake Delhomme’s fault. As Dallas moves on, they really need to clean things up if they are going to be serious contenders in the ridiculously tough NFC East. For Carolina, they just desperately need a win. They get a much needed bye next week.

Top 12 Teams (last week’s rankings in parenthesis)

1. New York Giants (1): They keep moving along with a dominating win over a bad team.
2. Baltimore Ravens (2): Again, the exact same thoughts as with the Giants.
3. New York Jets (3): Picked up a pretty good win against a tough Tennessee team.
4. Indianapolis Colts (9): Big move for the Colts as they put on a pretty dominant performance themselves against a good team.
5. New Orleans Saints (6): Victory didn’t come as easily for them as it has earlier on in the year, but these are the kind of victories that are the most valuable.
6. Minnesota Vikings (7): Great victory against a very game San Fran.
7. Philadelphia Eagles (10): Good bounce back game as they head into their bye to get healthy.
8. New England Patriots (8): Same as Philly, except they did it against a good team.
9. Pittsburgh Steelers (5): They are playing well enough to win, but their own mistakes combined with the huge bull’s-eye on their back is costing them.
10. San Diego Chargers (12): For one reason or another, they keep playing down to their competition.
11. Green Bay Packers (NR): It seems this year, to me at least, like they are missing something. I just have no idea what it is.
12. Cincinnati Bengals (NR): If not for a fluke play, they would be 3-0 right now. Think about that for a second.

That’s all for right now. As always, picks will be in on Friday.

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NFL: Week 2 Predictions

Last week’s record: 13-3

Overall record: 13-3

Carolina (0-1) @ Atlanta (1-0): Jake Delhomme really, really needs to have a good game; at least a game where he doesn’t commit a turnover. He needs to do something that restores at least some of the faith of Carolina fans and coaches because if he has one or two more performances like he’s had against Arizona and Philly, he might not see too much more of the field. Unfortunately for him and Carolina, I can’t see them picking up their first “W” here. Atlanta quietly put on a dominant performance last week and I think they will pick off Delhomme at least once.

Atlanta wins, 29-16.

Minnesota (1-0) @ Detroit (0-1): Surprisingly enough, these two have actually had a streak of close games against each other. Last year, Minnesota won a game 12-10 over Detroit in the game where Dan Orlovsky now infamously ran out of the end zone. I don’t think this game will be that close. Brett Favre will manage the game like he did last week and Adrian Peterson will run wild like he did last week. There are only a few defenses that can contain that and Detroit’s not one of them.

Minnesota wins, 24-14.

Cincinnati (0-1) @ Green Bay (1-0): Cincinnati was expected by some to be a team on the rise and possibly end up with nine or ten victories. They will go into Week 3 with zero wins and two losses. I just can’t see a scenario where Cincy’s offense can explode on Green Bay’s improved defense when they could do nothing—outside of one drive—against Denver’s defense. I do think that Green Bay will explode and put up at least thirty points.

Green Bay wins, 33-10.

Houston (0-1) @ Tennessee (1-0): There is no way that Houston’s offense can play as horribly as they did last week is there? There might be because Tennessee’s defense is really, really good. The Titan offense is also much better than I anticipated. Tennessee is a much better team than the Jets, and they are at home, so they will win easily.

Tennessee wins, 20-6 (Lock of the Week).

Oakland (0-1) @ Kansas City (0-1): This is a bit of a difficult game to pick because although both teams come into the game at 0-1, I liked how each team played last week. That’s not to say that this game will be great to watch, but they each played well in defeat. I’m picking this solely based on the fact that this game is at Arrowhead and JaMarcus Russell continues to make too many bad throws.

Kansas City wins, 21-20.

New England (1-0) @ New York Jets (1-0): This game has become significantly more interesting since the Jets’ victory last Sunday. I have seen more and more people picking the Jets to beat New England, but I’m not completely buying them yet. It is very dangerous to make assumptions about a team after one week. They are better than I thought but they are not on New England’s level. I don’t like the Pats’ defense, but Bill Belichick has only lost to one rookie quarterback. Mark Sanchez is not going to be a disaster this week, but he’s not going to play as well as he did against Houston. The running game for the Jets will hurt New England; that will not be enough, though.

New England wins, 28-21.

New Orleans (1-0) @ Philadelphia (1-0): This was pretty simple for me: if Kevin Kolb plays, Philly loses. As of right now, Donovan McNabb is listed as doubtful, which means Kolb will probably start. Jeff Garcia (whom I would start, although it goes against conventional wisdom) will probably not start because he has only been there a week (this time around). The combination of Kolb not showing me a thing since he was drafted, and Drew Brees being on absolute fire for a little over a year now makes this an easy pick.

New Orleans wins, 31-14.

St. Louis (0-1) @ Washington (0-1): St. Louis is a bad team. They got destroyed by Seattle last week in which a 28-0 score doesn’t even show how much of a blowout that game was. Rams fans are the only people on this Earth picking them to win. Washington came relatively close (as far as the score goes) to beating the Giants last week. All of this almost makes me pick the Rams. Almost.

Washington wins, 19-16.

Arizona (0-1) @ Jacksonville (0-1): If Arizona loses this game, the critics will become louder and louder to the point where it will become an annoyance by the time Week 3 comes around. All summer, all they heard was that they were lucky to get to the Super Bowl and that it would be proven this season. It is way too early for this to be a must-win, but they need a win here a lot more than Jacksonville does.

Arizona wins, 27-24.

Tampa Bay (0-1) @ Buffalo (0-1): Buffalo knows that they should be 1-0 right now. I expect them to come out and end this game in a hurry. Dallas completely exposed Tampa’s secondary last week, so we will see huge days for Lee Evans and Terrell Owens.

Buffalo wins, 39-21.

Seattle (1-0) @ San Francisco (1-0): Although it’s pretty early in the season, this is a big game for the 49ers. Most fans thought that Seattle would be significantly better than they were last year, and if San Francisco could pull out a victory here, they would not only be 2-0, they would not only have—for at least a week—shut a few critics up, they would also be 2-0 in the division which is big. All of that will end up being irrelevant though.

Seattle wins, 21-18.

Pittsburgh (1-0) @ Chicago (0-1): There is one big question for each offense coming into this game. Can Pittsburgh get their ground game going after a bad showing against Tennessee? It can’t be much worse than it was last week, so I see it being at least respectable. The other question is whether or not Jay Cutler can bounce back from a bad debut against Green Bay. Cutler is not a bad quarterback, but this is the worst scenario he could have found himself in. He is facing the league’s best defense and even without Troy Polamalu, it will be a long day for Cutler.

Pittsburgh wins, 26-10.

Cleveland (0-1) @ Denver (1-0): Neither of these teams will win too many games this year, but Cleveland looks to be the better team. They were able to hang with Minnesota for a while until Adrian Peterson got tired of messing around, while Denver struggled with Cincy and needed a miracle play to beat them.

Cleveland wins, 18-3.

Baltimore (1-0) @ San Diego (1-0): Although both came away with victories last week, they both have something to work on. San Diego let Oakland hang around for too long and nearly lost, while Baltimore gave up way too many points to an inferior Kansas City team. This will go down to the wire, but I really did not like how the Chargers played against Oakland. They will also be without LaDainian Tomlinson, which will hurt San Diego a bit.

Baltimore wins, 24-20.

New York Giants (1-0) @ Dallas (1-0): Finally, the Cowboys open up Jerry Jones’ billion dollar playground—and New York will ruin it. The Giants will come out firing on all cylinders and open up a big lead. Dallas’ comeback will fall just short and all Cowboys fans will go home pretty upset.

New York Giants win, 35-32.

Indianapolis (1-0) @ Miami (0-1): Miami must keep this a low-scoring game if they are going to win. They have the defense to do it, but I still doubt that they can put up the points to hang with Indy.

Indy wins, 24-13.

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