Alright, another 7-7 week last week, leaving me at 32-30 for the season. I think that speaks to how much parity has been in effect this season. Let's see here it takes me this week.
JAX vs. BUF
As much as you can question how legitimate Jacksonville is after their win against Indy, it’s difficult to pick against them when their facing the Bills. The strong running game of Jacksonville should be able to pull out this win. However, the Bills do play tough defense football, in spite of last week’s performance. This could be one of their few chances to win this season.
DEN vs. BAL
I am very surprised at how well Kyle Orton has been playing and at how good the Broncos look. However, that hardly means that are going to be able to compete with one of the elite teams in NFL right now. I think Baltimore is going to pummel Kyle Orton and I have no faith in that Denver defense. Odd isn’t it? The very thing that got Mike Shanahan fired didn’t improve after hiring another offensive minded head coach. Who could have seen this coming? Baltimore rolls.
KC vs. IND
Who would have honestly guessed that the Chiefs were going to find themselves 3-0 at this point in the season? They could even come out of this game 4-0, given how bad the Colts run defense has been. Not mention the fact that the Colts lost current starting Safety Melvin Bullett for the season and Bob Sanders is still out, they could have a very hard time containing Thomas Jones and the speedy Jamal Charles. I’d be more worried about Jones since the majority of the Colts defense is fast and athletic enough to keep up with Charles. If it wasn’t for Peyton Manning, I would actually be picking the Chiefs to win this one. However, I am a coward and I don’t think that this defense is quite at the level to compete against the mind of Peyton Manning. Colts win in a shootout.
GB vs. WAS
This should be a good game. While Green Bay has suffered somewhat from the loss of Ryan Grant, they have found a way to keep their offense on track and their defense is deadly on the edge. Washington has been surprising and knows how to punch a team in the mouth. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Redskins won, however I don’t think they’ll be able to match their nickel and dime corners well with James Jones or Jordy Nelson, not to mention how deadly Jermichael Finley has been the past few weeks. Packers win.
STL vs. DET
While this would seem like a pretty even matchup or even an easy win for St. Louis, the truth is that this should be an easy game for the Lions. In watching the Lions week after week against far better competition than the Rams have been facing, the Lions have been consistently more competitive and have only lost by small margins. I think that the Lions are going to be able to shred the Rams defense and be able pressure Sam Bradford enough to shut down the Rams passing offense. Lions get their first win of the season.
CHI vs. CAR
I know a lot of people would have selected the Bears to win up until Jay Cutler was officially ruled out of the game, but I wasn’t one of them. I’ve seen too many players try to rush back from a concussion, only to perform like garbage the next game because they simply weren’t ready. I’m still picking the Bears to win because of their veteran defense taking on a rookie quarterback.
TB vs. CIN
This is an unusual matchup. Cincy has looked both extremely good and very bad. It’s strange, they have shown the ability to be explosive offensively and hard hitting defensively; but they also have shown to be porous defensively and vanilla offensively. Tampa Bay on the other hand has been surprisingly strong defensively and has shown growth offensively. I’m picking Cincy, just because I think they are better when they are mediocre than Tampa Bay is when they’re good.
ATL vs. CLE
Atlanta should win this game handily, though Cleveland has given them problems in the past.
NYG vs. HOU
In spite of their success, the Texans have had continued problems defending the pass, while the Giants have been throwing the ball well. If the Giants do not turn the ball over, they have a good chance in this game. However, I don’t faith enough faith in the Giants offensive line to be able to contain Mario Williams and that athletic Texans defensive line. I think the Texans win.
NO vs. ARI
I hope Max Hall is tough mentally, because he is going to have a very difficult time in this game. New Orleans wins.
TEN vs. DAL
Tennessee suffered a bad loss against the Broncos, even though they are the better team and played like it for the majority of the game. They’re probably going to have a hard time against the rested Cowboys, but I am still going to pick them for the win. Just a gut feeling.
SD vs. OAK
Oakland was supposed to be ready to break out this year. They were supposed to have a better passing game with the addition of Jason Campbell. However, the Raiders remain the Raiders. San Diego should win.
PHI vs. SF
Kevin Kolb looked far from ready to assume the role of franchise quarterback. But I guess that’s what happens after building him up over the course of an offseason then benching him at the first sign of trouble. I’m going with San Fran in this one, because I think their defense will be able to take advantage of this lack of confidence in Kolb.
This game has a lot of interesting storylines in it. None of which involve Brett Favre. No, mostly I’m referring to the Randy Moss trade. Even if he wasn;t playing this week, he still would have a big impact on the game since he played the Jets earlier in the year and has been studying them on film for the past few years. He would know more about their current defensive schemes and the tendencies of their defensive backs than anyone else on the roster. With Moss playing, he gives the Viking a deep option that fits well with what Brett Favre wants to do and should help open up the underneath routes much like he did for the Patriots when he was there. Overall, his addition helps the Viking offense on all levels. The Jets, I think, will have problems covering him just because I am not 100% convinced that Darelle Revis is healthy enough to compete with him on the field right now. If he is, then the Jets stand a good chance. As it stands however, I’m picking the Vikings to win this game.
I agree with most of these picks.
ReplyDeleteHowever I'm not sure that the 49ers will beat the Eagles. I agree about Kolb. He has not had the opportunity to develop any type of a rhythm with the offense because of his concussion and the Vick controversy. It will be a difficult task for him in the next few games if Vick doesn't return.
I still pick the eagles in a close game because the 49ers as a whole will have less confidence being 0-4 than Kolb and the eagles cluster of confusion. As a whole I think Philly is a better team.