Patriots to stay undefeated
Green Bay vs. Detroit matchup should be close
New England Patriots @ Cincinnati Bengals
Sunday, Oct 6 1:00 p.m.
Tom Brady started to look like himself last week and he seems to be becoming more and more comfortable with his young receivers as the season moves forward. He threw for over 300 yards and had his best game of the season by far against the talented Falcons’ defense. The Patriots almost gave away a 17 point lead with only 6 minutes remaining, so they need to work on closing out games. The Bengals were shocked by the Browns last week and their offense was completely non-existent. Andy Dalton struggled mightily to get anything going, even though he ended up with over 200 passing yards. This should be a good matchup of two good offenses, but the Pats should come out on top and move to 5-0.
Prediction: 24-20 Patriots
Detroit Lions @ Green Bay Packers
Sunday, Oct 6 1:00 p.m.
Detroit won a shootout with Chicago and they’re definitely glad to have Reggie Bush back in the line-up. Bush was incredibly effective in the rushing game, racking up 139 yards and a touchdown. If he can continue even half of that production for the remainder of the season, the Lions will be virtually unstoppable on offense. The Packers come off a sorely needed bye week in need of a win, and I think they will come into this game prepared. They know the Lions well, as they are division rivals, and I’m sure they have a good game plan for Aaron Rodgers to exploit holes in Detroit’s secondary. This is going to be a game to watch this week.
Prediction: 31-30 Packers
Seattle Seahawks @ Indianapolis Colts
Sunday, Oct 6 1:00 p.m.
Seattle continues to win, as they came back and defeated Houston in overtime last week. This season is the first time that the Seahawks have started 4-0 in their history. Russell Wilson didn’t have his best game, but they still managed to pull it out on the strength of their defense and their running back Marshawn Lynch. The Colts cruised to a win last week against the Jaguars and the outcome was never really in jeopardy. They face a much tougher test this week and Andrew Luck may have problems throwing on the Seattle secondary. I expect this to be a low scoring game, as both teams have good defenses.
Prediction: 23-16 Seahawks
Baltimore Ravens @ Miami Dolphins
Sunday, Oct 6 1:00 p.m.
Joe Flacco threw 5 interceptions, a career high, in Baltimore’s loss to the Bills last week. Ray Rice only had 5 carries, but besides that was mostly ineffective. The Ravens nearly came back and stole a win, despite Flacco’s turnovers, but they can’t expect to stay in the game if he performs like that. He absolutely needs to play well this week against a tough Dolphins team. Miami never had a chance last Monday against New Orleans. Their defense had no answer for Drew Brees and he torched their secondary for 4 touchdowns and 400 yards. They were hurt by turnovers, but I expect them to take better care of the ball this week.
Prediction: 20-17 Dolphins
New Orleans Saints @ Chicago Bears
Sunday, Oct 6 1:00 p.m.
The Saints are on a roll and are one of the only remaining undefeated teams in the NFL. They have continued to show that there may not be a defense in the league that can completely shut down their offense and they look to continue their dominance this week against Chicago. Jay Cutler was awful last week against the Lions and he threw too many bad interceptions for the Bears to stay in the game. When he is the quarterback for your franchise however, you have to accept his inconsistency. He will most likely get back on track this week, but I’m not sure it will matter. The Saints’ offense is just as high powered, if not more so, as the Lions’ (who just scored 40 against the Bears D).
Prediction: 38-24 Saints
Philadelphia Eagles @ New York Giants
Sunday, Oct 6 1:00 p.m.
The Eagles were embarrassed last week against Peyton Manning and the Broncos. Their defense was lost the entire game, and they didn’t stop Manning until he was pulled from the game in the fourth quarter. They allowed Denver to score a franchise record 52 points last week, and they need to pull it together if they want a chance to win the weak NFC East. Michael Vick played well at the beginning of the game and kept it competitive, but Philadelphia just couldn’t get the running game going and it cost them. The Giants are in a tailspin. After their loss to the Chiefs, they are still winless on the season and Eli Manning has looked nothing like his normal self. They can’t move the ball through the air or on the ground and I’m not sure they have the personnel to fix their situation.
Prediction: 30-17 Eagles
Kansas City Chiefs @ Tennessee Titans
Sunday, Oct 6 1:00 p.m.
The Chiefs are undefeated and I doubt anyone saw this coming. Alex Smith is doing what he does best, and is keeping the Chiefs in every game. He isn’t making stupid mistakes or bad decisions and the Chiefs are winning because of it. They play tough defense and they have one of the best running backs in the league in Jamaal Charles. The Titans have been hot to start the season, but they might be in trouble after Jake Locker left last week’s game with a hip injury. They now have former Browns QB Derek Anderson starting, and I’m not sure that he will be able to move the ball against Kansas City.
Prediction: 20-13 Chiefs
Jacksonville Jaguars @ St. Louis Rams
Sunday, Sep 29 1:00 p.m.
Jacksonville was manhandled once again last week and I don’t see their fortunes changing in the near future. Blaine Gabbert has returned to start for the Jags, but I’m not sure that’s a good thing. He threw 3 interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown. They simply have no offensive punch, and they desperately need a playmaker. The Rams have been underachieving this year, and it is masking the fact that they actually have a pretty good team. They have plenty of weapons on offense and Sam Bradford is definitely capable of leading them to a few wins. They had a rough day against San Francisco last week, but this game against the Jaguars is the perfect time to start a winning streak.
Prediction: 24-6 Rams
Carolina Panthers @ Arizona Cardinals
Sunday, Sep 29 4:05 p.m.
The Panthers come off a bye week well-rested, and they need to grab a win this week. They will to try to keep pace with New Orleans and potentially make a run at the division title. They looked great against New York before the bye, so they’ll likely carry that momentum into this week against Arizona. The Cardinals needed to make a comeback last week against Tampa Bay, and Patrick Peterson had a major part in it, as he intercepted 2 passes from Bucs rookie Mike Glennon. Their defense did a really good job holding Doug Martin to only 45 rushing yards on 27 carries, and they will definitely need to stop the run to beat Carolina.
Prediction: 20-13 Panthers
Denver Broncos @ Dallas Cowboys
Sunday, Oct 6 4:25 p.m.
Denver continues to roll and they’re making it look easy. They’ve scored the most points in the league by a huge margin and are averaging an unreal 44.8 points per game. No team can beat them if they continue to score like this. Out of all the outstanding seasons in Peyton Manning’s career, this is his best start, and it’s not even that close. He finished the first month of the season with 16 touchdowns and no interceptions and he’s on pace to shatter Tom Brady’s record of 50 in a season. This is not good news for the Cowboys, who just gave up 400 yards to Philip Rivers in a loss to San Diego. They scored all of their points in the second quarter, and couldn’t get anything going after that. This could be another blowout for the Broncos.
Prediction: 41-20 Broncos
Houston Texans @ San Francisco 49ers
Sunday, Oct 6 8:30 p.m.
Houston lost a heartbreaker to Seattle as they just couldn’t close the game out. Matt Schaub hasn’t looked like himself this season, and his pick-six probably cost the Texans the game. It’s gotten so bad, that some Texans fans were burning his jersey outside the stadium after the loss. Arian Foster had one of his better games this season, and hopefully he will get back on track for the rest of the season. The 49ers finally played well and they haven’t looked this good since their game in Week 1 against the Packers. Colin Kaepernick played much better than he has in previous weeks, and Frank Gore ran all over the Rams’ defense. This style of football is what got the 49ers to the Super Bowl last year.
Prediction: 23-17 49ers
San Diego Chargers @ Oakland Raiders
Sunday, Oct 6 11:35 p.m.
The Chargers came back against the Cowboys last week and they will need to win games like this one against the Raiders in order to keep pace with Denver. Philip Rivers is having a good start to the season and his game last week was no exception. Antonio Gates is also having a career resurgence after having a few down years, and he is re-emerging as one of the league’s premiere tight ends. The Raiders replaced Terrelle Pryor with Matt Flynn last week against the Redskins and he had a good game in his first start, despite the loss. The Oakland offensive line needs to do a much better job protecting him, however, as he was sacked 7 times. It’s hard for any quarterback to be effective under that kind of pressure.
Prediction: 27-14 Chargers
New York Jets @ Atlanta Falcons
Monday, Oct 7 8:40 p.m.
The Jets were dominated last week by the Titans, and they were never really in the game from the beginning. Geno Smith lost the ball 4 times (2 fumbles and 2 interceptions) and his turnovers continue to hurt the Jets. Other than his untimely mistakes, he has played fairly well this season and he gives the Jets another dimension that they did not have with Mark Sanchez under center. The Falcons are on a 3 game losing streak after their win in Week 1. Their furious comeback came up short last week against New England despite Matt Ryan’s 421 passing yards. In their second primetime game in a row, I expect the Falcons to break their losing streak, and for Ryan to carve up the Jets defense. Look for them to get back on track.
Prediction: 31-14 Falcons