San Francisco (1-2) at St. Louis (1-2)
Colin Kaepernick has had two dud games in a row and the
49ers look to be struggling. That being said, the Rams aren’t exactly blowing
people out of the water, either.
The Rams got manhandled by the Cowboys last week. They lost
by 24 points, threw for only 197 yards, ran for only 35 yards and surrendered
396 yards on defense.
It’s a good time for the Niners to get back on track.
San Francisco wins.
Baltimore (2-1) at Buffalo (1-2)
After getting torched by the Broncos and holding on against
the Browns (which always seems to be a battle), the Ravens finally took it to
someone else. It’s quite impressive what they did to a Texans team that some
would consider a Super Bowl contender, beating them 30-9.
The Bills don’t look terrible this season. Their two losses
are by one score or less.
Still, the Ravens won a big game last week, have some
momentum, and have more talent than the Bills.
Baltimore wins.
Cincinnati (2-1) at Cleveland (1-2)
It seems like the Browns last week decided to do whatever it
takes to win a game, a fake field goal and a fake punt included. Jordan Cameron
caught three touchdown passes and looks like one of the best tight ends in the league.
Their defense isn’t half bad, either.
Not to take away what the Browns did last week, but it was
against the struggling Minnesota Vikings. The Bengals are a different story.
This team had high expectations for themselves this year and
after falling short against the Bears in Week 1, they took it to the Packers
last weekend. They caused Aaron Rodgers to throw two interceptions and look
pedestrian.
Cincinnati wins.
Chicago (3-0) at Detroit (2-1)
The Lions passing game is ranked third-best in the league.
Matthew Stafford is playing well and he’s gotten great contributions from
Calvin Johnson (of course), his running backs Reggie Bush and Joique Bell, and
Nate Burleson has stepped up alongside Megatron. He has more catches than
Johnson and a nice 239 yards.
But Burleson has a broken arm now. How does that affect
Detroit’s passing game? The running backs are third and fourth on the team in
yards and receptions, and no other player (after Bush) has at least 45 yards
receiving. In fact, the only one that’s been even targeted more than 10 times
is tight end Brandon Pettigrew, who has five catches (on 12 targets) for 38
yards and no touchdowns.
Chicago wins.
New York Giants (0-3) at Kansas City Chiefs (3-0)
The Giants were absolutely embarrassed last weekend. That
was a new low for the franchise. They were shutout and lost by 38 points. Eli
Manning was sacked seven times. As a team, they registered only 90 yards
passing. They turned the ball over three times. They yielded over 400 total
yards of offense.
It was the second consecutive game the Giants lost by double
digits. It was the second consecutive game they turned the ball over at least
three times. And to make matters worse, they also statistically have the worst
rushing attack in the league.
The Chiefs are well-known to play very well at home and they
could very well provide more misery for the New York football Giants.
Kansas City wins.
Arizona (1-2) at Tampa Bay (0-3)
In a surprising move, the Buccaneers have benched Josh
Freeman in favor of rookie Mike Glennon. It’s not the move that’s surprising,
it’s more so the timing of it; it’s much earlier than anyone could have
expected.
But the Buccaneers have lost eight of their last nine,
dating back to last season. Will Glennon be the shot in the mouth the team
needs, the fire lit under their backsides?
What I do know is that the Cardinals have the third best
rushing defense, so they will make Glennon beat them.
Arizona wins.
Indianapolis (2-1) at Jacksonville (0-3)
There just isn’t any reason to pick the Jaguars. They have
yet to be competitive and against another potential playoff team there’s just
nothing to like for them in this match-up.
Indianapolis wins.
Seattle (3-0) at Houston (2-1)
The Texans are 2-1 and tied for first in the AFC South. But
they haven’t been sharp. They had a come-back win late over the San Diego
Chargers. They needed overtime to dispose of the Tennessee Titans (the other
team tied atop the AFC South) at home. Then there was last week’s debacle in
Baltimore.
That being said, the Seahawks typically don’t play well on
the road. Their last road game, they barely got past the so-so Carolina
Panthers.
Which defense will perform better? The Seahawks defense has
given up the fewest points in the league and Jacksonville only got to 17 last
week after Seattle’s reserves took the field. The Texans, meanwhile, are second
in the league in passing defense (Seattle is first) and ninth in rushing defense
(Seattle is 12th).
At home, I think the Texans defense plays just a bit better.
Houston wins.
Pittsburgh (0-3) vs. Minnesota (0-3) – GAME IN LONDON
Both teams head to the NFL’s annual game in London
struggling mightily.
The edge in this game is at the quarterback position,
though. The Steelers have Ben Roethlisberger, who has won multiple Super Bowls
and is a proven commodity.
The Vikings have Christian Ponder. He’s third in the league
in interceptions, tied for fifth in sacks and is 22nd in completion percentage.
He does not look sharp and fans are calling for Matt Cassel to come into games.
Pittsburgh wins.
New York Jets (2-1) at Tennessee (2-1)
How many people had both these teams coming into this game
with winning records?
Other than passing yards per game, there isn’t much separating
these two teams. The biggest difference, more important than the difference in
passing yards, is the turnover battle. Tennessee is second in the AFC with a
plus-five turnover differential, helped by the fact that they haven’t committed
a single turnover yet this season. The Jets, on the other hand, are minus-six
in turnovers, thanks to six interceptions from Geno Smith.
That could be huge, especially with the Titans as the home
team.
Tennessee wins.
Washington (0-3) at Oakland (1-2)
Had Terrelle Pryor not picked up a concussion last weekend,
thus making it unlikely he will play this weekend, it would have been a very
fun match-up between two quarterbacks that can seriously move with the ball.
RGIII has played decently this season, but he still hasn’t
matched the magic he had from last year. It hurts that Washington’s defense is
just downright terrible this year.
The Raiders aren’t world beaters though. And while Matt
Flynn played well in reserve of Aaron Rodgers, there has to be a reason he went
from big free agent signing to Russell Wilson’s back-up, to Oakland, then to Pryor’s
back-up.
This seems like a game that Washington can take away.
Washington wins.
Philadelphia (1-2) at Denver (3-0)
The Broncos are cruising. And at home? This team knows how
to get the job done.
Something worth watching: the Eagles rushing attack is first
in the league in yards per game but the Broncos defense is first in fewest
rushing yards allowed per game.
The Broncos are first in total points scored while the
Eagles are tied for sixth for most point allowed. Denver has won their games by
an average just shy of 19 points per game.
Denver wins.
Dallas (2-1) at San Diego (1-2)
All three of the Chargers games this season have been
decided in the final 30 seconds. With gunslingers like Phillip Rivers and Tony
Romo playing quarterback in this game, anything can happen.
Neither team defends the pass very well, but the Chargers
are dead last in passing yards allowed, giving up a whopping 340 yards per
game. The Cowboys may rank only 18th in passing yards, but Romo picked apart
the Rams defense before the team finally relented and worked to kill the clock.
Dallas wins.
New England (3-0) at Atlanta (1-2)
The Patriots young receivers finally looked to start
clicking with Tom Brady against the Buccaneers last weekend, which is promising
for the team.
But even with Steven Jackson injured and Roddy White still
not at 100 percent, the Falcons at home have a slight edge. Even though they
have two losses, those losses are both less than seven points and the Miami
loss occurred very late in the fourth quarter of a back and forth game. Both
losses were also on the road.
The Falcons have never been two games under .500 with Mike
Smith as the team’s head coach.
Atlanta wins.
Miami (3-0) at New Orleans (3-0)
The Dolphins are one of the surprises of the league thus far
this season and have a strong defense and very improved offense to thank.
They can make this a competitive game, but prime time home
games are what the Saints do best. New Orleans is 7-0 in Monday night games
since 2009 and 5-0 in Monday night home games in the same time frame.
With the team undefeated, Drew Brees starting off strong and
Sean Payton back on the sidelines, expect the New Orleans fans to be even
louder than usual.
New Orleans wins.
Bye Week: Green Bay, Carolina
Last Week: 9-7
Overall: 34-14
Photo Credit.
Ben Roethlisberger: AP Photo/Don Wright
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