Carolina (3-3) at Tampa Bay (0-6)
Mike Glennon and Vincent Jackson are connecting well for the
Buccaneers, but that’s about all that’s going well for them, especially with
Doug Martin out for this game due to injury.
The Panthers are on their first winning streak of the season
and have one of the better pass defenses in the league that could take away
from what Glennon and Jackson do.
Carolina wins.
San Francisco (5-2) vs. Jacksonville (0-7) – GAME IN LONDON
After putting up a fight against the Broncos two weeks ago,
the Jaguars put up a dud against the Chargers last week, failing to score a
single touchdown all game.
The 49ers took care of a more competitive Titans team last
week and shouldn’t have much trouble here.
San Francisco wins.
Cleveland (3-4) at Kansas City (7-0)
The Chiefs are the only undefeated team in the league. They
play efficient, if not pretty, football and are a tough team to go up against
when they’re home.
Brandon Weeden has struggled immensely this season and was
finally benched for Jason Campbell. He’ll be the third quarterback to start for
the Browns this season.
Kansas City wins.
Miami (3-3) at New England (5-2)
Ryan Tannehill might have had his worst game in the NFL last
weekend against the Bills. It’s not entirely his fault they lost, but his two
interceptions and one fumble lost certainly helped.
For whatever reason, the Dolphins have regressed since
opening the season 3-0. The play calling seems more conservative and Mike
Wallace still isn’t being used to his full potential.
The Patriots have proven they are beatable, but they are
playing better than Miami and also have home field advantage.
New England wins.
Buffalo (3-4) at New Orleans (5-1)
The Saints really are one play away from still being
undefeated, losing to the Patriots two weeks ago on a touchdown pass with 30
seconds left.
New Orleans just didn’t do enough to close the game out and
wind down the clock.
That being said, they should be able to regroup after the
bye, at home, against a sub-.500 Bills team.
New Orleans wins.
Dallas (4-3) at Detroit (4-3)
After maybe the best game of his career against the Broncos
three weeks ago, Tony Romo has come out fairly flat the past two weeks. Dallas
has won those games despite mediocre performances from their quarterback.
The Lions played a good game against the Bengals before an
untimely special teams miscue led to their demise. They were the first team to
throw for at least 300 yards against the Bengals defense in nearly 40 games.
At home against a leakier pass defense of Dallas, the Lions
should do the same but with a better result.
Detroit wins.
New York Giants (1-6) at Philadelphia (3-4)
The Giants may be 10th in the league in passing yards per
game, but a contributing factor to that could be because they find themselves
down for most of the game. Really, Eli Manning and his receivers have not been
in sync. The Giants are sixth in the league with 18 drops. Again, that could be
aided by the fact that the team throws a lot but three of the team’s ahead of
the Giants on the list have winning records, something New York does not have.
The team is only 16th in the league in receiving touchdowns
and is 24th in the league in receptions inside the opponents red zone. It’s not
like once the Giants get in the red zone they pound the ball on the ground
either: they are 16th in the league in rushing touchdowns. Eli Manning also
leads the league in interceptions, with 15.
With inconsistent play in the passing game and a very banged
up running game, it does not look good for the Giants on the road.
Philadelphia wins.
Pittsburgh (2-4) at Oakland (2-4)
It looks like the Steelers defense is finally starting to
clamp down. In their recent two-game winning streak they’ve allowed only 11
points per game, compared to 27.5 in their four losses. The key will be getting
off to an early start against the Raiders.
Oakland is last in the league in passing yards per game and
the Steelers are fourth in the league in passing yards allowed per game.
Pittsburgh has scored first in three of their six games this season. If they
can jump on Oakland early and force the Raiders to pass the ball, they could
force Oakland into some mistakes. All of Terrelle Pryor’s interceptions thrown
have come in games they lost. He threw three interceptions in the team’s last
game, against the Chiefs.
Pittsburgh wins.
New York Jets (4-3) at Cincinnati (5-2)
The Bengals are 3-0 at home this season and have won three
straight games. They haven’t won by big margins, the largest being 10 points in
Week 2 against the Steelers, but they grind games out. A.J. Green has been hot
lately, going for over 100 yards receiving and a touchdown in each of the past
two games.
While the Jets have been better than anticipated this season
they have been inconsistent. They have yet to put together a win streak, losing
every other game. This would put them on pace to lose this weekend. The team is
also only 6-13 on the road going back to 2011.
Cincinnati wins.
Atlanta (2-4) at Arizona (3-4)
Last week, on a day where the Falcons managed to run for
only 18 yards, Matt Ryan was 20-26 for 273 yards and three touchdowns to help
the Falcons beat Tampa Bay by eight points.
Amidst a rough season so far for the team, with Roddy White
hampered by injuries and Julio Jones now out for the season, Ryan has still put
up good numbers. It looks like he’s getting Steven Jackson back for some
carries this week, which should help their red zone offense.
Atlanta wins.
Washington (2-4) at Denver (6-1)
RGIII had one of his best games all season last week against
the Bears and the running game was very good, especially Roy Helu, who ran for
three touchdowns.
This week is a very difficult test though.
The Broncos may have lost their first game of the season,
but this is still one of the top teams in the league. Von Miller will be back
for his second game, and another week can only help him feel more comfortable.
Washington’s defense has just been terrible this season. If
Josh McCown can complete 70 percent of his passes for just over 200 yards and
touchdown, I wonder what Peyton Manning can do.
Denver wins.
Green Bay (4-2) at Minnesota (1-5)
Josh Freeman was 20-53 passing for 190 yards and an
interception. He looked even worse than his stats suggest. His passed were
extremely off-target and he was constantly rushed playing behind a porous
offensive line. He also reportedly suffered a concussion. If he can’t go it
will be Christian Ponder starting, and that’s more of the same.
The Packers jumped on Browns quarterback Brandon Weeden last
week, who is similarly ineffective this year. It should be a similar result for
the cheese heads this week.
Green Bay wins.
Seattle (6-1) at St. Louis (3-4)
The Seahawks handily beat division foe Arizona on the road
last week on Thursday night.
Their aggressive secondary should continue to cause the
opposition fits, especially against a Rams team that just lost starting
quarterback Sam Bradford for the year.
Seattle wins.
Bye Week: Chicago, Tennessee, Indianapolis, San Diego,
Baltimore, Houston
Last Week: 10-5
Overall: 68-39
Photo Credit.
Steven Jackson: AP Photo/John Bazemore, File
No comments:
Post a Comment