NFL Predictions: Week 8

We are officially at the halfway point of the NFL season and my record for predictions is a respectable 66-41.  To put that into perspective I looked at Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller and Michael Schottey and their prediction records.  Matt Miller is doing very well at 73-34 and Michael Schottey is 65-42.  I think I have a good grasp on the NFL and my record seems to show that.  Teams with a week 8 bye are the Bears, Titans, Colts, Chargers, Ravens, and Texans.  

Thursday Oct. 24th

Panthers at Buccaneers 7:00pm CT – The Panthers have a solid defense and Cam Newton.  The Bucs are one of the worst teams in the league and Greg Schiano is on the hot seat if they cannot get a win.  I think this one will be another boring game as the Thursday night games seem to be mediocre at best with the players playing on a short week.  Carolina has the better team and should be able to pull out a win on the road.

Panthers 28-13

Sunday Oct. 27th

Noon Games

Cowboys at Lions – This game should be one of the better games of the day and could be a shoot out as neither team’s defense is dominating.  The Lions are coming off of a loss at home to the Bengals last week and their secondary has had some trouble with big name receivers.  I think the Cowboys will be better once Demarcus Ware gets back but until then they have no real pass rushing threat.  I believe the Lions will win this one at home in a high scoring game.  

Lions 42-38

49ers at Jaguars – Well you certainly are welcome London, we really care about making a good impression with you as we try to expand the NFL over seas thats why we chose to send the Jacksonville Jaguars to showcase our wonderful product.  This game could make the UK forever hate NFL football if it turns out to way many expect.  49ers will make mincemeat of the lowly Jaguars in London.

49ers 35-17

Browns at Chiefs – The Chiefs are the only unbeaten team left in the NFL and it will continue this week.  I am going to take this time to make a bold prediction but one I truly believe in.  The Chiefs will not lose at Arrowhead this year.  That includes this week then home games against the Broncos, Chargers and Colts.  The Chiefs are a good team but if they want to make a deep playoff run it will have to be done at Arrowhead.  The Browns are starting their 3rd different QB this season with Jason Campbell under center and he will have his hands full with Tamba Hali and Justin Houston applying pressure off the edge.  The Browns have a good defense of their own and look like they could be good if they had a proper starting QB.  In the end the Chiefs will win convincingly.

Chiefs 28-14

Dolphins at Patriots – The Patriots are going to be angry after last week and they will take it out on the Dolphins in New England.  The Dolphins started out the year 3-0 but have now lost three in a row.  The defense has been the major problem and Ryan Tannehill has been making some questionable decisions throwing the ball.  I think the Patriots will get Rob Gronkowski involved heavily in the red zone and win this one at home.

Patriots 31-21

Bills at Saints – The Saints are in my opinion the best team in the NFC.  Drew Brees and Sean Payton have the Saints offense looking like the offense that helped them win the Super Bowl in 2009.  The Bills have had a rough start to their year with an injury to EJ Manual and CJ Spiller not producing up to expectations.  The Saints have one of the best home field advantages in the NFL and it will show again this Sunday.

Saints 38-17

Giants at Eagles – The Giants finally got their first win but it was against the Vikings and they still didn’t look that good.  The Eagles are having trouble keeping their QBs healthy but Michael Vick is set to return this week and he is the best QB for Chip Kelly’s offense.  The Eagles already beat the Giants once this year and shouldn’t have a problem winning for a second time.  

Eagles 28-21

3:30 Games

Steelers at Raiders – The Steelers have now won two straight games as their defense has gotten better each week.  The Raiders are coming off a bye week and it is still hard to pinpoint what kind of a team they are.  Nonetheless I think the Steelers will win on the road in a close low scoring game.  

Steelers 20-13

Jets at Bengals – The Jets have had some thrilling 4th quarter wins this year and are trying to challenge the Patriots for the AFC East title.  The Bengals are 5-2 with loses to the Bears and Browns but they are undefeated at home and it will stay that way as they beat the Jets in Cincinnati.

Bengals 27-21

Falcons at Cardinals – The Cardinals offense has been mediocre all year as Carson Palmer looks to have been a bad decision.  The Falcons have struggled out of the gates but have the talent to turn their season around and make the playoffs as a wildcard.  I think the Falcons will win the turnover battle and it will lead to a road win for Atlanta.

Falcons 28-17

Redskins at Broncos –  The Broncos defense has holes in it and Von Miller will take a bit of time to get back to his Pro Bowl level.  The Redskins offense looked like it was returning to prominence last week as they put up 45 on the Bears and they longer RG3 stays healthy the more dangerous the skins get.  The Broncos are returning home before their bye week and will be looking to get the bad taste of last weeks loss out of their mouths.  Peyton Manning will not have a hard time putting points up against a middle of the road defense and the Broncos will win at home.  Although I will make it known I will be hoping the Redskins can pull out a win.

Broncos 42-31

Sunday Night Football

Packers vs Vikings –  Wow the NFL really messed up the primetime schedule this year as the Vikings are playing in primetime for the second straight week.  The Packers have some injury issues but Aaron Rodgers is still finding ways to spread the ball around on offense.  I don’t see the Viking putting up much of a fight. 

Packers 35-14

Monday Oct. 28th

Seahawks at Rams – The Rams just lost Sam Bradford for the year and apparently reached out to Brett Favre to play for them.  The Seahawks are considered one of the best teams in the NFL and although they are not the best team on the road they will do fine against a depleted Rams team in St. Louis.

Seahawks 28-14

 

Hockey: America’s Most Underrated Sport

 

The NHL season officially kicked off at the beginning of October and there have been some great stories already in the young season.  The Colorado Avalanche are 6-1-0 and in first place in the Central Division after picking first in the NHL draft and have Hall of Famer Patrick Roy steering them in the right direction.  The NHL season is off to a great start but the other day I was watching Sportscenter and noticed that hockey gets little to no coverage.  This is a shame because hockey is a great game and I feel like many people in this country just brush it aside because they associate hockey with Canada.  To me hockey is a blue collar sport with beauty and grace.  Hockey combines the physicality of football with the finesse and anticipation of soccer.  The action in non stop as the teams don’t call timeouts to substitute they just have line changes during the flow of the game.  Hockey is also a brilliant sport because of the traditions in the game.  The Stanley Cup is one of the greatest if not the greatest trophy in all of sports and the NHL has rivalries that have been alive since the 1930’s and 40’s.  If you enjoy hard hitting, smooth skating, and beautiful scoring hockey may be the sport for you.  I am a person who found hockey because I was sick and tired of the NBA regular season.  Coming from a town where there is no professional basketball I became bored with the pick up game pace of regular season NBA games.  Hockey has now become my sport of choice after the NFL season is over.  Not to say I don’t watch during the NFL season just that I prefer the NFL over NHL during the fall.  Another reason hockey is a great sport is the playoffs.  If you watched any game of the 2012-2013 NHL playoffs you would understand that hockey has the best playoffs in any sport hands down.  Every game I watched from the opening round to the epic final had heart stopping moments that I couldn’t believe.  In the Western Conference Finals the Chicago Blackhawks game back from a 3-1 series deficit to win in seven games.  In the third period of game six Chicago scored 3 unanswered goals to win 4-3 and force a game seven which turned out to be an incredible game.  Hockey also has survived through some tough times like the 2004-2005 lockout in which no hockey was played the entire year.  This scare happened again in 2012 but the NHL and its players were able to some to an agreement and the season was shortened.  I think the biggest reason that hockey is not as popular as say baseball, basketball, or even NASCAR is that it is a winter sport and most people who don’t live in the northern states of America can’t relate or find hockey to confusing to follow.  This is simply not true,  hockey is fast paced with non stop action and plus it is the only team sport in which fights are tolerated. Another reason hockey is a great sport is that it is filled with honest working class guys who play the sport they love for the sport and not the money.  Hardly ever do you hear about an NHL player getting arrested or whining that he isn’t being paid enough money by his team.  This seems to happen all too often in the NFL and NBA where every other offseason someone isn’t happy being paid $10 million.  So if you are looking for a new sport to watch this year give hockey a try.  I promise you won’t be disappointed.

NFL Predictions: Week 7

So we are almost halfway through the NFL season and I have a 57-35 record with my weekly predictions.  There are only two undefeated teams left in the league and I think one of them may go down this week.  Teams with a bye week are the Oakland Raiders and New Orleans Saints.

 

Thursday Oct. 17th

Seahawks at Cardinals 7pm – The Seahawks have looked vulnerable on the road this season.  The Cardinals have struggled to put up a lot of points this season as Carson Palmer has not looked like his old self.  I think this game will be a defensive struggle and it will come down to who can produce more turnovers.  The Cardinals defense will keep them in this one but ultimately I think the Seahawks win on the road.

Seahawks 21-17

Sunday Oct. 20th

Noon Games

Bucs at Falcons – The Falcons have been one of the biggest disappointments this season as they already have more losses than they did all of last year.  The Buccaneers have yet to win a game and head coach Greg Schiano’s job security has come into question.  If either team is going to salvage this season it has to start this week.  With that being said I think the Falcons are going to struggle the rest of the season without Julio Jones.  The Falcons are coming off of a bye week and I think the fact they are playing at home will help them win this game.

Falcons 24-14

Rams at Panthers – The Panthers offense looked dangerous last week against the Vikings, but then again that was the Vikings.  The Rams pulled off the surprise of week 6 when they beat Houston on the road and Sam Bradford looked comfortable against a good defense.  However the Rams defense has been terrible recently and is going to face a tough test in containing Cam Newton.  This game is a hard one to predict but I’ll take the Panthers at home.

Panthers 28-24

Bengals at Lions – The Lions are quietly putting together a good season and are in first place in the NFC North. The Bengals are currently in first in the AFC North but have had some inconsistency issues week to week.  I believe that the Lions defensive line is going to stifle the Bengals run game forcing Andy Dalton to throw more than he wants to.  Matt Stafford has found a new target in Joseph Fauria and being at home will help the Lions’ confidence, leading them to a win. 

Lions 35-21

Chargers at Jaguars – The Chargers are an on again off again type of team and this could be a trap game for them if they are not careful.  The Jaguars looked much improved on both sides of the ball against Denver but in the end couldn’t pull off the upset of the year.  I think the Jaguars will be better off with Chad Henne under center but they will have to have a complete game with no turnovers to get a win. The offensive line of Jacksonville took a huge blow when 1st round pick Luke Joeckel went down for the season and they traded away another starting lineman.  The Jags are poised to be picking number one in the draft again and I think they will lose this game to continue their winless streak.

Chargers 31-21

Bills at Dolphins – The Dolphins are trying not to fall behind in the AFC East after two straight losses and a 3-0 start.  The Bills are just trying to get by while EJ Manuel is injured.  Divisional games seem to always bring the best out of NFL players and I think this will be the case for the Dolphins at home.  Ryan Tannehill is coming into his own as a QB and the Miami defense is improved from last year.  

Miami 27-17

Patriots at Jets – The Patriots won a thriller at home last week as Tom Brady led another 4th quarter comeback.  The Jets have been a hard team to pin down as they have been inconsistent at best.  I think the Jets will put up a fight in this rivalry game but in the end the Patriots will be too much to handle.  

Patriots 35-21

Cowboys at Eagles – This game has huge implications as it is for first place in the NFC East. The Cowboys are banged up after they lost Demarcus Ware and Demarco Murray last week against the Redskins. The Eagles have Nick Foles starting and the media has quickly decided there is a quarterback controversy brewing in Philly. I think Vick will remain the starter once he is healthy due to his running ability.  This game could be high scoring as both teams have high powered offenses and neither defense is dominant. I think this game will come down to which offense has the ball last.  I like Tony Romo to continue to put the Denver game in the rearview by throwing three touchdowns and no interceptions.  Nick Foles if he has a good game could become trade fodder for a team who is desperate for a QB.  I think the Cowboys take the lead in the NFC East with a road win this week.

Cowboys 38-31

3:30 Games

Texans at Chiefs – The Texans have named a new starting QB for the week and his name is Case Keenum.  The Chiefs have the leagues best defense and the NFL’s loudest fans.  Sounds to me like Mr. Keenum has one hell of a test in his first NFL start.  I believe the Chiefs will win this game but the offense is going to have to show some improvement against the Texans defense which is leading the league in yards allowed.  The Chiefs defense will try and keep Houston’s pick six streak alive with a relentless pass rush and aggressive man coverage.  I will be at this game so I gotta go with my hometown team.

Chiefs 28-17

Bears at Redskins – The Redskins have struggled mightily out of the gates this season and their schedule is only getting harder.  The Bears are in second place in the NFC North and are getting better each week as they get accustomed to Marc Trestman’s system.  I think RGIII will be better once he is 100% but the Bears defense has been a consistent top 10 defense for a while and at the end of the day they will keep the second year QB in check.

Bears 27-17

49ers at Titans – This game features two teams heading in opposite directions.  After a solid 3-1 start to the season Tennessee has dropped two straight games, but they lost to the Chiefs(6-0) and Seahawks(5-1). The 49ers have started to play up to their standards with three straight wins.  I think the Titans could have a chance in this one if their defense can contain Colin Kaepernick and force a couple of turnovers.  The 49ers have only played two road games so far and I think being away from home could affect them this week.  However the Titans are playing without Jake Locker and the 49ers defense is a top 5 unit. 49ers on the road.

49ers 24-21

Browns at Packers – The Packers are banged up as they head home having lost wide receivers James Jones and Randall Cobb for multiple weeks.  The Browns have become the feel good story of the NFL as they are looking to turn around the franchise after many disappointing seasons.  They have turned things around a little bit but their schedule is going to get harder as the season progresses.  I think the Browns could pull off an upset if their defense can force Aaron Rodgers into some interceptions.  I am going to be ballsy on this one and call the Browns on the road. 

Browns 28-24

Ravens at Steelers – Normally this would be the game of the week as these two bitter rivals get together for the first time this season.  The Steelers got their first win of the season last week and forced their first turnovers with two interceptions.  The Ravens barely lost to the Packers in week 6.  I think the Steelers will have a hard time winning games as long as Todd Haley is offensive coordinator and is clashing with Big Ben.  The Ravens are hard to predict week to week and I think this week I’m going against my gut.

Steelers 24-21

Sunday Night Football

Broncos at Colts – The Broncos showed some weaknesses last week against the Jaguars and their defense is vulnerable.  Peyton Manning’s homecoming to Indy will be the main storyline here and will be over analyzed and talked about to death before the game is over.  I think the Colts have a very good chance in this game because of the pass rush capabilities of Robert Mathis.  With Ryan Clady out for the season teams will target Peyton Manning’s blind side by lining up their best pass rusher on Orlando Franklin.  Robert Mathis is tied for the league lead in sacks and is known for forcing fumbles and hurried throws.  Von Miller returns for the Broncos defense and although he is a premier pass rusher he is the Broncos only real pass rushing threat which will make it harder for him to get to the QB as Elvis Dumervil is now in Baltimore.  I think the Colts can pull off the upset here because they are out to prove that they are a legitimate contender in the AFC and that last week against the Chargers was an off game.  

Colts 38-35

Monday Oct. 21st

Vikings at Giants – These two teams have combined for an impressive 1 win on the season.  The Vikings brought in Tampa Bay Bucs throwaway Josh Freeman and he is now the starting man in Minnesota after Christian Ponder got injured and Matt Cassel couldn’t cut it under center.  The Giants are a mess and Eli Manning is having one of his worst years as a pro.  I bet this is hardly watched by anyone outside of the two teams fanbases.  I know I wont watch but I’m predicting the Giants to continue their epic downfall.

Vikings 24-14

NFL Week 6: Predictions

My record after 5 weeks is 47-30.  Last week was a rough one for me as I went 7-7 in predictions. This week I am going to get back on the right track.  Teams with a week 6 bye week: Falcons and Dolphins.

 

Thursday Oct. 10th

Giants at Bears – The Giants are 0-5 and it isn’t getting any easier as they travel to Chicago for Thursday Night Football.  The Bears have lost two in a row and are facing a Giants team in disarray.  If the Bears don’t win this game I will lose faith in them getting to the post season.  The Giants have no run game and Eli Manning is having one of his worst starts to a season ever.  With the defense in New York full of holes and the team stumbling to an almost certain losing season I would not be surprised if Tom Coughlin gets the boot this offseason.  

Bears 35-17

Sunday Oct. 13th

Noon Games:

Packers at Ravens – The Ravens continue to ruin my predictions every week but not this time.  With the Packers coming to town the Ravens defense will be exposed and Joe Flacco will continue his effort to prove he is overpaid.  Although I have been wrong about the Ravens all year this week is the week that I am sure they will lose.

Packers 31-24

Bengals at Bills – With EJ Manuel out for a couple weeks it is going to be hard for the Bills to get wins.  With back-up quarterback Jeff Tuel set to start for the Bills things could get ugly early in this one.  The Bengals have been having trouble putting up points the past couple weeks but I think that will change against the Bills as I see the road team getting a win in this one.  

Bengals 28-21

Lions at Browns – The Browns are the feel good story of the young NFL season as they are 3-2 and have won three in a row after trading Trent Richardson.  However this week the potent Lions offense, which may or may not have Calvin Johnson, is going to be the enemy and may be too much for the Browns defense to stop.  It should be interesting to see how Brandon Weeden plays after Brian Hoyer filled in and frankly looked to be the better QB till his injury in week 5.  I think the Lions are just too good on offense for the Browns to win this game.

Lions 35-21

Rams at Texans – The Rams and Texans both look to be mediocre teams this year.  Matt Schaub is already being scolded by the Houston fans and St. Louis is more focused on rooting for the Cardinals than worrying about their football team.  In the end I think the Houston defense will win this game in a low scoring affair.

Texans 24-10

Raiders at Chiefs – The Chiefs are coming home for a three game home stretch and the hated Raiders are first on the chopping block.  The Raiders looked better last week against San Diego and have won at Arrowhead in recent years.  But this isn’t the same Chiefs team we have seen. Andy Reid has his players playing with confidence which is something that hasn’t been in a Chiefs locker room in a while.  The crowd at this game is going to try and break the world record for crowd noise at this game and I believe it will happen in the 3rd quarter if the Chiefs get a big defensive play.  Anyway the Chiefs defense should be able to contain Terrelle Pryor and the Chiefs offense should improve this week in the vertical passing game. Chiefs move to 6-0.

Chiefs 27-17

Panthers at Vikings – The Vikings are coming off a bye week and are having trouble figuring out who their quarterback is.  Carolina has only one win and that was against the lowly New York Giants.  These teams are both not very good so I am giving the edge to the home team who had an extra week to prepare for Cam Newton.

Vikings 21-14

Steelers at Jets – This is another game with snooze fest written all over it.  The Steelers are in trouble on offense as long as Todd Haley is calling plays and the defense has lost all ability to intimidate opponents.  The Jets are coming off of a surprise road win in Atlanta on Monday night and are out to prove they are for real.  I think the Jets home crowd will help lead them to a win.

Jets 27-21

Eagles at Bucs – The Eagles now have Nick Foles under center as they travel to Tampa Bay for an important road game.  The Bucs are starting a rookie QB in Mike Glennon and this could be the game he gains some confidence and respect from his team.  I think the Eagles are the better team and will prove it on Sunday.

Eagles 31-17

 

3:30 games

Jaguars at Broncos – Really?

Broncos a lot to a little

Titans at Seahawks – The Titans are going to struggle with Jake Locker on IR and the Seahawks just lost their first game of the year.  The 12th man(stolen name from A&M) will be in full force again on Sunday and I don’t think Ryan Fitzpatrick will do well with all that pressure.  I expect the Seahawks to dominate at home.

Seahawks 38-21

Saints at Patriots – The Saints offense are looking to improve on their perfect record in another tough road test.  The Patriots only put up 6 points last week and will be looking to generate on offense at home in Foxborough.  But if the Bears defense couldn’t stop Drew Brees and company how will New England? Exactly they won’t.

Saints 35-27

Cardinals at 49ers – The Cardinals have quietly crept out to a 3-2 start and are only a game behind Seattle for a share of the NFC West lead.  The 49ers have been getting back to their winning ways the last couple weeks and if they want to continue to do so they will need to establish the running game.  Kaepernick has proven he can beat people with his arm but the Cardinals have an incredible secondary and would be able to stop him.  I still think the 49ers have the edge in this divisional match up because they are at home.

49ers 21-14

Sunday Night Football 

Redskins at Cowboys – Just when I thought Tony Romo was going to be the hero last week he threw a pick.  The worst part was watching with my roommate and literally the play before Romo’s interception he said “this is when the Cowboys f*%^ it all up.”  It was painful watching the Broncos pull it out late in Dallas last week but Romo does not deserve all the blame any time you let the other team score 51 it is going to be incredibly hard to win.  Anyway the Redskins are coming off of a bye week but their defense is so bad two weeks to prepare for Tony Romo, Dez Bryant, and Jason Witten won’t be enough.  Washington can make this a game if they can turn it into a shoot out.  If this becomes another high scoring game it will be competitive but I expect the Cowboys to win at home.

Cowboys 31-28

Monday Oct. 14th

Colts at Chargers – The Colts have a firm lead in the AFC South and are looking to establish themselves as the team to beat again in that division.  The Chargers are basically the Dallas Cowboys of the AFC.  One week you praise them for a good game and the next week they lay an egg.  The San Diego defense had trouble dealing with Terrelle Pryor last week and Andrew Luck is a much better QB who will make them look silly if they are not careful.  I think the Colts win on the road.

Colts 35-24

 

Chiefs Fans Want “Loudest Stadium” record

       On September 14th the Seattle Seahawks fans officially earned the moniker of loudest fans in the NFL.  In Kansas City, Chiefs fans believe they are the loudest crowd and are setting out to prove it next weekend when the Oakland Raiders visit Arrowhead Stadium on October 13th.  The Seahawks fans broke the Guinness World Record for “loudest crowd roar” during a Sunday night football game between the Seahawks and 49ers.  The fans in Seattle broke the record when running back Marshawn Lynch ran into the endzone for the second time and the crowd noise was measured at 136.6 decibels.  To put that into perspective according to industrialnoisecontrol.com 130 decibels is equal to the noise of a military jet taking off heard from 50 feet. The record is an impressive one but one that I think can be broken by the crowd at Arrowhead.  If you have never been to a football game at Arrowhead Stadium is it hard to put into words how loud it really gets and what the atmosphere is like.  Even when the Chiefs have been bad their home field advantage is always a factor.  During week 14 of the 2011 NFL season the Green Bay Packers brought a 13-0 record to Arrowhead.  The Chiefs that year were 5-8 going into the game and had just fired head coach Todd Haley, no one thought they would win that game.  The Chiefs proved otherwise winning 19-14 and the fans at Arrowhead played a factor.  I think the Chiefs fans can break the record this Sunday because of the way the team is playing in 2013 and Arrowhead Stadium holds more people than CenturyLink Field.  When the Seahawks fans broke the record they had a record attendance at the game with 68,338.  Arrowhead Stadium’s capacity is around 76,000.  The Chiefs can hold about 8,000 more fans at Arrowhead and it will help them if they are going to be louder than Seattle.  While I am optimistic about the Chiefs fans breaking the record one thing you have to look at is the construction of the two stadiums.  Arrowhead Stadium is an open air stadium so the crowd noise there is not redirected while in Seattle the stadium has the fans partially covered and the overhangs redirect the noise down to the field.  I think this architectural advantage is what helped the fans in Seattle set the record back in September. With the Chiefs being 5-0 and the hated Oakland Raiders coming to town I truly believe the crowd at Arrowhead will once again earn the right to be called the loudest stadium in the NFL.  

 

 

 

 

NFL Predictions: Week 5

We are a quarter of the way through the NFL season and I am holding a 40-23 record in game predictions.  Week 5 has some very good match-ups and it will be interesting to see which 4-0 teams can continue to stay unbeaten.  The teams on their bye weeks in week 5 are the Vikings, Steelers, Bucs, and Redskins.

 

Thursday Oct. 3rd

Bills at Browns 7pm/CT – The Browns are 2-0 since trading Trent Richardson.  The Bills have shown they can play good football but have yet to sustain it for 60 minutes.  Brian Hoyer has developed a connection with tight end Jordan Cameron as the two have hooked up for 4 TDs in two weeks.  The Thursday night games always seem to start out slow so I think this will be a low scoring game but I think the Browns fans are excited to not have a losing record. 

Browns 21-17

Sunday Oct. 6th

Saints at Bears 12pm/CT – The Saints look to be themselves again and showed the entire league they still have a very high powered offense on Monday night.  The Bears faced some real competition in week 4 against the Lions and had a hard time stopping Matt Stafford and the Bears offense.  Drew Brees and the Saints look to be serious contenders in the NFC and I think they pull out the win in Chicago.

Saints 38-28

Patriots at Bengals 12pm/CT – Tom Brady has done it again, taking a sub par group of WRs and winning games.  I don’t know what to think of the Bengals one week they beat the Packers then turn around and lose to the Browns.  However, I do think the loss last week will be a huge motivator for the Bengals and will help them win at home.  One matchup to watch in this game will be Aqib Talib covering AJ Green.

Bengals 28-24

Lions at Packers 12pm/CT – The Lions are in first place in the NFC North and if they want to keep it that way they will need a big road win at Lambeau Field.  The Packers are coming off a bye week and should be well rested and prepared to take on their divisional foes.  Neither of these teams boast a great defense so I think this one will be a shootout.  Both teams are known for passing so I think the team with the better rushing performance on Sunday will win.  Since Reggie Bush has shown up in Detroit the Lions offense has gotten even more dangerous I think they pull off the upset in Green Bay.

Lions 35-31

Seahawks at Colts 12pm/CT – The Seahawks are 4-0 for the first time in franchise history and have the best defense in the league.  Andrew Luck and the Colts are looking like a very good team and with Trent Richardson learning more of the playbook each week they could be dangerous.  In the end I think the Seahawks will force a couple turnovers and give their offense a chance to win in the 4th quarter.  

Seahawks 24-17

Ravens at Dolphins 12pm/CT – I have yet to predict a Baltimore game correctly so this one really is a challenge to pick.  The Dolphins had a rough game against the Saints on Monday but I think they will bounce back this week and get back on the right track. The Ravens are so wildly inconsistent that Joe Flacco may throw 5 TDs in this game instead of the 5 INTs he threw last week.

Dolphins 28-14

Eagles at Giants 12pm/CT – The NFC East looks awful this year and these two teams will be playing more to save face than anything else.  Both teams look so bad it is hard for me to pick a winner in this game.  Maybe a tie? Just kidding I think the Giants are in so much disarray that they have to wonder if Tom Coughlin will be the head coach next year.  The Eagles have a rookie head coach and have had reasons for optimism. I think the dread in the Giants locker room will prevent them from doing well most of this season.

Eagles 31-17

Jaguars at Rams 12pm/CT – As long as Blaine Gabbert is the starting QB in Jacksonville I will pick them to lose.

Rams 28-13

Chiefs at Titans 12pm/CT – The Chiefs are taking their show on the road one more time before a three game home stretch.  Tennessee QB Jake Locker will be out with a hip injury and Ryan Fitzpatrick will be starting in his place.  If the Titans want to win this game they will have to establish Chris Johnson early on the ground.  Kansas City’s defense has been impressive to say the least and is yet to allow a team to score more than 16 points.  I think once again that the Chiefs will control the clock on offense and force Tennessee to play from behind making them one dimensional.  The Chiefs stay perfect heading back to Arrowhead.

Chiefs 28-14

Panthers at Cardinals 3:30pm/CT – The Panthers are coming off a bye week while the Cardinals looked a little shaky against the Bucs last week.  Cam Newton is developing into a good leader for the Panthers and the defense is getting better and better.  Carson Palmer is not the answer at QB in Arizona and it seems they are content learning that the hard way.

Panthers 27-17

Broncos at Cowboys 3:30pm/CT – The Broncos have looked unbeatable early on but they have played three home games and have yet to play a defense in the top half of the league.  The teams the Broncos have played have a combined record of 4-12.  The Cowboys seem to have a formula of playing well every other week.  Since they played bad last week they are due for a good game and I think the Cowboys offense will show what Denver’s defense is really like without Champ Bailey and Von Miller.  The big key in this game will be special teams.  If the Cowboys force Peyton Manning to execute long drives the whole game he will make a mistake at some point.  I think Dez Bryant will have another big game and establish himself as the NFL’s second best WR behind Calvin Johnson.  Upset alert in Dallas.

Cowboys 38-35

Chargers at Raiders 3:30pm/CT – The Raiders have a QB battle in the middle of the year and the Chargers offense is looking very potent.  These teams are divisional enemies and seem to play each other well often.  Still the Raiders are one of the worst teams in the league and the Chargers are on the up and up.

Chargers 28-14

Texans at 49ers 7:30pm/CT – The Texans lost a heartbreaker in OT last week and are looking to rebound and stay in the hunt for a third straight AFC South title.  The 49ers had a strong outing versus the Rams last week and with a couple extra days to prepare for the Texans defense I think they will find a way to win at home.

49ers 24-21

Monday Oct. 7th 

Jets at Falcons 7:30pm/CT – The Jets looked hapless against the Titans in week four and the Falcons are one the most disappointing teams of the young NFL season.  That being said I don’t think the Jets defense is good enough to win on the road in Atlanta.

Falcons 31-21