Last week went pretty much as expected with 11 of our 14 picks coming in leaving us 43-19 on the season. This week looks a whole lot more interesting though and several games could go either way. As expected this looks like one of the most competitive seasons in years and with just four weeks gone Kansas City are the only unbeaten team all be it at 3-0, and four teams are still looking for their 1st win. This could change quite a bit after Sunday night’s results are in.
Anyway on to the match ups:
Jacksonville Jaguars at Buffalo Bills – The Bills are one of the teams still waiting for their 1st win and have a far from easy task against the Jags who had a nice win against Indy last week. Trent Edwards will be hoping to put one over on his old team mates and on paper the Jags look a stronger team. However Buffalo have been a bit unlucky in their defeats (The Green Bay game excluded) and we take them to get off the mark in this one. Prediction Buffalo By 3-7 points
Tampa Bay at Cincinnati Bengals – Tampa started well enough but were soon brought back down to earth when Pittsburgh came a calling. The Bengals have the offense to wipe them out and they should bounce back from last weeks surprise defeat with a comfortable win. The Bengals to win by 10 points +
Atlanta Falcons at Cleveland Browns – The Falcons are on a nice roll, and although they were a trifle lucky against the 49ers last week the mark of a good team is to win when playing badly. Prediction The Falcons by 7 points +
St. Louis Rams at Detroit Lions – The Rams are joint top of the very weak NFC West and have already surpassed last seasons performance which ended in a dismal 1-15. We thought they had made a big mistake passing up on Suh for Sam Bradford, however we are becoming Bradford fans as he is showing remarkable composure for a rookie considering he has no offensive line in front of him. Suh is still the no 1 rookie in our books though and he has had 3 sacks in his 1st 4 games, all against quality teams and he will get the chance to show the Rams what they missed on Sunday night. This should be where the Lions finally roar and get their 1st win. Lions to win by 7-10 points.
Kansas City Chiefs at Indianapolis Colts – The Chiefs are the only unbeaten team in the NFL this season much to the surprise of virtually everyone ourselves included who thought they would need another season or two to rebuild. Still its early days and three wins don’t get you a playoff place. This is going to be a serious test and if they win this one we will all have to sit up and take note. However we don’t expect them to leave Indy with a win, despite the Colts up and down form. Prediction the Colts to win by 10-14 points
Green Bay Packers at Washington Redskins – The Packers have the look of a Super Bowl team about them with plenty of firepower on offense and a reasonable defense, and can be forgiven for their rather sloppy last two games against divisional rivals Chicago & Detroit both of which smacked of complacency. They will have plenty to keep them focused against the Redskins but should have too much for them and the prediction is for a Green bay win by 7-10 points.
Chicago Bears at Carolina Panthers– The Panthers are 0-4 but showed signs of life in their narrow loss to the Saints last week where Jimmy Claussen gave notice of his intentions to show the NFL world he should have been a 1st round Pick. He had the chance to win it with a nice late game drive and played well enough to make us think that the Panthers might be a force to be reckoned with in a couple of years time. The Bears started well but came unstuck against a physical Giants team last week and they may have flattered to deceive with their 3-0 start. Jay Cutler is likely to still be a bit shaken up after his hammering and against a fast an young Carolina defense he might be in for a tough night again. This is a hard one to call but overall we will just give the Panthers the edge and expect them to edge a close game by 3-7 points.
Denver Broncos at Baltimore Ravens – Both teams had good wins last week but with Denver still beaten up its hard to see any other result bar a Baltimore win. The Ravens by 10 points plus.
NY Giants at Houston Texans – The Texans scraped past Oakland last week and we are still not convinced they are playoff bound. Still you cant deny they have talent and a winning season looks probable. The Giants finally got their act together last week and if they maintain that sort of form they will still have a say in the really tough NFC East. This is another tough one to call but we will just give the edge to the Giants by 3-7 points.
New Orleans Saints at Arizona Cardinals – Not the easiest of debuts for undrafted rookie QB Max Hall but I guess he wont be bothered given he has been given his big shot. The Cardinals are struggling to overcome the loss of so many key players in the off season and although they could scrape a playoff place almost by default this season they will struggle to win the big games. We would like to think that Hall will have a big game bit with the Saints likely to blitz at every opportunity it could be a baptism of fire for him. Overall we expect a reasonably comfortable Saints win. Prediction New Orleans by 10-14 points.
San Diego Chargers at Oakland Raiders – The Chargers have been uncharacteristically generous to their opponents on the road this season having dominated the play only to come up short when it mattered. They should put this right on Sunday though despite the Raiders looking quite good. Prediction Chargers by 10-14 points.
Tennessee Titans at Dallas Cowboys – The Cowboys are back on track after their shaky start and they should be too strong both sides of the ball for the Titans. Prediction Dallas by 10-14 points.
Philadelphia Eagles at San Francisco 49ers– The 49ers have been a major disappointment this season being 0-4 and already there has been changes in the coaching staff. To be fair though they have played all right is some of their losses and they should finally get off the mark against a solid if unspectacular Philly side who are just coming to terms with the loss of their old guard. The 49ers to win by 7-10 points.
MONDAY NIGHT Game
Minnesota Vikings at New York Jets– What a cracking game for MNF a match up which could realistically be a Super Bowl prelude if the Vikings get back to their best. The return of Randy Moss will finally give Brett Favre a deep ball threat and the match up between Moss and Revies will be interesting given the recent comments emanating from the Jets camp. Randy Moss will be out to prove a few doubters wrong in this one and we think this might just give them the edge. I should be close but overall we are going with the Vikings to win by 3-7 points.
So if our predictions work out there will be no teams without a win and no one unbeaten by week 5 – it’s been a while since that last happened.
Byes this week: Miami, New England, Pittsburgh, Seattle