Week three of the new NFL season is upon us and already questions are being asked in Dallas Minnesota and San Fransisco you would have got good odds for all three to be 0-2. Falling to 0-3 will not go down well with the fans or management of of any of these franchises especially given the preseason hype surrounding them. This weeks predictions are below – some tough games, and keeping up our pick rate could be tough this week. We are 23-9 on the season to date.
Tennessee Titans at NY Giants – The Giants made a big mistake in inviting the run against the Colts last week and will know if they do the same against the Titans Chris Johnston will have a field day. This could be close but if the Giants focus on stopping the run I dont think the Titans can beat them through the air.
Prediction Giants by 3-7 points.
Pittsburgh Steelers at Tampa Bay – The Steelers are looking ok without a QB thanks to their Defense stepping up big style. Tampa have started well and seem to be getting things right on Defense themselves, which bodes well for the future. We will see just how much they have improved on Sunday.
Prediction Steelers by 7 points +
Cincinnati Bengals at Carolina Panthers – The Bengals are looking OK again this year and their win against the Ravens last week was impressive. The Panthers have looked inexperienced in their opening game losses and even with Jimmy Clausen set to start its hard to see them conjuring up a win.
Prediction Bengals By 10 points +
Cleveland Browns at Baltimore Ravens – The Ravens will be a little disappointed with last weeks loss and the Browns might just feel the wrath of it. I cant see any other result but a Ravens win.
Prediction Ravens by 14 points +
Dallas Cowboys at Houston Texans – The Texans have started the season well enough and have shown they can play through the air or run the ball. Dallas on the other hand don’t seem to have found their rhythm yet, but did show enough against the Bears to suggest that they will get things right. The prospect of going 0-3 should be enough to get them in the right frame of mind for this one and although it wont be easy they should get their 1st win of the season.
Prediction Dallas by 7 points +
San Francisco 49ers at Kansas City Chiefs – The Chiefs are 2-0 and top of the AFC West! Anyone who says they saw this coming is probably being liberal with the truth or has been smoking something. Still as we know from experience there is always one team each season who arrive from left field and have a great season against all expectations. Could this be the Chiefs this season? In our opinion probably not. They were a trifle lucky to hold off the Chargers in week one and just edged the Browns last week with a far from scintillating performance. If they manage to stop the 49ers we might have to review our decision however we dont think it will be third time lucky for KC on Sunday.
Prediction 49ers by 7-10 points
Detroit at Minnesota – This is a must win for the Vikings and a loss here going into the bye week will be nothing short of a disaster. I hate to make cliched statements, but if they lose this one they can probably kiss goodbye to their chances of winning the division. They still lack a receiving corp, however against a still rebuilding Detroit this shouldn’t prove an insurmountable handicap and they will get their 1st win on Sunday.
Prediction Vikings by 10-14 points
Buffalo Bills at New England – New England looked pretty good up until the second half of their game against the Jets. Still this is a different prospect and they will be too good for the Bills who look like having a tough season in the strong AFC East.
Prediction Patriots by 10 points +
Atlanta Falcons at New Orleans Saints – his should be a great game with both sides in good form. Atlanta lost a tough one against Pittsburgh in week one, but followed it up with morale boosting 41-7 win against Arizona. However the Saints have shownthey can win the tough ones and we think they will edge this one and go 3-0.
Prediction Saints by 3-7 points.
Washington Redskins at St. Louis Rams – The Skins looked a little unlucky against Houston and should be too good for the rebuilding Rams.
Prediction Washington by 7-10 points
Philadelphia Eagles at Jacksonville Jaguars – Neither of these teams look likely to be playing in the post season and bottom place in their divisions are a real possibility. This is a tough one to call, but overall we think the Jags should just edge this one at home.
Prediction Jags by 7-10 points
Oakland at Arizona – Oh Dear what has happened to Arizona Superbowl finalists two years ago and playoffs last season, but now having off loaded some stars and waved good bye to retiring QB Kurt Warner they look like a struggling team despite playing in the ultra weak NFC West. Oakland are not a whole lot better though and the Cardinals should just about edge this at home.
Prediction Cardinals by 7-10 points
San Diego Chargers at Seattle Seahawks – San Diego have recovered from their surprise defeat at KC in week one and they should win this one easy enough – Our banker of the week.
Prediction San Diego by 14 points +
Indianapolis Colts at Denver Broncos – The Colts couldn’t stop the run in week one against the Texans but seemed to have learned from that and they made the Giants look quite ordinary in the battle of the Manning’s. The colts should win this one with some ease.
Prediction Colts by 10 points +
NY Jets at Miami Dolphins – This is a tough one to call. The dolphins have had two hard fought wins so far and look like being hard to score against. Scoring points might be a problem though and this is what will probably cost them a playoff berth in 2011. The Jets after their week one loss have stopped talking about how good they are and instead showed it in their second half performance against New England. They will be without Darrelle Revis & Calvin Pace however they should still be good enough.
Prediction Jets by 3-7 points
MONDAY Game
Green Bay Packers at Chicago Bears – The Bears look a bit better than expected this season and they should give the Packers a hard time of it with their much improved defense, but whether they can get enough points themselves to win is another matter. We expect the Packers to prevail in a typical brutal NFC North Division game.
Prediction Packers by 7-10 points.