The match ups this week aren’t all the cream of the crop with so many on byes and with the amazing amount of teams that find themselves scrounging around at the bottom of the pile. So it’s hard to say which game playing this week is going to be a must see. But if you bet or play fantasy football, I would suppose most the games this week would peak your interest.
Let’s begin the week’s review with a game that no doubt has everyone knowing it’s outcome.
Colts at Rams - The Colts are coming off of a bye week, which isn’t exactly what the Rams like to hear. Here we have the undefeated Colts coming to town to play the winless and helpless Rams. Even though this is being played in St. Louis, the Edward Jones dome has not been home field advantage for the Rams in months. To make matters worse, the Rams are suffering from the off season loss of their top receiver Torry Holt and continue to try and find someone to replace him, the only thing close to being a threat is Donny Avery who can’t seem to stay healthy. To prove just how desperate the Rams are at wide receiver, they actually traded one of their better defensive players, Will Witherspoon to the Eagles for a 5th round pick in 2010 and an unproven rookie wide receiver by the name of Brandon Gibson. Who? Exactly. So coming off the bye for the Colts is just an added bonus. Peyton Manning should have a field day. The rest of the team doesn’t even need to show up.
Prediction - Colts 45 Rams 21 (and that’s being generous)
Packers at Browns - Green Bay without Favre has been nothing but a nightmare for the Packers, but hey, what did they expect? They also continue to have problems figuring out how to shore up their pass protection that has about as many holes in it as a piece of Swiss cheese. And the Browns? Their quarterback position sure isn’t anything to write home about. Although the Packers are 3-2, their last two opponents have been last place teams. Browns are going to squeak this one out.
Prediction - Browns 13 Packers 10
Eagles at Redskins - The Redskins are on a tailspin and to make matters worse Jim Zorn was relieved of his play calling duties. With the Redskins bye coming up next week, rumors are flying that Zorn will be fired during that week. And with that hanging over the teams heads. On the other side of the coin, the Eagles have been scrutinized for their play calling too after their loss to the Raiders last week.
Prediction - Eagles 28 Redskins 21
Bills at Panthers - The Bills quarterback Trent Edwards will sit out again this week with his 2nd concussion and Ryan Fitzgerald will have to take on the Panthers. Fitzgerald is going to have a rough day trying to stay standing with Julius Peppers breathing down his neck.
Prediction - Panthers 35 Bills 17
Chargers at Chiefs - The Chiefs are coming off their first win in 9 games and it would be their dream if they could just make it to .500 this season. The Chargers aren’t having a much better year either with a 2-5 record and coming off a painful loss to Denver on Monday Night Football last week. Arrowhead’s a tough stadium to play in, even if their team has a losing record. This should be another tough one for the Chargers.
Prediction - Chiefs 17 Chargers 13
Patriots vs Buccaneers at Wembley Stadium in London - What a treat for those in London to get to see an NFL game. It’s too bad that the Patriots are playing against a team with no wins. To make things worse, the Patriots are coming off one of the most dominating win in NFL history with a 59-0 win over the Titans. If Londoners love seeing humiliation, then they’re probably getting just what they want in this game. It doesn’t bode well for the Buccaneers whose coach didn’t seem too happy about playing this game.
Prediction - Patriots 45 Buccaneers 13
Jets at Raiders - The Jets were the darlings of the NFL when they began the season 3-0 under their new coach Rex Ryan and rooking quarterback Mark Sanchez. But all of that has changed over the last three weeks they’ve lost all of their games and stand at 3-3 as they go to Oakland to face the Raiders. To ad insult to injury, the Jets lost their best defensive player, Kris Jenkins with a torn ACL. The Raiders are looking at 2-4 and just came off of a game where they became the first team to hold the Eagles to under 20 points. This should be an interesting match up.
Prediction - Raiders 28 Jets 21
Bears at Bengals - The Bears never dreamed they would have to face a marquee running back like they will this Sunday against the Bengals. And the running back just so happens to be their ex #1 draft pick whom they thought they could groom to be another Walter Payton. The Bears are going into this game standing at 3-2 with the sixth ranked defense in the NFL, will the they show how sorry they are they let Benson go, or will Benson be hit with a brick wall of angry Bears? “I know he’s had this date circled for a long time,” Bears linebacker Lance Briggs said. “He was a little worried we were cheap-shotting him. Now he can get revenge on everyone who he thought cheap-shotted him in our training camp.”
Prediction - Bears 28 Bengals 21
Saints at Dolphins - Saints go to Miami with one of the most prolific offenses in the NFL. Once a team that solely relied on their offense to do all the work, now the defense is doing it’s fair share of the work. With the #1 rated offense and their first 6-0 start since 1991, the Saints stroll into Miami locked and loaded against a Dolphin’s team that started the season 0-3 and has now stands at 2-3 under their new “wild cat” offensive scheme. Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams could both give the Saints defense a run for their money, but Drew Brees should still be too much for the Dolphins to overcome.
Prediction - Saints 45 Dolphins 28
49ers at Texans - The Texans have rebounded after an 0-3 start on the season and now face the 49ers with their much improved 3-3 record. Although the Texans have rallied back to the .500 mark, they are going to have to face a returning Frank Gore and the much talked about rookie Michael Crabtree. The 49ers stand at 3-2 but some question the toughness of this team. The Texans held Cedric Benson to just 44 yards, so Frank Gore may have a tough day.
Prediction - Texans 24 49ers 20
Falcons at Cowboys - Dallas is coming off of a bye week where they watched every team in the NFC East lose. At 3-2, the Cowboys know now that it’s all up to them if the bye week is going to pay off for them. The Falcons, 4-1 have been playing some very efficient football the past couple of weeks, which means the Cowboys defense is going to have a tough job trying to cause turnovers.
Prediction - Falcons 28 Cowboys 21
Cardinals at Giants - Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzerald and the rest of the Cardinals were probably happy to see how flustered even the #1 defense can get in a game. The Cardinals are tied with the 49ers in the NFC West at 3-2 and have a legitimate shot at winning the division again. The Cardinals are 2-0 on the road and have the fire power to out muscle the Giants. If they can keep from making mistakes, the Cardinals should be able to come out on top in this game.
Prediction - Cardinals 35 Giants 28
Vikings at Steelers - Super Bowl champs or not, the Steelers are 4-2 and are waiting to meet up with old man Brett Favre and the undefeated Vikings. This game will probably lead to being a competition between Favre and Roethlisberger and whomever outguns the other will end up the victor.
Prediction - Vikings 35 Steelers 31
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