Here we go, been a busy week so I gotta try and kick this one out before the kickoffs tomorrow afternoon.
Jacksonville vs Indianapolis. Not too much to say about this one, it appears that Andrew Luck is ready to take flight against an underachieving Jacksonville defense. The offense is even worse for the Jaguars, Blaine Gabbert is looking like a total bust and lacks the confidence to lead the team. Contrastly, Andrew Luck has confidence and is leading his team. Luck will spread the ball around, but he knows to get the ball to Reggie Wayne. Look for the Colts to be balanced and try to run the ball with Donald Brown to really get the offense clicking. When it's all said and done, the Colts will match their win total from last season in week 3 this year as the Colts win a laugher 27-7.
Buffalo vs. Cleveland. Ah, the battle for Lake Erie happens this week. The Bills have the league's best rushing game almost averaging 200 yards a game on the ground. That's right C.J. Spiller is currently the leading rusher in the league and he has a good matchup this week, because the Browns have been giving up 115 yards a game on the ground. Look for the Bills to continue to run Spiller to set up the passing game, which is adequate, but if the Browns go 8 or 9 in the box, it will definitely open up Fitzpatrick's passing game. The Bills defense is even worse than the Browns against the run giving up 134 yards a game. Trent Richardson for the Browns could be set to have a big game and make a case for ROY. The passing game for the Browns will struggle, but if richardson runs well it will provide some favorable matchups for Weeden. In the end, the Bills will have too much for the Browns and pull this game out 23-17.
NYJ vs Miami. Miami is coming off a win against Oakland and they realized that they need to let the flow of the offense go through Reggie Bush, who quietly turned into a bellcow running back. This is a good matchup for Bush, because the jets are having difficulty stopping the run averaging 134 yards given up, however, they did hold down Pittsburgh, so maybe they are improving. Mark Sanchez should have a big game against a poor pass defense for the Dolphins. The Jets will go to the air early and often and have success, especially rookie wide receiver Stephen Hill. Ryan Tannehill will struggle in this one as he has to go against a good Jets pass defense. The Jets will fly away with this one 31-10.
Kansas City vs. New Orleans. How important is coaching? Ask the New orleans Saints who are clearly sputtering right now without their leadership. They got ran all over by Carolina and the Giants just made the panthers look like a pee-wee unit. The Chiefs have got to be loving this matchup. The Chiefs want to run the ball and the Saints have the league's worst rush defense. Jamaal Charles and Peyton Hillis should get a lot of carries and have success against the Saints defense. The problem with the Chiefs is they cant stop anyone from scoring either. So, this game should be a shootout, but I'm going to go with the upset here today. The Chiefs will run the ball and keep Brees on the sidelines and put the Saints into a 0-3 hole with a 27-17 victory.
Cincinati vs Washington. The Washington Redskins have the #1 offense in the NFL. The Bengals defense has been a large disappointment so far, they let the Browns drop over 30 on them, that says all you need to know. RG3 is making plays and has become the face of the team, however, he doesn't play defense, which is currently looking like a MASH unit with all the injuries. Andy Dalton will go over the top a lot against the defense that lost the pass rush of Brian Orakpo for the season. A.J. Green will finally put up the numbers that will make his fantasy owners salivate. This game will be the high scoring shootout of the week, but I will go with the Cincy boys to get the win 41-38.
Detroit vs Tennessee. Jim Schwartz returns to Tennessee. The Titans have one of the worst defenses to start the season and the Lions are coming off a loss against the 49ers defense. If you got Lions players on your fantasy teams, start them. Look for the Stafford-Johnson connection to finally take off like it did last season and the Lions will finally be able to see what Mikel Leshoure can do in a regular season game. The Titans offense has not been impressive with Jake Locker. Chris Johnson looks like he is running in molasses as he has a highly disappointing 21 yards in two games. The Lions prevail in this one 34-13.
San Francisco vs. Minnesota. The 49ers look like the king of the mountain right now in the NFL. They have a highly efficient offense that doesn't make mistakes and has almost perfect balance. The Vikings have been surprisingly good. Christian Ponder doesn't seem to be having a sophomore slump and Adrian Peterson is looking as dominant as ever. However, they get to play the top ranked defense. Peterson does have one thing going for him; he is a power runner and that is one thing that seems to give the 49ers issues. The Vikings may try to pound AP to tire out the defense and then go to the air later. This game will be closer than people think because the Vikings defense will keep them in the game, however the 49ers will not beat themselves and they will be patient and score late in the game to win this one 17-13.
St. Louis vs Chicago. This just in, Clay Matthews is still sacking Jay Cutler. Michael Bush will get the start in this one as Matt Forte will sit this one out. The Rams got new head coach Jeff Fisher his first win with the team last week. The Rams will try to put pressure on Jay Cutler, which is always a good strategy. The Bears have offensive line issues and one has to wonder how Jay Cutler's tantrum will affect the team after last Thursday's embarrassing game. The Bears need to get back to basics and run the ball. They are not built to be the pass happy offense that the team seems to feel that it is. They cant protect their quarterback, so they need to run the ball more to keep the defense honest, or Chris Long is going to just go for Cutler every play. The Rams are a better team and are capable of beating the Bears, however, they won't. The Rams don't have the defense to consistently stop teams for an entire game and the Bears will get back to their winning ways with a 24-20 victory.
Tampa Bay vs. Dallas. Whatever you do, don't take a knee against the Bucs. The Bucs have improved a lot, but they have serious problems stopping the passing game. Look for Tono Romo to spread them out and throw on them all day long. The Bucs offense doesn't have the offensive firepower to keep up with Dallas. Dallas should do whatever they want offensively and they have more than enough defense to shut down the Bucs offense. Cowbows win 34-13.
Atlanta vs. San Diego. This one has all the makings of the game of the week, if you like offenses that is. Matt Ryan and Phillip Rivers will go to the air all day long. Neither team will look for much from their running games and will go depend on their quarterbacks to try and get their team to 3-0. Ryan is looking as solid as he ever has and Rivers seems to be bouncing back from a mistake-prone season last year. The Chargers have one of the best defenses so far, but they have played Oakland and Tennessee, two teams that are struggling offensively. They will get a true test this week with Ryan, White, Jones and Gonzalez. The Falcons defense made Peyton Manning look like a rookie on Monday night, so this game will come down to which defense can force the other into a late mistake. I look for the Falcons to make Rivers throw a late INT and pull out this game 38-35.
Philadelphia vs Arizona. Yes, the Arizona Cardinals are 2-0 after a shocking upset at New England. The Eagles have turned the ball over more than any team in the league, yet they are 2-0. The Cardinals defense will try and force more Vick turnovers, while Kevin Kolb tries to beat the team that traded him away. Of course, the Eagles defense does a good job of creating turnovers and I look for them to get picks on Kolb. Kolb will get happy feet under the relentless pass rush of the Cole-Babin monster and will force balls to Larry Fitzgerald, who is off to a slow start this season and eventually lead to their downfall in this game. The Eagles will be 3-0 after defeating the Cardinals 27-17.
Pittsburgh vs. Oakland. Normally I don't like taking an East Coast team travelling out west, but the Steelers are playing the Raiders after all. The Raiders have not been very good this year. The Raiders have got no production from Darren McFadden as their running game is averaging a whopping 34 yards a game. Yes, Carson Palmer is putting up passing numbers, but for some reason they cant score any points (only 27 in two games). The Steelers still have a top defense even without Polamalu and Harrison and the offense is showing signs of life. They still need to find a running game to take some pressure off of Big Ben, who will take hits and one day he wont get back up quickly from a shot and that could be a problem for the Steelers. The Steelers have owned Carson Palmer since he was a Bengal and that won't change on Sunday. I would say the Steelers will win easily, but for wahtever reason, the Steelers always seem to play at their opponent's level. They will let Oakland hang around when they should blow them out of the stadium. Final score 17-7.
Houston vs Denver. Peyton Manning against the #1 defense what more could a football fan want. The Texans are the most complete team in the league, great defense and a well-balanced offense are what makes this team tough to beat. Denver plays well at home, they always do, but even the thin mile-high air wont be enough to help them in this game. Foster will run on the Bronco defense which is not very stout currently and Matt Schaub will distribute the ball to his playmakers. Somewhere in the back of the Texan's minds is the desire to beat Peyton Manning; Manning owned the Texans as a Colt and Houston is going to want to put a hurt on him. The best way to defeat Peyton is to put pressure in his face. The defense of the Texans will hols back Peyton and Foster will put the texans over the top and 3-0 as they win 24-10.
New England vs. Baltimore. The Sunday night main event is a rematch of last year's AFC Championship game that New England narrowingly survived. Tom Brady has never played well against the Ravens. Yet, he is almost unbeatable after a defeat. I would normally go for the Ravens against the Pats, but with that horrible loss in the back of Brady's head, I look for him to have a better than normal game then he normally has against the Ravens. I look for Brady to unleash his new weapon Brandon Llyod in this one to stretch the Ravens out and try and pound the ball with Ridley. The Ravens offense is better than it used to be and Ray Rice should find success against the Pats. However, in a total gut feeling I feel that Brady will beat Flacco. Pats win 27-24.
Green Bay vs. Seattle. The Packers are finding new ways to win, while their offense is still trying to find the rhythm it had last year. Aaron Rodgers doesn't look like his MVP self so far and is out of sync with his receivers. That will still be an issue as Greg Jennings may miss his second game. The Seahawks are always tough at home and they humiliated the Cowboys last week. The Seahawks have to establish Marshawn Lynch to help their rookie quarterback Russell Wilson. Wilson has to find a way to get Sidney Rice involved, but the Packers secondary will be looking for him. Wilson is mobile and will not be sitting in the pocket like Jay Cutler was for Clay Matthews to sack him repeatedly. He is going to have to make some plays with his feet and hope that the Packers will be aggressive and lose their containment responsibilities. The Packers will find their offense in this one and put the lights out early in Seattle. Packers win 34-10.
Well, after my shitacular week last week, I hope to get back on track with the predictions. I'll admit I got caught in some of the upsets and believing some teams were better than they really were. Still Finished 9-7 which is still above .500, so I'm content with that, but keep striving to have a perfect week. Enjoy the predictions and let me know how crazy you think some of these outcomes are.
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