Thursday, October 10, 2013

NFL Week 6 Predictions


Mike

NYG vs CHI

CHI 31-24


The winless Giants go on the road on a short week of preparation to face a Bears team who has come down to earth in the last two weeks. Although Eli Manning will be able to make plays in the passing game to his host of receivers, another couple of turnovers in crucial moments will keep the G-Men from righting the ship. Cutler makes enough plays to Brandon Marshall, Alshon Jeffrey and co. in order to sneak this one out at home Thursday night.


GB vs BAL

GB 28-21


This is a matchup of quality teams trying to find their way in the early part of the season. Both have been regular contenders of late, but have not hit their stride yet this season. Expect A-Rod to come up big on the road in a high level encounter and hit James Jones for a winning touchdown in the fourth quarter.


CIN vs BUF

CIN 20-16


After an embarrassing loss to the Browns two weeks ago, the Bengals halted Tom Brady’s consecutive touchdown streak last week grinding out an ugly win in the rain vs. the Patriots. The Bills will go with former practice squad quarterback Thad Lewis in trying to get a home win against a tough opponent. Despite Andy Dalton’s up and down season, I have to go with Cincy and their arsenal of weapons on offense in a tight one. 


DET vs CLE

DET 33-27


After that big win at home vs. the Bears, the Lions ran into Aaron Rodgers and a stingy Pack defense on the road. The Browns are a young, hungry football team who are no longer a pushover. Despite Calvin Johnson’s injury, I see the Lions getting back on track with a high octane road win.


STL vs HOU

HOU 30-17


Boy, Matt Schaub would love to go an entire game without throwing a pick six. This is the perfect recipe for him to get back on track with a home win against the 23rd ranked Rams defense. I don’t trust Sam Bradford against many teams, certainly not against a playoff experienced group who desperately need a win this week to keep pace in the AFC South.


CAR vs MIN

MIN 26-23


The Vikings certainly have a quarterback carousel in place with the recent signing of Josh Freeman. Some teams would love to have the problem of three quarterbacks on their roster at comparable levels to choose from (cough cough Jacksonville). But in the end the Vikings do not rely on their quarterback to win games, they simply hand the ball to #28 and ride his back to victories. Cam Newton has not been that impressive this season with a marginal 6 TD’s, 5 INT and 885 yards. I’ll go with Adrian over Cam in a close one in Minnesota.


OAK vs KC

KC 35-24


The Raiders got a big win late Sunday night into Monday morning against the Chargers, forcing Philip Rivers into 3 interceptions. The Chiefs should not overlook their division rivals this week at home, and I believe this will be a tight affair until a late Jamaal Charles rushing touchdown seals the deal for Alex Smith and his unbeaten team.


PIT vs NYJ

NYJ 17-10


This will be a grinding, physical, old school football game featuring the 2nd ranked Jets defense and the older, yet still respected, Steelers defense. Ben Roethlisberger has been forced to try and make plays with his right arm throughout the season without the existence of a running game for Pittsburgh, whose leading rusher is Felix Jones with a measly 74 yards. He won’t have much room to operate this weekend against a Jets defense that has been reenergized and refocused because of Rex Ryan undertaking the play calling responsibility this season. Geno Smith finds a way to make a few big plays and Bilal Powell has a nice day on the ground as the Jets hold on for a home win that will have them tied for the division lead heading into Week 7.


PHI vs TB

PHI 41-32


Two teams who are without their expected starting quarterbacks for the season will duke it out in a surprisingly entertaining game. Mike Glennon and Nick Foles will each throw a pair of touchdowns and rack up the yardage on each opposing suspect secondary. Philadelphia has more to play for at this stage, with the mediocrity of the NFC Least, and more weapons on offense that will carry them to a road win down in Tampa.


JAC vs DEN

DEN 45-14


The only intriguing aspect of this game will be for the betting man to see if Denver can actually cover the all-time largest spread of 27.5 points. Chad Henne vs. Peyton Manning? Let’s move on.


TEN vs SEA

SEA 29-19


Tennessee will have to ride with Ryan Fitzpatrick for the time being after starter Jake Locker suffered a hip injury two weeks ago. The Titans are in the hunt in the AFC South and will not lay over for the Seahawks and the 12th man. Russell Wilson gets his troops back on track with the help of a +100 yard day from Marshawn Lynch and a few turnovers from that stout Seattle defense.


NO vs NE

NO 37-30


Shootout Shootout Shootout. For all of you fantasy guru’s out there, start as many players in this game as possible. With the addition of Rob Gronkowski and the frustration of a lackluster road loss to Cincinnati last week, expect Brady to find a rhythm with Edelman, Amendola, and Gronk against the Saints defense. Brees is having an unbelievable start to the year, and if it weren’t for Peyton Manning’s super-human play, he and tight end Jimmy Graham would be two frontrunners for MVP. Brees will make a few more critical plays than Brady and will stretch the Saints’ lead in the NFC South in a titanic matchup of the league’s elite.


ARZ vs SF

SF 24-13


The 49ers have looked impressive in back-to-back games, especially in clobbering the Texans on Sunday Night Football. Arizona frustrated Cam Newton and the Panthers in a scrappy home win last week, but the 9ers continue to find their form and get the job done against a shaky Carson Palmer at home.


WSH vs DAL


DAL 34-31


This will be a fun way to end the Sunday slate of games, as the Cowboys look to shake off that demoralizing loss vs. Peyton by overcoming division foe Washington. Look for Romo and RGIII to go toe-to-toe in an entertaining primetime matchup where each team has shown little ability to stop opposing quarterbacks in the passing game. Romo shakes off last week’s loss by tossing three touchdowns and leading his troops to a late game winning drive.


IND vs SD


IND 36-27


Andrew Luck finally gets to showcase his talents on Monday Night Football against the revitalized Philip Rivers and his Chargers group. San Diego had a rough road loss at Oakland last week and will need to rebound quickly if they hope to keep pace for what seems like a wild-card berth in the AFC. Luck has the Colts playing at an elite level with back-to-back wins against NFC powerhouses San Francisco and Seattle. His 9 game-winning drives in the fourth quarter or overtime in his first 21 professional starts are a record for that time period. He gets it done again in a shootout on MNF over Philip Rivers, with big games from T.Y. Hilton and Donald Brown. 


Adam


Giants vs Bears
28-17 Bears

Big Blue will come up short for the sixth time this year. Considering they are on the road with three days rest, it isn’t looking good. A Bears defense which was unable to force a turnover last week should be able to this week against Eli and the Giants offense. The Bears will protect home field and come away with the win.

Bengals vs Bills
27-10 Bengals

In Thad Lewis’ first start this season; he will have the privilege of meeting the Bengals intimidating front seven. This will not go well for Lewis and the Bills against the Bengals defense who has already stifled the likes of Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady this year. Andy Dalton and the Bengals offense will put up enough points to earn a comfortable win against the Bills.

Lions vs Browns
20-17 Lions

This score is based on the thought that Calvin Johnson will not suit up Sunday. Detroit will bounce back from their loss last week at Green Bay, and they will put enough pressure on Brandon Weeden to force a big turnover to win this game.

Eagles vs Buccaneers
23-17 Eagles

Nick Foles, who did well last week filling in for an injured Mike Vick, will do enough to lead the Eagles past the struggling Bucs. It will be interesting to see how the Buccaneers will look after cutting Josh Freeman and starting Mike Glennon. This game won’t be the cleanest NFL game you’ve ever seen but the Eagles will come out on top.

Packer vs Ravens
30-27 Packers

This one will be a dog fight. Playing the Ravens at home has never been easy and that won’t change Sunday. With Clay Matthews out with a thumb injury this could be a long day for the Packers defense if Ray Rice can get going early. However, I have to go with the, as Stephen A. Smith would put it, “baaaaaadddd man” Aaron Rodgers leading the Packers to a narrow victory.

Rams vs Texans
27-17 Texans

What the best way to get the Texans faithful off Schaub’s back? Give the ball to Arian Foster. Foster should have a good day against the Rams defense and should be able to open up the Rams defense for Schaub to hit them with a long play action touchdown to get some confidence back. The Texans will bounce back and take care of the Rams.

Raiders vs Chiefs
24-17 Chiefs

It hasn’t always been pretty, but the Chiefs are 5-0. With this game at home, I see the Chiefs defense being very aggressive against the Raiders and Terrelle Pryor. Pryor, who has been impressive this year, may be able to use his feet to elude the Chiefs attack but Alex Smith and the Chiefs offense will continue to play smart and allow them to keep pace with the Broncos in the AFC West.

Panthers vs Vikings
20-17 Panthers

Cam Newton should be able to get enough going against the Vikings on Sunday. Adrian Peterson will be a major problem for the Panthers defense but I think the Panthers front seven will do enough to keep to keep him at bay and force Matt Cassel into some tough late game situations. Vikings fans will be calling for Josh Freeman to start in Week 7 after this one.

Steelers vs Jets
24-21 Jets

Geno Smith, coming off his best performance all year, will lead the Jets to an unexpected 4-2 start. There hasn’t been anything positive to say about the Steelers so far this year and I don’t see that changing. Roethlisberger will do enough to keep this game close but I see Nick Folk hitting a game deciding field goal for the second straight week.

Titans vs Seahawks
33-13 Seahawks

I’d pick Seattle no matter where this game was being played but considering they’re at home, I’m going to go Seahawks big. Titans will definitely miss Jake Locker here as the Seahawks and the 12th man will be way too much for Ryan Fitzpatrick to over come. Seattle bounces back here with a nice 20 point win.

Jaguars vs Broncos
45-16 Broncos

With the Broncos opening up this week as the biggest favorite of all time it’s a no brainer for me. Peyton Manning and the Broncos offense will continue their dominance and will make this game very ugly very early. The only question is when the Broncos will call of the dogs and give the Jags a chance to score a few points. I see the Jaguars getting some points in the 4th quarter here but nothing to threaten Denver. Denver moves to 6-0.

Cardinals vs 49ers
24-20 49ers

Colin Kaepernick hasn’t been the guy we got used to watching last year and it will be tough for him to get back to his old ways against the Cardinals secondary. However, with this game in San Francisco and against a division rival, I see the Niners grinding out this win and forcing Carson Palmer into making one or two bad decisions that turn the game.         

Saints vs Patriots
27-24 Saints

Not sure how limited Rob Gronkowski will be in his first game back but this prediction is based off the idea that Gronkowski will be very limited on Sunday. Brady and Belichick will throw everything they have at the Saints but it won’t be enough. Drew Brees, Jimmy Graham, and the Rob Ryan led improved Saint defense will be too much for the Pats.

Redskins vs Cowboys
33-20 Cowboys

Tony Romo will put his 4th quarter pick behind him against the division rival Redskins. Romo will find it easy to hit Dez Bryant and Jason Witten against the Redskins defense to give the Cowboys a comfortable lead. RGIII will put on his accustomed second half show but it will be too late at that point.

Colts vs Chargers
27-23 Colts

Andrew Luck’s first Monday Night game will result in his first Monday Night win. Coming off a huge win last week against the Seahawks, Luck and Colts offense will continue to roll in San Diego. Phillip Rivers and the Chargers will try and bounce back after a loss last week to Oakland but I don’t see him doing enough to beat Luck, who has been playing like a seasoned vet.

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