NFL Week 4 Predictions

                                                              Courtesy of pronfl.net


The Ravens started out Thursday by making sure their season isn't done yet, but with Steve Smith, Sr. out and a no real threat at WR, it might have been a Pyrrhic victory.  The Steelers completely choked away that game, and with it a chance to win the AFC North.  The North looks wide open for Cincinnati to take the reigns with Big Ben out and Baltimore fledgling.   This week sees the first game of the year in London, and surprisingly the Jaguars aren't in it.  The Jets face the Dolphins in a must win game for Miami, that brings football to us early this Sunday morning.

                                                                    Courtesy of bbc.com

NY Jets -2.5
at Miami  (though not really it's in London) 

I think this is Miami's circle the wagons game.  They have to win or they are done.  The Jets have a little leeway with their 2 wins.  Look for the Dolphins to throw the kitchen sink at the Jets and get a gritty win in Wembley.  Miami 22 NY Jets 17.  As a quick aside, I hope London gets a permanent NFL team (#WerewolvesofLondon), because it's an awesome city and it would be an amazing trip for visiting fans to go to London for American football.

      Courtesy of aol.com

Jacksonville
at Indianapolis -9.5

Speaking of Werewolves of London, the Jaguars might be the team that heads to London.  I can't really see any other team making the transition.  Buffalo has too strong a fan base, and it pretty much has to be a team on the East Coast for travel purposes.  Luck looks like he's sitting, so I'll take Jacksonville with the points.  Matt Hasselbeck just turned 40 and the Colts are a late stop away from being 0-3.  This game looks like a Jags win, as Luck had trouble throwing the ball all week, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Hasselbeck game-manage his way to a 22-20 win.  

                                                                    Courtesy of m.weei.com

NY Giants
at Buffalo -6.5

Did you hear Rex Ryan this week when asked about Eli Manning and the Giants?  All he did was talk about Tom Brady and the Pats, a team he lost to 2 weeks ago.  He sounded like Jennifer Aniston when someone asks her anything and she goes off on a tangent about Brad Pitt.  LET.IT.GO.   The Bills should win this game, but I'll take Eli and Odell to get a win Orchard Park, because they're more focused.  NY Football Giants 17 Buffalo 14.  

                                                                     Courtesy of fansided.com

Carolina -2.5
at Tampa Bay

This game is the definition of a trap game.  The Panthers are 3-0, the Bucs are 1-2.  The Bucs have a rookie QB, and the Panthers have a better defense and a pro bowl QB.  Cam Newton is getting MVP consideration, not because he's the best player in the league, but because he's taken the Panthers to 3-0 with hardly any help from players not named Greg Olsen.  The real story though as been J-No.  Josh Norman is going to get paid this offseason, and he's singlehandedly won 2 games for the Panthers.  That Saints outplayed Carolina last week, but J-No's late interception saved the game for Carolina.  I'm reluctantly going to take the Panthers, but I don't feel good about it.  Carolina 24 Tampa Bay 20.  

                                                                     Courtesy of philly.com

Philadelphia -2.5
at Washington 

Well I'm hoping Sproles has a big game for selfish fantasy reasons.  Philly avoided going 0-3 last week, by beating the Jets.  While this game looked like it might get delayed due to Hurricane Joaquin, everything is a go for Sunday.  I guess I'll take Philly to edge Washington, 31-27, but I honestly have no idea how this game will go.  Both of these teams are unpredictable.

                                                                Courtesy of pinterest.com

Oakland -2
at Chicago

JIMMY'S DOWN!  Get used to hearing that a lot today in Chicago.  Give me the Raiders.  The Bears have done the smartest thing they could do, and that's just pack it in and play for a top draft pick.  Amari Cooper has another big day and Jimmy Clausen struggles.  The Bears punted on every offensive possession against Seattle.  That's the most John Fox thing ever.  Oakland 28 Chicago 10.

                                                            Courtesy of washingtonpost.com

Houston
at Atlanta -3.5

Welcome to the Julio Jones show.  The Falcons have come from behind in 3 straight games, and they get the Texans in the Georgia Dome today.  I'll take the Falcons to go 4-0 and light it up with Matty Ice to Julio.  Atlanta 31 Houston 14.

                                                                Courtesy of freerepublic.com

Kansas City
at Cincinnati -3

Cincy is better than I thought.  Andy Dalton to AJ Green is on par with Matty Ice to Julio.  This goes to show how a great WR can make an average QB look superhuman.   The Bengals defense is better than the Chiefs offense, so I'll take the Bengals at home.  Cincy Chili 24 Kansas City Ribs 19.

                                                           Courtesy of cbssports.com

Cleveland
at San Diego -7

Is Josh McCown still the QB in Cleveland?  Yes.  Is this game at San Diego?  Yes.  Give me the Chargers and the points in a blowout.  Bolo Tie Bolts 30 Play Johnny Football Browns 10.

                                                         Courtesy of fansided.com

Green Bay -9.5
at San Francisco

I don't think the Packers lose this game, but something tells me San Fran bounces back after a deplorable performance against the Cardinals.  The 49ers keep it close for a half until A-Rod and the Packers pull away late in the 3rd quarter.  Lambeau Leapers 30 Gold Diggers 20.

                                                     Courtesy of cronkitenews.asu.edu

St. Louis
at Arizona -6

Until the Cardinals lose, I'm taking them.  St. Louis had a perfect opportunity to win at home against the Steelers after Big Ben got knocked out and they couldn't get it done.  Meanwhile, Arizona has been lighting it up and doesn't look to be slowing down. Cardinals 28 Rams 13.

                                                                    Courtesy of bsndenver.com

Minnesota
at Denver -4.5

AP against Peyton.  The Broncos have been extremely luck to be sitting at 3-0, while Minnesota looks much improved from week 1.  I think the Broncos defense gives Teddy Bridgewater trouble all day, and they win a low scoring affair 17-13.

                                                               Courtesy of nytimes.com


Dallas
at New Orleans -7

If Drew Brees plays the Saints win and cover.  If he doesn't, who knows?  Luke McCown looked good last week.  The Saints defense is terrible though, and look for Dallas to run the ball in mass against Rob Ryan.  I think the Saints get a win to get to 1-4, even if Brees doesn't play, but I think they'll have trouble covering.  Saints 20 Cowboys 14.

                                                              Courtesy of wikipedia.com

Detroit
at Seattle -9.5

The Seahawks might have some trouble moving the ball with Marshawn Lynch's MRI revealing something, though we're not quite sure what it is.  Still I think they do enough to get a win at home in the Pacific Northwest.  Detroit has blown opportunity after opportunity with Stafford.  Seattle 22 Detroit 14.

                                                                    Courtesy of reviewjournal.com

Football kicks off early today from London.  Here's to hoping Sunday goes better than Saturday.  Cheers!

NFL Week 1 Recap

                                                       

                                                        Courtesy of Bleacherreport.com


THE GOOD, THE BAD, & THE TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS!  With Week 1 of the NFL Season in the books, let's recap who impressed and who looks destined to draft early in 2016.

                                                                Courtesy of espn.com

New England picks up where it left off against the Steelers

Mike Tomlin is not impressed with these Bose headsets.  The Pats looked the part of a defending Super Bowl champion beating a team that will likely make the playoffs.  Tom Brady did Brady things throwing for 4 TDs against a Steeler defense that very much misses Dick Lebeau.  The good news for Pittsburgh is Deangelo Williams had a phenomenal game, and looks like he should be a great compliment to Le'veon Bell this year.  

                                                              Courtesy of vavel.com

Green Bay beats Chicago because they have Aaron Rodgers

As if this game wasn't completely predictable, the Packers sign James Jones off the street this week and he scores 2 TDs.  Rodgers goes 18-23 for 189 yards and 3 TDs and leads the Packers on a comeback win in the Windy City.  Meanwhile, Chicago looked a lot better than expected, but they still aren't nearly good enough to be a playoff team.  

                                                                        Courtesy of SBNation.com

Travis Kelce has awesome TD celebrations

Ok, that was fantastic!  Kansas City went into Houston and punched the Texans in the face.  Brian Hoyer looked like a career backup QB, and Ryan Mallett will likely get the start against Carolina on Sunday.  Alex Smith threw 3 TDs, and once again, none were to WRs.  Throw the ball to Jeremy Maclin in the Red Zone Alex!

                                                                Courtesy of newsday.com

The Jets might not be that bad; the Browns?  Hey, Cavs Basketball starts October 7th! 

Brandon Marshall is still a pretty good WR.   If Fitzpatrick doesn't turn the ball over and the Jets continue to play good defense, this could be a .500 team.  Cleveland did not look good.  If Josh McCown isn't ready to go by Sunday, we'll see more of Johnny, and Johnny Football is going to continue to go through some growing pains.  Settle in Browns fans.  

                                                                Courtesy of indystar.com

The Colts did not look like a Super Bowl contender on Sunday

I feel like this reporter just asked Andrew Luck, is the Bills defense good?  And Luck just answered....Sir, did you watch the game?  I think Indy will still be good this year, but they have some serious questions on defense and their run game leaves a lot to be desired, not to mention the rumors that their head coach could get fired after he went to the AFC Championship game last year.  Sound familiar?

                                              Courtesy of cbsmiami.files.wordpress.com

The Dolphins do what they need to do in D.C.

The Dolphins didn't look great against the Skins, but they did walk out of Washington with a win.  Alfred Morris had an under appreciated day rushing for 121 yards, but the big news for Washington was Desean Jackson.  The star wideout will likely miss a 3-4 weeks with a strained hamstring.  The Redskins get St. Louis in Week 2.  I can't wait to see who the Rams send out for the coin toss.

 Courtesy of charlotteobserver.com

Carolina and Jacksonville had a Pool Party / Football game

The Panthers and Jags played a boring football game, that showed mainly two things:  Carolina can play defense and neither team looked good on offense.  If you watched the game live, Fox repeatedly showed the pool parties during the game breaks, because they were far more exciting than the actual game.  

                                                                Courtesy of turfshowtimes.com

The Seahawks may want to work out a deal with Kam Chancellor

I'm not saying they should completely give in to Kam's demands, but the Hawks obviously aren't the same team without Kam as their safety.  The Rams looked the better team for most, if not all of the game.  Foles threw for nearly 300 yards and completed 67% of his passes, all with his top 2 RBs on the bench.  

                                                               Courtesy of gettyimages.com

Carson Palmer looks pretty healthy 

Palmer, in his first game back since his season-ending injury, threw for 307 yards and 3 TDs.  The Cards and Saints played a close game until the 4th quarter when Arizona pulled away for a 31-19 win.  Brees threw for his usual 300+ yards in a season opener.  New Orleans gets the Bucs at home in Week 2, while Arizona goes to Chicago.

                                                  Courtesy of cbsdetroitfiles.wordpress.com

Lions collapse in the 2nd Half against San Diego

Detroit led this game 21-10 at the half and looked in good position to secure a win against San Diego, but San Diego's no huddle offense dug them out of a major hole for a comeback win at home.  Philip Rivers threw for 400 yards in the win, and the San Diego Chargers showed a lot of heart scoring 30 unanswered points to start the season 1-0.

                                                                     Courtesy of SBNation.com

Marcus Mariota > Jameis Winston

Take a bow Marcus Mariota.  4 TDs, 42 points and completing over 80% of your passes is a hell of a rookie debut.  Meanwhile Jameis, who was without Mike Evans, completed 49% of his passes with 2 TDs and 2 INTs.  The Bucs trailed from the start, and this game was over after Winston's first NFL pass was promptly returned for a TD by Coty Sensabaugh.  I don't expect Tennessee to keep these kind of numbers up all year, but Titans fans have to be optimistic about the future.

                                                           Courtesy of SBNation.com

Pacman Jones does not like Amari Cooper's head

I don't know how he wasn't ejected for this.  I'd love to hear the argument the NFLPA's attorney makes for why Jones shouldn't be fined and suspended.  In regards to the actual game, the Bengals looked very good against Oakland, while the Raiders had significant difficulty moving the ball with Derek Carr on the bench.  Carr's MRI showed some positive results, so hopefully, he'll be back for Week 2 against the Ravens.

                                                              Courtesy of 1043thefan.com

Denver's best player might be Brandon McManus

In a game that saw, ZERO offensive TDs, the Broncos and Ravens showed that defense definitely matters.  Neither one of these teams even sniffed the Red Zone until the 4th quarter.  Meanwhile, the McManus nailed FGs from, 57, 56, 43, and 33 yards.  The best acquisition the Broncos made this year though was clearly Wade Phillips.  That defense looked stout.

                                                               Courtesy of dfw.com

Tony Romo is calling his 4th Quarter comeback a Crownie

  

After a 3rd down call that even Peter Carroll wouldn't have made (RUN THE FOOTBALL), the Giants kicked a FG to take a 26-20 lead over Dallas.  Tony Romo then proceeds to march down the field with no timeouts, fumble the ball, and then pick it up and hit Jason Witten for a last second TD to cap a major come from behind win against the NY Football Giants.  Despite their records, when the Giants and Cowboys play, you're sure to see some drama. 

                                                                   Courtesy of gannette-cdn.com

Atlanta Falcons Game Plan: Screw It, We're Throwing It to Julio

Julio PAY ME MY MONEY Jones had 9 catches for 141 yards and 2 TDs and was completely unstoppable.  Both Matt Ryan and Sam Bradford looked good at times, and bad at times.  What looked much better, was Atlanta's defense.  The battle of the birds looked to be a blowout early on, but Philly came roaring back in the 2nd half to take a late lead.  The Falcons answered by nailing a late field goal and picking off a Sam Bradford pass that Jordan Matthews wish he had back to win the 1st Monday Night Football game of 2015.

                                                            Courtesy of pinterest.com

Carlos Hyde torches the Vikings on Monday Night

Hyde had 26 carries for 168 yards and 2 TDs en route to a 20-3 blowout win for the 49ers.  The 49ers looked like the 2013 49ers, while the Vikings could never get going on offense.  Teddy Bridgewater had a decent night, but the real surprise was Adrian Peterson who only rushed for 31 yards on 10 carries.  Norv Turner might want to do some tweaking to that offense for Sunday's game when the Lions come to town.  


Weeks 2 starts Thursday with Andy Reid and the Chiefs hosting Peyton Manning on the Broncos at Arrowhead.