By Darren Walsh
Once again, I make the 10-win mark, with only four predictions going awry. Obviously I got the Eagles wrong, while the Colts won in Heinz Field for the first time in 40 years. Hopefully I can get over the 10-win hump this week.
We’ll start with a game already played, as the New York Jets marched into New England and beat the Patriots in overtime, 34-31. A huge win, which puts them at the top of the AFC East. Maybe they’re hitting form at the right time, as the slumping Buffalo Bills have relinquished their once sizable lead. All I know is I wouldn’t have picked them to win; this goes down as a failed prediction on the official register.
So onto Sunday’s games, and we’ll start with Denver at Atlanta. The Broncos got a much-needed win in Cleveland last week, but their defense is still doing their darndest to lose the games for them. Luckily QB Jay Cutler is playing out of his mind, as he broke the single game record for most passing yards in team history, a whopping 447. However, while only half the team playing well was enough last week, it’s fairly likely it won’t be this time, as they’re playing the Falcons, who are unbeaten at home. All the parts are clicking for them, and they’ll get to seven wins this week. Honestly, at the start of the season, I didn’t think they’d get seven wins within two years.
An old saying is that football is a game of inches, and that is being proved in Philadelphia right now. At least two of our games have been lost because of the inability to move the ball six inches, most recently against the Giants last week. That is why the Eagles are 5-4, and have lost hope of top spot in the division. The best they can now hope for is second, and while it remains to be seen whether we’ll do it, a win in Cincinnati is a must. The Bengals have one win all season, and are a total train wreck. The Eagles should win easily, and need a run of wins after this.
The Chicago Bears are in much the same situation as the Eagles, but they’ve got it tougher this week as they head to hallowed Lambeau Field. The Green Bay Packers are waiting for them, and are only one game behind them in the standings. While the Bears showed how good they are at stopping the run last week, they’re the worst in the league against the pass; Aaron Rodgers will carve them up, and the Packers will get back to .500.
Another divisional game is the Houston Texans at Indianapolis, where the Colts seem to be hitting form. They had a mighty impressive win in Pittsburgh, and should roll over the Texans, who are missing their starting QB and are winless on the road. It’s too late for the Colts to win the division, but they should take second spot with a few more wins.
The New Orleans Saints are such an up and down team, as evidenced by their winless away record. They collapsed last week and while they’re playing the one win Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, it’s hard to back them with any confidence. They’ve got the offense, but their defense is horrific and leaking points from everywhere. On the other hand, who’s backing the Chiefs? I’ll take the Saints to scrape a win, probably high scoring too.
Maybe the second most surprising team after the Falcons are the Miami Dolphins, who are 5-4 and right in their division mix. Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams are piling up rushing yards, and even Chad Pennington, he of the weak arm, is throwing flea flickers. They should make it six wins against the Oakland Raiders, who everyone has given up on.
A team quietly moving up the standings are the Baltimore Ravens, with unheralded rookie QB Joe Flacco doing a decent job for them. They’re now level with the division leading Steelers, but I think they’re going to have to wait to overtake them, because they’re playing the best team around in the New York Giants. It seems the G-Men have the NFC East all tied up, they’ll emphasise it with a win here.
A match I’m intrigued by is the Minnesota Vikings at Tampa Bay, where the Vikes are coming off a rousing win over the Packers, and the Bucs are still unbeaten at home. It’ll be tight, but I reckon the Bucs may just neutralize Adrian Petersen enough to get the win, and just about generate enough offense themselves to win; the usual Tampa Bay formula.
So the Detroit Lions are still winless, and now they play the 7-2 Carolina Panthers, who are also unbeaten at home. Show those stats to any person and there’s only one team they’ll pick. From looking at the remaining schedule, I don’t see where a Lions win is coming from.
While picking a team with a record that is twice better tan their opponent is easy, who do you pick when both teams only have two wins each? The St Louis Rams showed a flicker of light a few weeks ago, but since then it’s gone back to the norm, culminating in a 47-3 decapitation last week. The only reason I’m picking them to win is that they may be embarrassed enough to play better this week, and also that at least they’ve shown they can be competent playing football; the San Francisco 49ers haven’t even done that.
What a difference a year or two can make; now the Arizona Cardinals are out on their own at the top of the NFC West, and are surely heading for the playoffs. This week, they in Seattle, against the team that made the division title their own for three years in a row. However, injuries have put paid to that, and the Cards have stepped in. They’ll reinforce their superiority here, even with QB Matt Hasselbeck returning for the Seahawks.
Talking of differences, the Tennessee Titans have spent the last few years looking up at the Colts, and also the Jacksonville Jaguars who normally take second spot in the AFC South. Now the Titans are looking down on all of them, and all of the NFL as the only unbeaten team. How the Jags have gone from contenders to also-rans is beyond me, but only winning one game out of four at home never helps. The Titans will be tested here, but they’ll crawl past; it’s what they do.
Talking of teams that were considered Superbowl contenders, the San Diego Chargers are stumbling around, just about keeping themselves in range. They even had trouble with the Chiefs last week, and I fully expect the Pittsburgh Steelers to deal with them here. They’ll be stung after losing at home, and will get back on track with a win here.
The final game of Sunday is an NFC East battle, with the Dallas Cowboys looking for revenge against the Washington Redskins. QB Tony Romo is coming back from injury to bolster the troops, and they most certainly need him if they are going to move level with the Redskins in the standings and avenge the Redskins win in Texas Stadium a few weeks ago. If the Cowboys win along with the Eagles this week, there’ll be a three-way tie in the division; let’s go for that.
Finally, Monday night sees the Cleveland Browns in Buffalo to play the Bills. To be honest, the Browns are now out of contention, while this game is a must win for the Bills. If they don’t, their rivals will move further away from them and what looked like a promising season a few weeks ago will go down the shoot. I have to back them though; Browns QB Brady Quinn is only playing his second game and the Bills have only lost one game at home.
