And this is the week for NFC East teams to show what they're made of. All four teams have huge games this week that they'd prefer not to lose. The Eagles face the Giants to either take a two game lead over the Giants if the Eagles win, or move into a tie for first if the Giants win. The Cowboys get one of those massive yardstick games when they go to Seattle. Their offense has been hiding how weak their defense is, but Seattle's likely to expose it. Washington's on the verge of being too far down to matter and with Arizona now showing up this week winning will be a challenge for them.
Let's get started picking the games. The Thursday night game this week is Indianapolis at Houston. If the Colts can contain JJ Watt they should be fine and this should be another lopsided Thursday night game. That's a big 'if' though. I'm thinking JJ Watt will be breathing fire this week after his missed sack of Tony Romo ended up letting the Cowboys eke out the win last week. I'm still picking the Colts to win, but they'd better account for JJ Watt or they could be in for a fight.
New England goes to Buffalo and the winner emerges in first place in the AFC East. This is another yardstick game for Buffalo. Can they beat the Patriots? Which Tom Brady will show up? Last week's, or the one we saw the first four weeks? Can Kyle Orton pull another win out of his hat? This is a toss-up to me. If Brady's on his game, the Patriots should win, but I'm thinking the Bills will show up for this game and somehow eke out the win. It should be a good game.
Carolina goes to Cincinnati. I like the Bengals here. AJ Green getting hurt should make this game a lot closer, but I'm still picking the Bengals.
Pittsburgh goes to Cleveland. I have no idea what's going on with the Steelers. I think they might be getting a bit long in the tooth and could use a youth movement. I'm picking Hoyer and the Browns in this one.
Green Bay plays Miami. Miami's one of those teams I don't see a lot. The line is pretty close on this game (around 3 points.) I'll take Green Bay and assume the Packers find a way to win.
Detroit goes to Minnesota. You look at Detroit's talent and you wonder how they ever lose a game, then you watch them play and there are games where you have to wonder how they ever win a game. I'm assuming Teddy Bridgewater has a big game and the Vikings pull this one out. They shouldn't win, but I have no confidence in Detroit.
Denver goes to the Jets. The Jets are a mess and this should get very lopsided very quickly. I'm taking Denver and I wouldn't be shocked to see them win by thirty or forty.
Baltimore goes to Tampa Bay. I've got to pick the Ravens here, but I'm expecting the Bucs to improve all through the year. They could eke out the win this week but I think the Ravens want it more.
Jacksonville goes to Tennessee. And this could be one of those critical games in deciding who gets that first overall pick in the next NFL draft. I'll give this one to Tennessee but it's not going to be a pretty game.
San Diego goes to Oakland. This should be a pretty easy win for San Diego. Oakland's a mess.
Washington goes to Arizona. The good news for the Redskins is that they own their first round pick this coming year and it's looking like it'll be a high one. The bad news is they may need to spend it on another quarterback. It's hard to see a way they win this game. I'll take Arizona.
Chicago goes to Atlanta. Atlanta's favored, but neither team has been all that impressive. Whoever wins stays alive in the playoff hunt while the loser will be in danger of falling out of the hunt. I'm going with Atlanta here.
Dallas goes to Seattle. This is a huge game for the Cowboys. There is no tougher place or team to play than Seattle. The Cowboys are thriving by running the ball, but Seattle will stress them like no team has as of yet. I think Seattle will win this one pretty easily. Dallas will/should try to control the game by running early and often. This will be a game like last year's Denver game where the Cowboys will pretty much need a TD every possession. I expect Romo to toss a badly timed pick or two to those ball hawks on the other side and the Cowboys to lose.
The Giants come to Philly. I have no idea what to expect in this game. Both of our starting inside linebackers may be out, but with Kendricks having been out for several weeks now his backups have been rotated in and all three backup guys now have recent experience. The Eagles' offensive line is slowly getting healthy. The Giants have been providing lots of bulletin board material for the Eagles. Nick Foles hasn't played a good game yet this year, but he seems to be improving. The Eagles' special teams and defense have been scoring like mad. I expect them to do that again. That Giants punter still has nightmares of DeSean Jackson returning a punt all the way for a touchdown at the end of the game a couple of years ago. I'm thinking that nightmare will be replaced with one of Darren Sproles doing the same thing this time around. I'm taking the Eagles in a very close, hard fought game.
And finally, San Francisco goes to Saint Louis. I'm not all that impressed by either team. The Rams were down 34-7 last week and climbed back into the game when the Eagles went into their prevent defense, but were contained otherwise. I've got to think the Niners will contain them also. I'll take the Niners in this one.
Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!
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