NFL Week 4 Predictions
In week 4 the Patriots get to host 2008’s other darling quarterback (Joe Flacco) and his Ravens that appear to be firing on all cylinders. Drew Brees and the Saints offense face off with Rex Ryan’s defense, and a rematch of the 2008 divisional round between the Chargers and Steelers gets the Sunday night slot. The Cardinals, Falcons, Panthers, and Eagles are on bye. How will your team do?
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 14, Washington Redskins 27
Who is Josh Johnson? The Redskins are pissed off and playing at home against a bad team that got even worse with the benching of (and I can’t believe I’m saying this) Byron Leftwich.
Baltimore Ravens 27, New England Patriots 24
The Ravens have a great chance to solidify their status as the NFL’s best team if they can knock of Tom Brady and the Patriots in Gillette. New England is still trying to overcome offensive miscues and a slew of injuries to key players on both sides of the ball.
Detroit Lions 13, Chicago Bears 30
The pressure is off the Lions, who now have a better record than they did in 2008 with their win against Washington last year. Traveling to Soldier Field should be a nice reality check, where Jay Cutler seems to have made great strides with the Bears since the rocky season opener against Green Bay.
Tennessee Titans 17, Jacksonville Jaguars 15
The 0-3 Titans are getting desperate, while the Jags pulled out a lucky win against the Texans in week 3. With their backs to the wall, I think the Titans will be ready to play. The Jags know they’re out of it anyways.
Oakland Raiders 10, Houston Texans 34
Now that Jamarcus Russell has put on a historically bad performance through just three weeks, can he finally be benched and give Raider nation some hope? Byron Leftwich doesn’t really have a job… maybe Al Davis could trade for him considering Jeff Garcia apparently wasn’t happy with his time in Oakland.
Cincinnati Bengals 28, Cleveland Browns 6
Derek Anderson gets the start, but will it matter? The Bengals turned some heads beating the Steelers in week 3 and now get the soft Browns defense. Shots of the Mangenius scowling on the sideline should be abundant.
Seattle Seahawks 10, Indianapolis Colts 35
The Colts are coming off of a difficult but successful primetime run against the Dolphins and Cardinals, but can’t afford to drop what should be an easy home game against the Seahawks with a primetime division game against Tennessee in week 5.
New York Giants 33, Kansas City Chiefs 17
The Giants once again look like they mean to stay on top of the NFC East, this year aided by a much softer schedule than last. The Chiefs defense has improved, but it won’t be able to stop both the Giants running game and passing game. Kansas City’s new offense led by Matt Cassel has yet to impress anyone, and the Giants defense isn’t the unit you’d expect a breakout game against.
Buffalo Bills 20, Miami Dolphins 10
At least Chad Henne gets a soft defense to make his starting debut. The Bills are getting slaughtered through the air despite being so-so against the run. Henne is being thrown into the fire a year earlier than expected, it’ll be interesting to see if he can live up to the lofty examples that Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco (and perhaps Mark Sanchez) have set with the additional advantage of a year’s time learning the offense.
New York Jets 20, New Orleans Saints 23
Strength meets strength as the Jets defense goes up against the Saints offense. Both teams look like early playoff favorites, and as week 4’s only game between unbeaten teams this one will be heavily scrutinized. Drew Brees is surgical against the blitz, and since that’s all Rex Ryan tends to do I give him and the home team Saints a slight edge.
St. Louis Rams 16, San Francisco 49ers 20
San Francisco gets to come home after a tough loss to the Vikings in the closing seconds of the game. What better team to take out your frustrations on than a weak division opponent?
Dallas Cowboys 21, Denver Broncos 23
Here’s where we get to see if the Broncos are a fluke or if Josh McDaniels actually has something going on in the Mile High City. Denver’s offense has been up and down but the defense has surpassed all expectations, albeit against low-calibre teams. Tony Romo should give them their first real test.
San Diego Chargers 27, Pittsburgh Steelers 34
The sinking ship has to be righted sometime, right? Pittsburgh is sitting at 1-2 and should probably be 3-0, losing against the Bears and Bengals. The Chargers have been quietly putting up decent numbers, only losing to the Ravens in a shootout. As the Sunday night game, this one should be fun to watch.
Green Bay Packers 28, Minnesota Vikings 31
For some reason this game is getting a lot of hype. Something about a washed out star leaving the team he made, retiring so he could get his release, and then coming out of retirement to join his former team’s biggest rival? Anyone care to fill me in?
