It's a fun matchup between bad teams. Bengals owner, Paul Brown, has
to realize he can't run a professional football team. His team is
notorious for run-ins with the law, difficult personalities, and under
achieving players. Along with Jerry Jones and Al Davis, Brown serves
as owner/Gm. Of those 3, Brown is a distant third. Given the recent
successes of those teams, that says a lot. However, Brown did grab a
couple some nice draft picks in Andy Dalton and A.J. Green. San Fran,
on the other hand, is still finding their way but have a few key
pieces in place. Neither team excites me
Eric's Prediction: SF 24 Cincy 23
New England Patriots – 7 ½ @ Buffalo Bills
The Bills are getting a lot of attention for starting out 2-0. Their
two wins were against KC (which might be the worst team in the league)
and the Raiders. The Raiders choked the game away but moved the ball
effectively. Buffalo has a few emerging players in Stevie Johnson,
David Nelson, and Fred Jackson. Throw in CJ Spiller and the play of QB
Ryan Fitzpatrick and you've got a nice scoring threat. Of course
they're playing the Pats. Brady is on pace to throw for 10,000 yards
and the defense does just enough. Everyone I know is taking the Bills
to cover and maybe I'm an idiot for refusing to recognize the
emergence of the Bills but I like New England to put Buffalo back in
its place. The Pats never take division games lightly and the Bills
haven't dealt with a team of this caliber yet.
Eric's Prediction: NE 35 Buf 21
Miami Dolphins @ Cleveland Browns -3
Looks like the Reggie Bush as a feature back may already be at an end.
Daniel Thomas did the heavy lifting last week and ran for over 100
yards in the performance. Bush is currently 3rd on the team in
rushing behind Thomas (who didn't have any yards in wk 1) and QB Chad
Henne. I can't get excited about this team. A better QB may do
wonder for them, unfortunately they're at leasta year away from that
possibility and by that time Coach Sprano will be out of a job. For
the Browns, McCoy has thrown for 3 TDs through two weeks all to tight
ends. McCoy needs to get his wide receivers involved. The cupboard
is pretty bare but fortunately, the tight ends and RB Peyton Hillis
give the team a nice short game, which is better than nothing I
suppose. I'll take the Browns to cover.
Eric's Prediction: Mia 10 Cle 23
Detroit Lions (-4) @ Minnesota Vikings
Well hey Detroit, you're so much better looking in person. The Lions
were a trendy pick but I doubt anyone saw this coming. Last week I
wrote I wasn't ready to jump on the Lions bandwagon (dumb) nor was I
ready to give up on the Chiefs (moronic). The Lions are rolling and
as long as Best and Stafford stay healthy you've got to ride them.
Eric;s Prediction: Det 28 Minn 20
Jacksonville Jaguars @ Carolina Panthers -4
Battle of two rookie QBs. Gabbert looked solid in replacement of
McCown last week, but compared to McCown a sofa cushion would have
been an upgrade. Mid way through last year, this Jags team looked in
line for a potential playoff spot and now they're a mess. If you only
listened to ESPN or sports radio and didn't watch the games, you would
think Cam Newton and the Panthers were 2-0. Yes, he's played well,
yes the games were close and yes they'll cover this week. However, I
still think we have a bomb of a game coming soon. Just seems like a
rookie with 1 year of college starting experience can't be this good.
Eric's Prediction: Carolina 20 - Jackonville 13
Kansas City Chiefs +15 @ San Diego Chargers
Wow. We're only at week 3 and KC has taken a full season's worth of
lumps. Todd Haley's Kansas City offense cannot put points on the
board. I think he needs to dress more professionally. He always
strikes me as a middle aged guy who refuses to grow up. Not that he
needs to rock a Reebok suit a la Mike Nolen, but get a haircut, sit up
straight and do what your sister says. 15 points is an awful lot.
For me it represents a real indictment of Matt Cassel. He still have
Dwayne Bowe and Steve Breston, should that be at least enough to keep
backup Tyler Palko at bay? San Diego Safety Eric Weddle is one of my
favorite defensive players in the league and surely feels excitement
for this match up. Chargers win but somehow give up a garbage time
score to lose the cover.
Eric's Prediction; SD 31 KC 17
LOCKED UP
Green Bay Packers (-4) @ Chicago Bears
Jay Culter is taking a beating and starting to gripe. Clay Matthews
is the last guy Cutler wants to see lined up across from him. I feel
Matthews and Company will torment Cutler to the point he has some sort
of phantom injury and leaves the games. To hold the rush at bay,
Chicago will employ screens to Matt Forte and quick slants to their
smallish and speedy receivers Johnny Knox and Devin Hester. Fine. It
may grab a few yards here and there but they will eventually need to
look downfield and with Cutler on the run and forcing throws, mistakes
will occur. We'll see a pick six before the day is through.
While I still have a great deal of respect for the Bears' defense,
Green Bay has an excellent passing game combined with the effective
(but frustrating from a fantasy standpoint) Starks-Grant running
tandem. Aaron Rodgers makes me angry, maybe it's because Erin Andrews
rumors, maybe its because I was once dumped by a girl from Wisconsin,
or maybe it's because I've spent my adult life cheering for Tony Romo,
Chad Hutchinson, and Quincy Carter- whatever it is, he's in that "too
good" category for me. Packers win convincingly and get the cover.
Eric's Prediction: GB 28 Chi 10
No comments:
Post a Comment