Rarely are there so few undefeated teams remaining after only three weeks of play, yet here we are, the first weekend in October, and only two unbeaten teams - the Atlanta Falcons and the Kansas City Chiefs - remain. Both teams have looked very good so far, earning solid wins against high quality teams. The Chiefs took out the Patriots in Foxboro, and outlasted the Eagles the following week. The Falcons knocked off the Pack in Atlanta, and then held on in Detroit against the up and coming Lions. They are the two best teams in the league so far, and both of them will be hosting teams from the other conference this weekend.
By contrast, there are still five winless teams thus far, including my New York Giants. Not only are the G-Men still winless, but they have scored the second fewest points in the league out of teams that have played three games (the Dolphins have scored a total of 25 points, but their first game was cancelled, which means they only played two games thus far). Only the Bengals have produced fewer points than the Giants have so far, and given the level of talent that New York has, with a two-time Super Bowl MVP quarterback and an incredible, and frankly elite, set of wide receivers, that just should not happen. But their running game has been quite limited, and their offensive line is filled with holes thus far. It goes without saying that this is not a good combination.
Otherwise, it has been difficult to detect significant trends just yet. The Lions still look surprisingly good, but can they sustain this level of play? Dallas has also looked good, but will they be able to keep it up? Two other teams in the NFC East, Philly and Washington, also sport 2-1 records, but are they for real? What about the Panthers, are they on the verge of some kind of collapse? That blowout loss at home last weekend looked suspect to me. And will the winner of the Baltimore-Pittsburgh game use the opportunity to take over the division? What about the big game between the Raiders and the Broncos, with both teams coming off disappointing losses? Or the game between Houston and Tennessee?
Yes, it looks to be an interesting weekend in the NFL, with some intriguing match-ups. I did not do well at all with my picks last weekend, and hope to do better this coming weekend.
So without further ado, here they are:
New Orleans at Miami at Wembley Stadium, United Kingdom - Another London game early on Sunday afternoon. This one will pit the Saints against the Dolphins, who got rocked by the Jets, of all teams, last weekend. The Saints, meanwhile, finally earned their first win, going on the road and handing the Panthers a beat down in Carolina. Now, they will hope to make it two in a row against the Dolphins. The Fins had their first game of the season postponed to later this season as a result of the big hurricane, but they have looked fishy (sorry, could not resist) thus far, barely earning a win against the Chargers, and then flirting with getting shut out by the Jets, before settling for a blowout loss instead. It is questionable how much of a home field advantage this one will even be for them, since it is London, after all. So, I think New Orleans has looked far better thus far, and that is why I am picking them in this one. My pic: New Orleans
Buffalo at Atlanta - One of the two remaining unbeaten teams hosts the Bills, who have looked surprisingly good so far at 2-1. The Falcons, however, have traditionally been hard to beat in Atlanta in recent seasons, and they dominated the Packers a couple of weeks ago at home. The Bills will need to bring their A game just to make this a close contest. Buffalo's defense is good, but my suspicions are that the Falcons offense will stretch them a little too thin, and that the Falcons will more or less cruise to their fourth straight win to start the season. My pick: Atlanta
Carolina at New England - I did not like Carolina's loss to the Saints last weekend. I mean, really did not like it. At least, that is, in terms of how serious they now look this season, because they got beaten down, and at home, to boot. That happened just a week after they lost their star tight end, and suddenly, you have to wonder just how strong they are without him, and how much they will miss him. And now, after receiving bad news for two weeks in a row, they have to take a road trip to, of all places, Foxboro? Brutal. Simply brutal. Of course, if they manage to win this game, that will be a huge confidence booster. However, if they get pounded, as most people surely believe they will, then they will likely sink farther behind the Falcons, and will start to look like they are contenders to finish in the cellar of this division once again. The Patriots have clearly bounced back from that disappointing first loss, and even though they barely escaped with a win against the Texans last weekend, they now should be well prepared for the seemingly reeling Panthers. Unless Carolina can produce a game that exceeds expectations on almost every level, this looks like a clear and resounding Patriots victory. My pick: New England
Cincinnati at Cleveland - Two winless teams take the field together, and Ohio will finally see one of their teams walk off the field winners in a game, barring the unlikely scenario of a tie. The Bengals looked quite a bit better last weekend, very nearly pulling off what would have been a stunning win up in Green Bay. The Browns, in the meantime, look like...well, the Browns. They will host this game in the Factory of Sadness, where there is an extensive history of the Browns breaking the hearts of the Cleveland faithful. If there is one game that the Browns should win, it might be this one. But admittedly, I do not feel comfortable picking them. That is why I suspect that the Bengals will find a way to pull this one off. My pick: Cincinnati
Detroit at Minnesota - Another huge game for the Lions, which is about four in a row for them now! This time, they have to travel to Minnesota, which is never an easy place for road teams to play. Also, Detroit is coming off that disappointing showdown loss to the Falcons, although playing well against the defending NFC champs might have injected some serious confidence in this team. The Vikings are flying high too, though, although this will be their toughest home game yet. I could see this going either way, although in the end, despite my wanting to see Detroit win, my suspicion is that Minnesota will find a way. My pick: Minnesota
Jacksonville at N.Y. Jets - I was glad to see Gang Green earn their first victory of the season last weekend. At least they got that first win - often the toughest - behind them, and can now focus on trying to take a second. Jacksonville is looking surprisingly good thus far, and that blowout win against the Ravens had to make them feel good. They are playing some sharp football, although the Jets should have a tough defense to test Jax's offense. Then again, so did the Ravens, supposedly. Have to go with the road team in this one. My pick: Jacksonville
L.A. Rams at Dallas - The Cowboys earned a tough road win at Arizona last weekend, and now host another difficult to predict NFC West team this weekend. The Rams look better than they did last season, but that hardly seems enough to predict that they can win on the road against an elite team like Dallas. Frankly, I would have difficulty picking the Rams if this game were played in sunny California, but the Rams have not shown that they can truly sustain a solid level of play for any length of time. The Cowboys have the offensive line, the running game, and a decent defense, and this should prove too much for the Rams. My pick: Dallas
Pittsburgh at Baltimore - Big game! Both teams are coming off disappointing losses, and both teams feel that they can take this division still! That means that this will be a huge showdown. The Steelers, most people figure, just lost in a typical upset loss, while the Ravens got humiliated in London. The extra time and exhaustion involved with such a road trip, having to recover with a short work week, will be tough. Luckily for them, they at least have home field advantage. This will be a tough one, and the real question is whether or not Baltimore will be exposed like they were against Jacksonville, or if that was a fluky thing, and the Ravens fill those holes up in a hurry. I suspect that the Ravens will play much better, and will go so far as to predict a win for them on Sunday. My pick: Baltimore
Tennessee at Houston - These two teams are hard to figure out so far. They both have suffered disappointing losses, and they both have played some equally impressive wins. The Texans very nearly beat the Patriots in New England, which would have been amazing. But, they lost, and that has to be demoralizing. They have home field advantage, and really, they need to win this one realistically. If not, the Titans will clearly have the momentum, as they look awesome right now. Mariota is starting to look like the quarterback he was capable of being all along, and I suspect that he will burn the Texans this weekend in Houston, to boot. My pick: Tennessee
N.Y. Giants at Tampa Bay - The Giants desperately need a win. Frankly, I thought that they were going to get shut out last weekend. Really, they should have gone for that field goal when down 14-0 in the second half last weekend. They made a game of it, but since they wound up losing by a field goal, you have to wonder what a field goal at that point in the game might have meant to them, assuming that the rest of the game goes the way it went. The question is whether or not they built some confidence on offense to jump start them this weekend, or if they will once again struggle. The Bucs are young and tough, but they also lost a bad game in Minnesota last weekend. Shoulf be interesting, but it has been bad luck picking the G-Men thus far, so I will go with the other. My pick: Tampa Bay
Philadelphia at L.A. Chargers - The Chargers seems to be repeating last season's trend of finding strange ways to lose football games, especially right at the end. Home field advantage seems to mean little to nothing, with local "fans" outraged at the exorbitant price of tickets for a miserable team, and also especially parking, which runs them $100! That is insane, and the home fans let the Chargers know it. To my understanding, this franchise is even tinkering with the idea of moving back to San Diego already! None of that bodes well, and as a result, I suspect that the Eagles find a way to win this game, one way or the other. My pick: Philadelphia
San Francisco at Arizona - The Cardinals lost a heartbreaker last weekend against Dallas. Now, they are home again, in an important divisional game against the 49ers, who played quite well against the Rams. This game is important for both teams, possibly even crucial. San Francisco simply cannot bounce back from an 0-4 start, even in a year where this division looks particularly weak. As for Arizona, they have not looked overwhelmingly good, either, but a win today allows them to at least keep up with either the Rams and/or the Seahawks, and possibly to shoot ahead in the division race, depending on how things go. So, this is really a must win situation for both teams, but only one can win. For my part, I suspect that Arizona is a better team, and home field advantage should help them get past the 49ers in this contest. My pick: Arizona
Oakland at Denver - A big showdown in the AFC West! This one is to avoid dropping two straight games, as both teams lost last weekend. The Raiders have that high-flying offense, but the Broncos have a tough defense, and the considerable home field advantage, with that high altitude. It will be a tough one for Oakland to pull off, although Carr looks like he is hungry, and wants his team to take advantage of the level of talent that they have. Traditionally in recent seasons, the Raiders have not played particularly well in Denver, although I suspect that they will play much better this time around. A tough game to call, and a win for either team would not surprise me. In the end, though, defense and a solid home field advantage often can sway it. My pick: Denver
Indianapolis at Seattle - Okay, fine, the Colts won a game. But they are still without Luck, and they have all sorts of issues on defense. Plus, they have to travel to Seattle, which is not an easy place to play, even if the Seahawks are not what they used to be. The Seahawks have not looked good, and they are itching for a game that will finally be a decisive win. I suspect that they smell blood with the Colts coming to town, and it is hard to see how Indy can pull off a win in this one. Seattle's defense is still tough, and Russell Wilson looks ready for a breakout game to get this season more or less back on track for the 'Hawks. My pick: Seattle
Washington at Kansas City - The Chiefs are still unbeaten, and with the Broncos and Raiders playing each other this coming weekend, KC will be provided with an opportunity to go two up on one of them, and to remain one game ahead of the other one. Washington has looked surprisingly good thus far, earning wins against Philadelphia and then blowing out the Raiders. However, that was in Washington. This game will be in Kansas City, and the Chiefs are fired up given this undefeated start. It is a nationally televised contest, and so both teams will want to prove that their hot starts are for real. However, the Chiefs look like they are the better team going in, and plus, that home field advantage is usually a pretty big one for KC. My pick: Kansas City
No comments:
Post a Comment