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London Game - Baltimore 24, Tennessee 16– A rather low-scoring affair, without the back and forth drama that many of the games this weekend seemed to have. However, the Ravens won it the way that you would expect them to, muscling their way to a victory that seems to establish them as one of the AFC's relative elites. My pick: Accurate
Miami 42, Carolina 21 – The Panthers jumped ahead din this one, 14-0, which was surprising. But the Dolphins kept their cool, did not panic. They knew that their offense would begin to click, that their team would get in gear. They just needed to stay patient. Sure enough, Miami kicked it into high gear after the abysmal start, and ultimately earned themselves another blowout win, scoring 42 points against the overwhelmed Panthers. They look impressive! My pick: Accurate
Cleveland 19, San Francisco 17 - Fall of the Unbeatens, Part 1. With Deshaun Watson out, and the Browns not being anywhere near full strength, I really did not expect Cleveland to pull this one out, even if they were at home and playing in ugly weather. But they kept the game close throughout. There were some controversial calls that went in Cleveland's favor, to be sure. But the Browns did just enough to do what they had to do, and just squeak by with this win. The 49ers still had a chance to win it at the end, but the miss was the second missed field goal of the day, and this one ended San Fran's undefeated, 5-0 start for this season. Man, I did not know that Cleveland's defense was that physical, or that good. They really seemed to give the Niners dangerous offense a much harder time than I expected. My pick: Inaccurate
Minnesota 19, Chicago 13 - A low scoring game, where the slightly better teams picks up an ugly, uninspired looking win. Yup, that's pretty much what most people would have expected. Still, Minnesota needed this one, if they are to salvage something from this season, which obviously got off to a very poor start for them. My pick: Accurate
Houston 20, New Orleans 13 – In my defense, I did state during the pick that these are two inconsistent teams, and that made it a difficult game to pick. Still, I was wrong. Thought that the Saints would find a way to win, to feed off their rather stunning shutout, blowout road win in New England last weekend. But the Texans played well, and deserved this win. My pick: Inaccurate
Cincinnati 17, Seattle 13 – Now that Burrow is back, the Bengals should prove to be formidable again. This was not an action-packed game filled with explosive offenses and numerous lead changes. Instead, it was an physical, low-scoring kind of a football game, where the winner had to ultimately grind out an ugly win. The Bengals are good at that when they have Burrow. My suspicion is that the Bengals are back, and probably can be ranked among the four or so favorites in the AFC (along with the Chiefs, the Bills, and the Dolphins), despite their seemingly disappointing 3-3 record. As for the Seahawks, this was a disappointing loss, but at least with the 49ers losing, they did not lose any ground to them in the NFC West, although the Rams also won, which means that Seattle is just half a game ahead of them. My pick: Accurate
Washington 24, Atlanta 16 – The Commanders needed to get back to playing a physical brand of football, maximizing mistakes by opponents, and grinding out ugly wins. That was what they did in this one, and it allowed them to snap a three-game losing streak that could have spiraled out of control if not nipped in the bud quickly. They got it done, to their credit, and may have salvaged their season in the process. As for the Falcons, this was a disappointing loss, the first home game which they have dropped. But they are still looking better than many people, myself included, expected them to. My pick: Inaccurate
Jacksonville 37, Indianapolis 20 – Don't look now, but the Jaguars are hot. This was their third win in a row, and the second against a team with a winning record (the Colts had a winning record going into this one, anyway). The Jaguars played well, and earned a convincing victory in the process. That's the good news for them. The bad news, however, is that Trevor Lawrence got injured. As of the headlines today, it appears that he may have avoided a serious injury. Still, a source of concern, because he is very valuable for Jax. My pick: Accurate
Las Vegas 21, New England 17 – The Patriots obviously played much better in this game than they did in the prior one, which was a shutout, blowout loss to the Saints. However, this team really needed to win this one if they hoped to salvage something from this season. As of right now, they have dropped three straight games, and sport a 1-5 record, which is among the worst in the league. Indeed, things have gotten bad up at Foxboro, and it feels like everyone is on the hot seat. As for the Raiders, they earned their second win in a row, and have gotten back to even, at 3-3. That's good news, although Garoppolo's being forced to leave the game in the first half after a back injury is a major source of concern. My pick: Accurate
LA Rams 26, Arizona 9 – On a weekend that featured some serious upsets and surprisingly close games, this one went pretty much as most people, myself included, expected. The Rams took care of business in a big way over the Cardinals, enjoying home field advantage and effectively dominating Arizona to earn a much needed win. My pick: Accurate
Detroit 20, Tampa Bay 6 – The Lions are really on a roll! I keep half-expecting them to trip up and disappoint, based on past history. But they look really, surprisingly good. I'm not ready yet to put them among the elites just yet, but this was an impressive road win which allows the Lions to maintain a comfortable lead over the rest of their division. A solid win against a dangerous team that had enjoyed a surprising degree of success so far this season themselves. My pick: Accurate
NY Jets 20, Philadelphia Eagles 14 – Fall of the Unbeatens, Part 2. Who could have foreseen that the Jets would play well enough to hand the Eagles, the last remaining undefeated team when this game was played, to fall. But the Jets did. The defense put on a virtual clinic, holding Philly's dangerous offense to a relatively pedestrian 14 points. And the offense, while not spectacular, did enough to win. What a game they played, ending the Eagles undefeated start, as well as their previously unblemished record, historically, against the Jets. My pick: Inaccurate
Sunday Night - Buffalo 14, NY Giants 9 – While I picked Buffalo to win, this game definitely did not go the way that I had predicted or expected. The Giants D really showed up and played big time football, even shutting out the Bills in the first half. Josh Allen looked off his game. But that all changed in the second half, as the Bills put together just enough to get ahead of the G-Men. And the Giants cannot really blame anybody but themselves. After all, they should at least have gotten another field goal at the end of the first half, but the poor time management robbed them of that opportunity. That would have made a difference, most likely, as they may have only needed a field goal, and not a touchdown, to win it at the end there. Disappointing as a Giants fan, but they played better than I expected them to. And man, those retro uniforms from the 80's and 9-'s look damn sharp, don't they? Wish they would just go back to them. My pick: Accurate
Monday Night – Dallas 20, LA Chargers 17 – The Cowboys were better than I thought they would be in rebounding after that crushing, blowout loss in San Francisco. Staying in California to take on the Chargers in Los Angeles, the 'Boys had just enough to get by the Bolts, and get back to their earlier, winning ways. Whether or not this is another case of this team beating up on weak opponents, or a sign that they can contend against stronger opponents, remains to be seen. But a good win for them nonetheless. As for the Chargers, they fall to 2-3, and feel almost irrelevant to this point in the AFC West. My pick:Inaccurate
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