Jacksonville 22, Cincinnati 17 - Some teams are tough to make out or make predictions for. But nobody is more challenging to figure out or make predictions for then the Bengals. Seriously, it's like they make an art form out of it. Granted, when Joe Burrow is not in the lineup, they are quite predictable, because they consistently lose. But even when he is there, they seem both to win games that surprise you, and then lose some games that really make you scratch your head. Cincy now has had two such losses in a row. My pick: Inaccurate
Dallas 34, Houston 30 - In the battle of Texas. it was the Cowboys who came up with the goods. And while I did not exactly expect the Texans, with that elite defense, to be undefeated by this point, the 0-4 start is now truly shocking. It really feels like there is a major problem, in that other teams keep imposing their will on Houston at the most critical points in games. They show that they are (or should be) a good team. Yet they keep losing. Meanwhile, the 'Boys win to keep up with Philly for second and to keep one behind the Giants, who for now are in first place in the NFC East. My pick: Inaccurate
LA Rams 24, Philadelphia 20 - While I expected the Rams to win, this was more impressive than I had expected it to be. They had to battle back from behind to pull off a win on the road against a likely playoff team. Down by 10 in the third quarter, it seemed like Philly might pull this one off. But to their credit, the Rams offense found life when they most needed it, and the Rams did just enough to pull off a win. Both teams walk away from this one with 2-2 records. My pick: Accurate
Baltimore 24, Tennessee 18 - No disrespect to the Titans, but I had assumed that this game would be a good opportunity for the Ravens to get a blowout win. You know, win convincingly and make themselves feel good, progress being made. Instead, they ran out to a big lead and then held on for dear life. Credit the Titans for playing tough, although the loss now drops them to 0-4 on the year. As for the Ravens, they improve to 3-1 on the season, tied with Cleveland atop the AFC North standings. My pick: Accurate
Green Bay 17, Tampa Bay 14 - I do not think all that highly of the Bucs. Yet, they managed even to exceed my own low expectations of them. This was a team that, until midseason last year, seemed to own the NFC South. A team that figured to at least contend for the playoffs and/or a division title again this season. But they are playing so miserably, it's almost shocking. They had a vulnerable Packers team who are going through some real issues of their own to this point, and should have won. Instead? They find a way to lose and now fall to 0-4. Of course, the NFC South is so bad that even then, they are not out of it yet. But they simply look miserable to this point in the season. As for the Packers, a solid road win to improve to 2-2, despite looking worse than that. My pick: Inaccurate
Minnesota 15, Miami 10 - Like with the Ravens, I had assumed that this game would offer the Vikings a chance at a blowout win, finally. Playing at home against a weak, winless team? Come on, you have to do better than that, right? But still, at least the Vikings win to remain undefeated, improving to 4-0 on the year. The Fins, meanwhile, fall to 0-4 and are still searching for their first win of the season. My pick: Accurate
Kansas City 30, Las Vegas 27 - The Chiefs, rather predictably, defeated the Raiders in this battle of unbeatens. Yet, the Raiders were tough and looked at points like they might have a real shot at winning. I almost earned more respect for them after this loss than with the three wins (almost), because I figured that the Chiefs might really expose their weaknesses. But that did not happen. Still, KC wins to improve to 4-0, while the Raiders suffer their first loss and fall to 3-1. My pick: Accurate
San Francisco 24, Denver 14 - The 49ers just keep rolling. They beat a quality Broncos team which almost reached the Super Bowl last season and figured to be serious contenders this year, as well. San Francisco has looked very efficient and are looking like a very serious contender, possibly even seemingly the best team in the league at the moment. We will see. But the Broncos, meanwhile, fall to 2-2 in a surprising AFC West where the two last place teams last year now are the top two teams in the division so far this season. Denver has to find ways to win to keep up with the Raiders and especially the Chiefs. My pick: Accurate
Seattle 30, LA Chargers 23 - Seattle won this game pretty much the way they were expected to. Their defense was tough when they had to be, and their offense moved the ball and scored when they needed to. No surprises there. The real surprise - borderline shock, even - is that the Chargers have now started this season 0-4. They will enter mid-October still searching for their first win of the season. This is head coach Jim Harbaugh's worst start either in the NFL or in college, and by far. They will win some games eventually, but few teams in league history have ever recovered from such a poor start to reach the playoffs. Frankly, it feels doubtful that the Chargers are good enough to do that, based on what we have seen so far (not to mention how tough their division is). My pick: Accurate
Sunday Night Football: Carolina 32, Detroit 26 - When the Lions were knocking on the door of being an elite team and reaching the Super Bowl, my assumption was that they would stay at that level for a bit longer. Frankly, though, this team simply does not look like a serious contender in the past couple of seasons. I had assumed, perhaps wrongly, that they were the better ball club for this game. Man, they sure didn't play like it. The offense looked flat until too late, and the defense looked downright suspect far too often. If they hope to recover and be serious contenders, they really need to fix some of those gaping holes that look like they will sink their ship this season before it really gets anywhere.. My pick: Inaccurate
Monday Night Football: Atlanta 45, New Orleans 24 - Boy, I really got this one wrong, didn't I? My assumption was that the Falcons may have impressive moments, as they did the week before against Green Bay. However, I just did not think that they can sustain that for a season. In fact, I still have some doubts about that. Nonetheless, there is no denying that they dominated the Saints in the Big Easy last night. It was their second straight win, and they won both nationally televised game convincingly and on the road to boot. Impressive! My pick: Inaccurate
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