Without further ado, here is the Week 3 schedule and my predictions:
Cleveland at Baltimore (Baltimore)
Cincinnati at Carolina (Cincinnati)
Dallas at Houston (Houston)
San Francisco at Kansas City (San Francisco)
Detroit at Minnesota (Minnesota)
Buffalo at New England (New England)
Atlanta at New Orleans (Atlanta)
Tennessee at New York Giants (New York Giants)
Pittsburgh at Tampa Bay (Pittsburgh)
Philadelphia at Jacksonville (Philadelphia)
Washington at St. Louis (Washington)
Oakland at Arizona (Arizona)
Indianapolis at Denver (Indianapolis)
San Diego at Seattle (San Diego)
New York Jets at Miami (New York Jets)
Green Bay at Chicago (Green Bay)
The big match up as far as I'm (and coincidentally much of the media) concerned is Dallas going into Houston for their 3rd regular season matchup in NFL history. Dallas brings an 0-2 record and a seemingly out-of-synch offense to face a Houston team that has what some call a soft secondary. Dallas seemed to be coming together in Week 2 where Tony Romo threw the ball for 374 yards in a losing effort to Chicago. This could be a big problem for Houston, which has given up at least 400 yards passing in each of the first 2 weeks of the season. The key to stopping the Dallas offense will be to keep pressure on Tony Romo in order to help out the young secondary. Given the mistakes made by the Dallas O-line in Week 1, and the presence of Mario Williams, the Houston D-Line should play well. The underperforming interior line defense of Dallas will help Houston in both the running game and passing game, which will be needed while Duane Brown serves his 4-game suspension. I'm picking Houston to win because of the weak interior defense of the Dallas line, which will give Matt Schaub plenty of time to distribute the ball.
Baltimore's offense has struggled in the first 2 weeks of the season, but their defense has played superbly. I look for the defense to keep the ball in Joe Flacco's possession to give Baltimore the win. Carolina is starting Jimmy Clausen this week for the 1st time in his rookie season. Although Clausen should provide an upgrade to their offense, the lack of a strong receiver corps outside of Steve Smith won't help when they host Cincinnati.
After watching how San Francisco came back to tie the game on Monday night, my earlier thoughts of their loss to Seattle have been dispelled. San Francisco has the talent and the ability to win games and their strong showing against New Orleans should boost their confidence enough going into Kansas City. The Kansas City offense is still rather questionable in my opinion and will not be enough to overcome the San Francisco defense.
Minnesota has its problems on offense, but Detroit has more problems. Without Matthew Stafford, Detroit will not be able to overcome one of the best defensive lines in the NFL.
Buffalo is starting a new quarterback this Sunday as well, but it will not be enough to overcome an angry New England team.
The game between Atlanta and New Orleans was a little tougher to call. While the NO defense is still rather adept at creating turnovers, they have played against an offense completely out of synch and another that tied the game late. Atlanta's offense has played well despite the loss at Pittsburgh and boasts a well-rounded defense. This plus the fact that the NO offense doesn't seem to be as high-powered as it was last season is the reason I am picking Atlanta to take this away on Sunday.
Tampa Bay may be 2-0 thus far, but they have not faced a defense as tough as the one played by Pittsburgh. Look for the Pittsburgh defense to win yet another game this Sunday.
The Pittsburgh defense almost completely dismantled the Tennessee offense this past week. Tennessee will be playing another tough defense this week when they face the New York Giants. While Chris Johnson may bounce back from the Pittsburgh game, New York should be able to take away the passing game and force Tennessee to become 1-dimensional. A better offense will also help New York beat Tennessee.
While I'm not big on the Michael Vick style of play, it is clear that he has the Philadelphia offense fired up and playing well. Because of this, Vick has now been named as the permanent starting QB for the team. Jacksonville had a great opening day game and a horrible Week 2. They are a team in flux right now (and they have been for about 3 years) and will fall when Philadelphia comes to town.
After watching the way Washington played against Houston last week, I can say I'm sold on the Shanahan/McNabb combination. St. Louis should provide little resistance to Washington going 2-1 after this week.
Jason Campbell has been replaced as the starter by Bruce Gradkowski. Although Gradkowski is a more mobile quarterback, it's hard to see how this change will make any difference. For Oakland to be successful, change will need to start at the top. As I wish no ill will on Al Davis, Oakland will remain bad for the foreseeable future. Even with the question marks on the Arizona offense, expect Oakland to lose this Sunday.
Denver has played much better than I expected this season and this week faces the AFC Champion. Although the team will be playing to honor the memory of Kenny McKinley this Sunday, the Indianapolis offense will be too much for them to handle.
Miami's run defense came through in a big way against Minnesota. They will need it again when the New York Jets visit. The NY defense, however, is much better than Minnesota's, and should hold down Miami's ground attack. Mark Sanchez will need to build upon the passing success from this past Sunday in order to beat Miami. In the end, I think NY will prevail over Miami as I still am not sold on Miami's passing game.
San Diego should be able to score well against Seattle as the loss against Denver shattered any illusions I had about their improvement this season.
The Monday game is an NFC North matchup with Green Bay going into Chicago in a battle of 2-0 teams. Both teams are sporting high-powered offenses this season. Jay Cutler has been playing well thus far, but it still remains to be seen if he has matured in the way he responds to pressure, which is something that he hasn't really face thus far this season. The Green Bay defensive line has been playing well and should provide a test of Cutler's maturity. Couple this with the Green Bay offense and Green Bay goes in front in the NFC North this season.
I will be attending the Houston game this Sunday, but my updates will be delayed until late Monday as immediately after the game I will be attending a concert. I won't be able to watch any more football until Monday because of this, but how often do Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax share the same stage in one night?
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