Week 7 - 4 O'Clock

4 O’Clock
Kansas City at Oakland

The Kansas City Chiefs got to enjoy a week off during week 6 although it’s probably a week they didn’t want to take off. Kansas City was on a two game win streak after starting the season at a sad 0-3. The Cassel to Bowe connection was starting to show up, and the defense was finally stopping some plays. Maybe the bye week is going to help KC further polish the things that they were starting to do well, but I’ve got a feeling that it’s going to throw them out of their groove. Cassel and Bowe are going to need to continue doing what they can, while Dexter McCluster and Thomas Jones need to step it up in the Chiefs backfield if they want to have a chance versus a better Oakland team.

The Raiders are hot. They’re 4-2 and have won their last two in a row after passing of their owner Al Davis. Darren McFadden has continued to run all over the NFL week after week. The hardest thing for the Raiders this week is going to be playing with a new quarterback. Campbell went down hard, and the Raiders made some quick moves to pick up Carson Palmer from the Bengals, but Palmer won’t be playing this week. He’ll take this week, and next weeks bye to learn the Raiders playbook, and then step into the shoes of a starter once again. This week though it’s going to be McFadden carrying the ball in order to win, and there aren’t many more capable people in the league.

McFadden is incredible, and the Raiders Defense is following a “Just Win Baby” attitude. I think the hot Raiders continue to roll to one more win before they take next week off.

Raiders win their third in a row 31-17


Pittsburgh at Arizona

The Steelers after a flow start are finally becoming the team that every an in the NFL was waiting to see. Big Ben is starting to find his targets more consistently, Mike Wallace is being the speedy wide-out that everyone loves to watch, and last week alone Mendenhall ran 23 times for 146 yards and a touchdown. If Pittsburgh can continue improve over these next few weeks they are going to be one of the hardest teams to take down, and a small speed bump like Arizona is not going to slow them down.

Kevin Kolb’s Cardinals had a bye week last week, and have had two weeks to prepare for one of the hotter teams in the NFL, two weeks that they are going to need to have put together one incredible game plan if they hope to slow this offense down. Arizona is in good hands though, they have Larry Fitzgerald, they have a stud running back in Beanie Wells, Arizona isn’t in a horrible spot, and their offense isn’t in horrible hands. Kolb has had six weeks to figure this offense out now, and he’s going to need to make some big plays to surprise this Pittsburgh team.

I think Pittsburgh is just too hot and too strong right now. Their arsenal is one of the most impressive in the league and it’s probably going to be too much for the Cardinals defense to get a handle on.

Pittsburgh wins again 31-21.


St. Louis at Dallas

If St. Louis was in a tough spot before it just got worse. Starting Quarterback Sam Bradford has been ruled out for the game, and replaced with AJ Feeley. The Rams have some strong positional players around their quarterback, but with just starting to take snaps with the first team offense this week its going to be wishful thinking for Feeley to have developed any chemistry for these young wide receivers. It’s too big of a stretch to picture this young Rams team doing enough to upset the Dallas Cowboys.

The Cowboys had a very strong game against a tough New England Patriots last week. They had them on the ropes until one incredible last drive. Despite losing in the last minutes of the game, the Cowboys did hold the Patriots to under 30 points for the first time in a long time. If Dallas can bring that defense back home against this young and inexperienced Rams offense it’s not going to be that difficult of a victory.

The Cowboys, although they mess up sometimes, are a much more experienced team than the Rams, and I think that’s all it is going to take this weekend.

Cowboys enjoy their home field with a 28-13 victory.


Green Bay at Minnesota

Green Bay is the last undefeated team in the league. They have the best offensive player in the NFL in Aaron Rodgers. The Packers have an incredibly resilient defense, and a versatile offense. They have all the weapons that they won the Super Bowl with last season, plus the addition of strong rookies, and reinstallation of superior tight ends and a running back that could eventually start to change games again. The Green Bay Packers continue to be the real deal, and they continue to show why the won last season with superior play against all levels of opponents.

Minnesota is benching Donovan McNabb and starting rookie quarterback Christian Ponder. At the start of the game last week I was wondering how much longer the Vikings were going to try and stick it out with the underperforming veteran, and I’m glad they’ve decided to change this early in the season. The Vikings need a spark plug right now if they want to win, and maybe some new blood will help that happen. Besides that with the rookie under center it probably means that Adrian Peterson will finally be getting the majority of the touches for Minnesota, which is what should have been happening all season. Even if Peterson does finally get the touches that he needs to get for the Vikings to win, it’s asking a lot of the Purple defense to stand tall against the Packers overwhelming offense.

The Packers offense is too strong, and the Vikings have continued to under-perform last week like they have all season. I don’t think anything is going to happen besides a big one sided blowout.

Packers win this one 31-10.