Minnesota at Atlanta
The Vikings are in a very tough spot with their best player being out of this game. If they wanted to have any chance of winning it was going to be with Adrian Peterson on the field. The Vikings season is pretty much over though, there’s no reason for the team to risk further injury of their franchise player by playing him in a game and in a season that is already lost. The Falcons have a very potent attack with Michael Turner leading the way on the ground, and Matt Ryan launching an impressive aerial attack. I think this games pretty easily won by Matty Ice’s Atlanta Falcons.
Atlanta wins 27-13
Carolina at Indianapolis
Carolina is always a fun team to watch, and it looked like they were going to be a handful for the Lions last week. DeAngelo Williams finally did something on the ground, and despite Cam Newton’s four interceptions I still think he’s one of the more dangerous guys on the field on Sundays already in his young career. The Colts are doing a very good job at securing the number one spot in next years draft and giving themselves the predicament of sticking with ol’ reliable in Peyton Manning or the highly touted Andrew Luck. The best thing about Indy this season is their future. Carolina shouldn’t have too much trouble beating up on a very disheartened Colts franchise.
Carolina wins 24-10
Cleveland at Cincinnati
Cleveland has the misfortune of playing in one of the toughest divisions in the NFL. The past few seasons have been rough as they’ve faced the difficult Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers, but they usually had a partner in losing with the Cincinnati Bengals. The Browns are still really good at losing with the lack of versatility on offense, and the inability to stop the big plays on defense. The Bengals have turned to a new chapter in their franchise though with the drafting of two very impressive rookies Andy Dalton and AJ Green. These two have opened up a wave of possibilities for the future of the Bengals franchise. I talk about the future in this write up because I think it’s a pretty big pushover and I don’t see any chance in the Browns leaving Cincinnati with the victory.
Cincy wins 27-9
Buffalo at New York Jets
Buffalo was one of my most favored teams early in the year. I was loving what they could do on either side of the ball with Fred Jackson turning into a feature back, while Stevie Johnson and Fitzpatrick led the way through the air. This week Jackson is out and the Bills rely on CJ Spiller to finally live up to his potential. As of late Fitzpatrick and Johnson haven’t been able to get back into rhythm and it has hurt the Bills offense terribly. The Jets defense has the opportunity to continue to shut down this once impressive attack and really make an impact on their place in the AFC East. The Jets might not be in the place to take first from the Pats, but Sanchez has a chance to turn this around and get a grasp on one of the wild card spots and it could start this week.
The Jets defense leads them to victory 20-10
Houston at Jacksonville
Matt Schaub might be out, and the Texans are definitely taking a hit there, but they still have Arian Foster who I think is one of the best and most dangerous guys in the backfield. Foster, when healthy, can do damage both running the ball and catching the quick dump routes. With a new quarterback under center expect some more of these dump routes and Foster to get a much bigger workload. Andre Johnson is also back this week, which makes the Texans attack dangerous even with the absence of their starting quarterback. Jacksonville confused me more than anything last week when they had the victory one yard away last week and passed the ball three times in a row while Maurice Jones-Drew did nothing. MJD is a great running back and all the Jags had to do was let him get one more yard and the game would have been theirs. A team that can’t do a simple thing like that isn’t going to win a lot of games in the league especially against a team as good as the Texans.
(thanks for the heads up Shane!)
Houston wins this one 31-16
Tampa Bay at Tennessee
In a battle of the Bays last week the Buccaneers gave the Packers a pretty good run for their money. Guys like LaGarrette Blount and Mike Williams really stepped up and produced for a team that wasn’t expected to hold a candle to the undefeated Packers. If Tampa can play with as much heart this week against a lowly Titans team the game could be a steal in Tennessee. The Titans once again got nothing out of Chris Johnson as he rushed for only thirteen yards on twelve carries. Nate Washington showed up as rookie Jake Locker stepped in to take the reigns from a beaten up Matt Hasselbeck and the Titans almost stood a chance against the Falcons. This week Hasselbeck will be back, and if CJ can show up then maybe the Titans stand a chance.
Tampa shuts down CJ and the Titans in a 31-17 victory
Arizona at St. Louis
Arizona versus St. Louis is probably the game a least look forward to. Sure there are a couple of guys on each team that I don’t mind watching, some guys that can actually make some big plays, but all of these guys are right now being brought down by teams that can’t perform. Arizona has maybe one of the best wide-receivers in the league in Larry Fitzgerald, but his production and ability is being destroyed by not having a good quarterback throwing him the ball. On the other side we have Steven Jackson, a man that is an absolute monster. For years now Jackson has been stuck with a team that can’t win in a very weak division of football. He’s had a porous line with a beaten up quarterback, and it’s been a huge detriment to everything that he could be.
In a battle of the beaten I’m going to go with Arizona and Fitzgerald winning 20-17
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