by Messiah » Sep 10, '15, 9:24 am
GAME OF THE WEEK – THURSDAY NIGHT – Pittsburgh Steelers at New England Patriots, NE by 7 – Without Le'veon Bell, Maurkice Pouncey, or Martavis Bryant, I struggle to see how Pittsburgh is going to be able to keep up with New England for 4 quarters. Tomlin is a good coach and Roethlisberger/Brown are among the best at their position (Brown is quite possibly the most consistent player in football), but it won't be enough to overcome a wretched looking defense and a scheme transition (more Cover 2) that Brady will eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. New England have their own question marks as well, particularly but not limited to the secondary. However, they are always firing on all cylinders at Foxborough. Patriots 34, Steelers 17
Green Bay Packers at Chicago Bears, GB by 6.5 – I don't think Chicago is going to be as bad as people think this year, if only because they have a very solid coaching staff in Fox (say what you want, but outside of 2010, his teams are always competitive/feisty), Gase, and Fangio (criminally underrated DC). Fangio had success in San Francisco slowing down Rodgers. Unfortunately, for as good as their coaching staff may be, talent plays into the equation as well and Chicago is sorely lacking in it, especially defensively. Combined with Cutler's struggles against Green Bay in the past, there is no way I see them beating the Packers. It will be closer than people think (unless Alshon Jeffery doesn't play), though. Nelson was a huge loss for that team. Packers 27, Bears 20
Kansas City Chiefs at Houston Texans, HOU by 1 – Hmm, tough game to predict. If this was at Arrowhead, I would definitely go with the Chiefs here. KC started a bit slow last year, inexcusably dropping a game to Tennessee so that is something to keep in the back of your mind. I really like Bill O'Brien as a head coach and I think if Houston ever gets that quarterback, they are going to be a fantastic team for a long time under him. Unfortunately, they will be without Foster for a couple of weeks and KC's defense is extremely talented. If Houston can't come up with a running game to keep the defense honest, KC's pass rush will get after Hoyer. Looks like Poe could play as well. KC's offense should be a lot better than it was in last year too with the addition of Maclin and progression of Kelce. I'll take Kansas City here. UPSET! - Chiefs 23, Texans 10
Cleveland Browns at New York Jets, NYJ by 3 – It's unfortunate that the Jets quarterback is Ryan Fitzpatrick of all people because they actually have a lot of talent in the passing game between Marshall, Decker, Kerley, and Smith (albeit he won't play Sunday). Fitzpatrick has had spurts where he plays really well, but overall is a mediocre at best quarterback who somehow finds a way to start every season. Fortunately for the Jets, the Browns QB situation is even worse as Josh McCown is complete and utter trash. If Manziel isn't playing by Week 5, I will be surprised. Jets 20, Browns 9
Indianapolis Colts at Buffalo Bills, IND by 3 – Oh man, this is going to be a good one. You know, I have just about no faith in Tyrod Taylor being a good quarterback, but he does bring an element to the game that could catch a lot of teams off-guard. Rex Ryan has proven in the past that his teams can compete with the best of them with just average quarterback play. In Buffalo, Taylor has a Harvin, Woods, and of course Watkins to throw to with LeSean McCoy in the backfield. Everyone knows just how talented their defensive line is, and Ryan's blitz schemes will make their pass rush even more ferocious. It's hard for me to go against Luck and the Colts here, primarily because I think Luck is going to take that next step this year and be an MVP candidate. However, the Colts GM flat out isn't doing a good job fielding an all-around complete team. Their run defense could be the worst in the NFL this year after the loss of Art Jones and who knows how much Gore and/or Johnson have left in the tank. Against my better judgment, I'm going to go with the Bills here. HOWEVER, if on gameday LeSean McCoy is ruled out, don't be surprised if I change my pick to the Colts. UPSET! - Bills 24, Colts 21
Miami Dolphins at Washington Redskins, MIA by 4 – Miami is what Buffalo would be if they had a quarterback. I know a lot of people still question Tannehill, but I like him a lot, especially in that Bill Lazor offense. Don't know what to think about Joe Philbin, who makes a lot of questionable decisions as a head coach, but Miami is a really talented team. I don't really know how Washington's offensive line will slow down Suh and Wake and quite frankly, Jay Gruden is a suck-ass head coach. If they pull off the upset at home, I wouldn't be surprised. I sure as heck won't predict them to do so though. Dolphins 27, Redskins 16
Carolina Panthers at Jacksonville Jaguars, CAR by 3.5 – Blake Bortles showed a lot of promise in the preseason, but the Jaguars still have a lot of work they need to do. They need someone in the backfield to step-up as a consistent, reliable running back (potentially Yeldon). I would be more confident in this team if Julius Thomas didn't go down with an injury, but without him, they are relying on a lot of inexperienced guys sans Marcedes Lewis, who is pretty far removed from his prime. Carolina's receivers are wretched, but Stewart and Olsen give them a bit more reliable weapons on offense than Jacksonville. It will be a close one and Jaguars have potential to kick-off the season 1-0, but I think the Panthers have quite a bit more talent. Panthers 20, Jaguars 17
Seattle Seahawks at St. Louis Rams, SEA by 4 – Another really tough game. Seattle is the best team in the NFC without question in my opinion. However, I have a lot of questions about their offensive line and St. Louis might have the best defensive line in the NFL - Donald, Quinn, Fairley, Brockers, Hayes, and Long. This is going to be a fight between two division rivals. The difference will be the Seahawks have enough fire-power on offense to pull out a win in a close game. I don't think the Rams do, especially against the Legion of Boom. Seahawks 17, Rams 10
New Orleans Saints at Arizona Cardinals, ARZ by 2.5 – Two teams I'm not sure about in 2015. I really want to say the Cardinals weren't as good as their record suggests last year, but considering they had 10+ wins in 2013 as well, I feel that would be me lying to myself. Saints have a lot of question marks. Their pass rush is going to be dreadful and CB depth bad with Keenan Lewis out for a couple of weeks due to hip surgery. Also what to expect of an offense devoid of talent at the receiver position (even if you believe in Cooks, they have only 4 receivers on the roster with Colston being washed up and no Graham; CJ Spiller is out for Week 1 too). Palmer isn't anything special, but I think he will do enough to lead Arizona to a home win. Cardinals 28, Saints 20
Detroit Lions at San Diego Chargers, SD by 3 – Another game in Week 1 I'm looking forward to. Don't sleep on Ameer Abdullah - if they give him the opportunity, he's going to be an immediate impact player for that Detroit offense that also fields Calvin Johnson and Golden Tate. Even more possibilities for that offense if Ebron improves his play. Some questions about their defense after the loss of Suh and Fairley, but they still have Ansah, Levy, Tulloch, and Quin. Teryl Austin is a really good defensive coordinator and will get the best out of that unit. Meanwhile with San Diego, I don't know what to expect. If Gordon performs as well as everyone thinks he should/will, they could have a dangerous offense after the signing of Stevie Johnson. Gates is out for a couple of weeks due to suspension, but Ladarius Green has enormous upside and many believe he should have gotten more of a chance a long time ago. Chargers are also getting back Verrett, who was having a fantastic rookie campaign until he went down with an injury. I'll go San Diego here, given that they are at home. Chargers 21, Lions 20
Tennessee Titans at Tampa Bay Buccaneers, TB by 3 – Both of these teams are straight up trash. Winston is going to be road kill behind that offensive line. I guess I'll go with the home team. Buccaneers 16, Titans 14
Cincinnati Bengals at Oakland Raiders, CIN by 3.5 – Carr and Cooper will be a good connection, but not enough to get them past Cincinnati. It's not the playoffs yet. Bengals 31, Raiders 24
Baltimore Ravens at Denver Broncos, DEN by 4.5 – Should be one of the best games of the week. There isn't much to say about this game that isn't already known. Baltimore's weakness at receiver will hurt them here. Who knows how much Steve Smith has left and they don't have much after him (I'm not a Perriman fan, and he won't even play most likely anyway). I don't think they will find as much success with their running game as they did last year either. Broncos 27, Ravens 21
New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys, DAL by 6 – Dallas will be hurt by Greg Hardy's absence early on, not to mention Scandrick is out for the season and McClain is also serving a suspension. For the first time in what feels like forever, Sean Lee is actually going to be healthy enough to play a football game, so that is a plus for them. Marinelli is a good defensive coordinator, one of the best, and so I think even with the missing guys, they are going to give the Giants a fight there. It looks like Cruz will be out for the Giants as well. I'm expecting a shootout here. I'll go with Dallas if only because Eli is unpredictable as hell, but I'm not confident in that pick. Cowboys 34, Giants 31
Philadelphia Eagles at Atlanta Falcons, PHI by 3 – I'm not sure what to think of Dan Quinn as a HC and to be honest, Falcons have one of the worst looking rosters in the NFL (I LOVE Desmond Trufant and Beasley and Jalen Collins were great draft picks, but that is about what it for them on defense unless you want to throw a bone to William Moore). Matt Ryan is a good enough quarterback to make sure this is competitive and they are at home, but the Eagles have too much for them I reckon. Eagles 34, Falcons 24
Minnesota Vikings at San Francisco 49ers, MIN by 2.5 – San Francisco endured one of the roughest offseasons I can remember, but they still have some talent left and Torrey Smith, as inconsistent as he can be, was a good addition to the passing game. With that said, Minnesota is still more talented and until proven otherwise, better coached. Vikings 24, 49ers 17