I went 8-8 with my predictions last week. Big whiffs for me on the Patriots/Texans, Falcons/Saints and others.
Cowboys at Bears. Bears. Chicago has a plus four turnover differential, Dallas is minus three in that category. The Bears are an ugly team, but they have a top defense which Dallas has struggled with. Dallas SHOULD (on paper) win this game, like so many other games they have lost. I’m going with Chicago’s defense being too much for Moore and Prescott.
Indy at Tampa. Tampa Bay. The Bucs have shut down the run game on defense well. In a shootout between Jameis with Godwin and Evans and Brissett with the Colts receivers, I’ll trust Winston, even with his interceptions.
Miami at NY Jets Miami. It seems the Dolphins coaches and players don’t actually WANT to lose games. Losing to the Bengals reveals a substantial level of disorganization within the Jets.
San Francisco at New Orleans. New Orleans. The Saints rock a +11 turnover ratio and homefield advantage. I hate picking against the 49ers in back to back weeks. Sean Payton is a “been there, done that” head coach. Saints win at home.
Detroit at Minnesota. Minnesota. The Vikings tend to win games they SHOULD win. Detroit’s David Blough surprised me with his deep ball willingness with an early toss to Kenny Golladay. Minnesota should be able to control the game with Cook and Mattison, and Cousins is throwing well since the end of Q1 2019.
Denver at Houston Houston. Houston won in an impressive way against New England. Handling rookie QB Drew Lock should be enough for DC Romeo Crennel to handle.
Washington at Green Bay Green Bay. I’m 60% confident of this outcome after watching the Panthers lose to Washington last week.
Cincinnati at Cleveland Cleveland. The Browns front four should be able to handle Cincy’s ground game and offensive line play. With Chubb, Hunt, and David Njoku now coming back, the Browns should be able to muster enough of an offense to beat the Bengals at home.
Baltimore at Buffalo Baltimore. Both of these teams lost to Cleveland (seriously). Buffalo has a lot of wins against teams drafting in the top ten. Baltimore has big boy wins against New England and San Francisco. Buffalo’s defense should keep this close, but Harbaugh should close this one out.
Carolina at Atlanta Falcons. The Panthers defense hasn’t been able to hold up as of late, allowing 30 points in the last 3 games. The Falcons are also apparently the league’s best team at onside kicks? TE Jaeden Graham stepped up in a big way in Austin Hooper’s absence. The Panthers just fired a damn good coach. And they lost at home to Atlanta.
LA Chargers at Jacksonville Chargers. I’m seeing the Chargers deep secondary outplaying Gardner Minshew. Minshew has talent, but the Chargers can play strong enough defense here.
Tennessee at Oakland Tennessee. The Titans are a different team with Tannehill quarterbacking that offense. It’s the time of year Derrick Henry turns green and runs for 80 yards in one play every week.
Kansas City at New England. New England. The Patriots defensive backs should be able to hold up against Hill and whoever else is catching passes from Mahomes. They just need to get a kicker for this game.
Pittsburgh at Arizona. Steelers. Kyler Murray is looking really strong so far this year, zero lost fumbles and only six interceptions. Unfortunately the Cardinals defense is AWFUL. Pittsburgh’s defense has been creating turnovers this season, Murray is talented but still a rookie with a bad offensive line. He’ll get sacked a lot this game.
Seattle at LA Rams. Seattle. The Seahawks play just good enough defense to keep them in games time and time again. Russell Wilson is having his best year and the Rams don’t have the defensive talent to contain him and cover his receivers.
NY Giants at Philadelphia. Eagles. The Eagles have the stronger front seven, and Saquon Barkley for one reason or another hasn’t been the same force this season as he was in 2018. Eli Manning will be playing quarterback for the Giants.
I’m going to be wrong on a ton of these. I don’t know how to reliably predict Tampa vs. Indy or Tennessee vs. Oakland.
Song of the Post is After Dark by Mr. Kitty
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Gridiron Seasonal 