Week 4 Predictions

Last week was the first week where I feel like I have a sense of this season's
trends and which teams are doing what. I went 9-5, which brings my season total to 25-21.

Here's a look at this week's match ups.

Buffalo 16 at New Orleans 13
Bills D lost a playmaker when Spikes injured his achilles tendon last Sunday.
The key to their success will be keeping pressure on Brooks and containing
McAllister. Horn is hobbled by a hamstring and Stallworth is suffering from
his usual dropsies.

Denver 20 at Jacksonville 10
If Champ isn't able to play at full speed the Jags could see the end zone twice
instead of once, but their offense is not (and has not been for awhile) prolific.

Detroit 17 at Tampa Bay 24
Detroit's special teams will keep this game closer in score than what the
offensive or defensive stats would indicate.

Houston 13 at Cincinnati 23
The Bengals D has been creating turnovers to help put the offense in scoring
positions often... and I don't see where Carr will be any different. He may
not throw 5 interceptions, but 3 or 4 would not be out of the question.

Indianapolis 20 at Tennessee 10
Okay, so the Colts D is winning them games now since the Manning scoring
machine is on hiatus. Titans D is stingy enough to help keep the score
low on this one too.

San Diego 24 at New England 31
New England will be able to outscore the Chargers, but I don't see them
shutting down LT completely.

Seattle 27 at Washington 13
Seattle has a decent defense that will contain Moss, but Portis will be able
to score. The early bye week for the Redskins was more of a momentum killer than a chance to rest up and feel refreshed.

St Louis 21 at NY Giants 24
This game has shoot out potential, but the Giants D will thwart the Rams
ubiquitous passing attack for most of the day and keep the score in the 20's.

NY Jets 10 at Baltimore 17
New QB for the Jets and no effective running game to fall back on. If the Ravens
can just score a few times they should be able to win this one. This is my
snoozefest game of the week. However, if you like to see new QB's get cremated by a strong defense... grab some popcorn, this one will enthrall.

Dallas 20 at Oakland 21
Oakland has to win a game sooner or later, I'm feeling sooner. Of course that
is contingent on them getting the ball to Moss at least 7 or 8 times. Dallas
won't roll over and play dead... this will be a nail-biter at the end.

Minnesota 20 at Atlanta 27
Culpepper has a tough match up this week, don't expect more than a couple TD's
out of this one. The Falcons defense will create a turnover that will lead to the touchdown that wins it. Look for Moore to have a good day. The Vikings will need it from him in order to keep competitive.

Philadelphia 27 at Kansas City 31
Definite shoot out, but the lack of a kicking game for the Eagles will tip
the balance in favor of the Chiefs for this one.

San Francisco 16 at Arizona 13
Barlow has too many tostadas and drinks the water, so Gore has to start and
runs faster than a Juarez wetback across the Rio Grande. The Cards offense
and their struggles under a new signal caller will be the key to this loss.

Green Bay 7 at Carolina 21
Favre just doesn't have the weapons to be very effective against this defense.
Since this is MNF the Packers may show enough heart to keep this game respectable
so they don't completely embarass themselves on national TV.