October 17, 2006
NFL Week 7 Predictions
October 17, 2006, 5:47 PM | 3 Comments
Note: Predictions for week 7 of the 2008 NFL season can be found here: NFL Week 7 Predictions.
What a crazy week it was! Week 6 saw a lot of surprises and some crazy finishes, but I still finished up 9-4 with my picks. Last week brought my total for 2006 to 59-28 (.678).
Monday Night Wrap-Up:
Well, when I picked the game between the Bears and the Cardinals as my game of the week last week, I was not expecting what we saw take place in the desert. I did predict a shootout though if Arizona’s O-Line could figure out how to block, which they did (at least for the passing game anyways). That was as exciting a game as I’ve ever seen, but it was just ridiculous.
Chicago’s Rex Grossman had a terrible night and turned the ball over 6 times (4 interceptions and 2 fumbles) but I don’t think that’s going to be a recurring theme for the Chicago QB. What Chicago showed me was that their defense’s never-give-up attitude will keep them in games right until the last second. The Bears made a lot of big plays when they needed to and that’s what veteran teams do.
For the Arizona Cardinals there are a lot of bright spots to take away from that game. First of all, Matt Leinart is going to be a great quarterback in the NFL and will make every team that passed up drafting him (Oakland?) sorry for that decision. Secondly, even without Larry Fitzgerald the Cardinals passing game did a great job. Thirdly, the Cardinals defense has really stepped it up compared to the past couple of seasons and looked really good against the Bears. 4 interceptions and 2 fumble recoveries should win you the game, but…
Arizona’s biggest problem is still its offensive line, and I’m not the only one who thinks so. Edgerrin James ran for 55 yards against the Bears… on 36 attempts! That’s an average of 1.53 yards per carry and it’s not because he’s a bad running back. Kicker Neil Rackers may be ushering his way out of Arizona. He looks like he’s lost his confidence after pulling a Mike Vanderjagt (having a chance to tie or win the game and missing the “easy” kick) 2 weeks in a row. It’s a shame considering his records from years past but I’ve seen this happen to kickers before and it’s not pretty.
Week 7 Game of the Week: Giants at Cowboys.
My pick for game of the week this week is again a Monday Night Football match-up. T.O. and the media circus are at home under the lights on national television for what should be an exciting divisional contest. The NFC East is turning out to be every bit as competitive as it looked like it would be before the season began.
The New York Giants and the Dallas Cowboys both feature pretty good defenses and offenses that are somewhat inconsistent. If this game turns into a shootout, I’d expect the Giants to come away with the win because they’re the league’s 2nd ranked offense and have the league’s leading rusher in Tiki Barber. If Dallas can protect against the run and Drew Bledsoe has enough time to spread the ball around, they should be in good shape, but they can’t let the Giants get away from them.
One thing I do know is that the Dallas Cowboys need to concentrate on playing football. I believe the media is partly to blame for the distraction that Terrell Owens has become in Big D, but T.O. needs to take some responsibility. There have been mutterings about some of the players being distracted by having to answer so many questions about T.O. and if they don’t settle down soon it’ll cost them as a team. This Dallas team has a lot of potential and I’d hate to see them waste it.
Here are my picks for week 7!
| Away | Home | Comments | Pick | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Panthers(4-3) |  Bengals(4-2) | In the last 3 weeks the Bengals have been embarrassed by the Patriots, had a week off to prepare for the 0-4 Buccaneers and then lost to those very same Buccaneers. They have to get back in the win column this week against a very tough Carolina team. | | |
 Lions(1-6) |  Jets(4-3) | Finally the Lions got their first win, but did anyone in Detroit even notice, or was everyone too distracted by the Tigers earning a trip to the World Series? I suspect this game will be pretty close, but I think I’ll take the Jets, who have been far more consistent this season. | | |
 Packers(2-4) |  Dolphins(1-6) | Green Bay had a week off to think about the fact that they should’ve won that game against the Rams in week 5. The Dolphins just aren’t very good right now and the Packers should be able to capitalize on Joey Harrington’s mistakes. | | |
 Jaguars(3-3) |  Texans(2-4) | Jacksonville basically needs to win all of its divisional match-ups if they expect to keep pace with the Colts. | | |
 Patriots(5-1) |  Bills(2-5) | The Bills are starting to fall back down to earth and now they have to play the Patriots, who annihilated Cincinnati in week 5 and had a bye week last week. | | |
 Eagles(4-3) |  Buccaneers(2-4) | Any win in the NFL is a win, even though TB was lucky to get theirs last week. The Eagles have looked good all year but didn’t get Brian Westbrook involved very much last week and that resulted in a loss. They should be able to get to 5-2 this week. | | |
 Steelers(2-4) |  Falcons(4-2) | That was the Steelers team we’re used to seeing. Yes, the one that pantsed the Chiefs last week. Their defense should be able to keep Michael Vick fairly well contained, and that will be the key to this game. | | |
 Chargers(4-2) |  Chiefs(3-3) | The Chargers have a lot of similarities to the Steelers, especially on defense. That’s not very good news for the Chiefs. | | |
 Broncos(5-1) |  Browns(1-5) | Javon Walker is really starting to look comfortable in that Denver offense. As much as I hate the way he left Green Bay, it’s nice to see him come back from that knee injury and perform so well. | | |
 Cardinals(1-5) |  Raiders(1-5) | Last week the Cardinals really showed what they’re made of. If the Raiders want to prevent what’s looking like a 0-16 season, this is the game they’re going to have to take because their schedule isn’t getting any easier. | | |
 Vikings(4-2) |  Seahawks(4-2) | Finally, the Seahawks got a win after a bye week, but they’re looking like they really miss Shaun Alexander. Luckily for them, Deion Branch is starting to find his place in their offense. | | |
 Redskins(2-5) |  Colts(6-0) | After losing to Tennessee last week, it’s going to make it very hard for me to pick the Redskins to win against pretty much anyone other than the Raiders. | | |
 Giants(4-2) |  Cowboys(3-3) | The Giants and Cowboys. This should be another great game and neither one of these teams can really afford to lose this game. I think T.O. could have a big game on Monday Night Football and I like Dallas at home. | | |
| Note: the Ravens, Bears, Saints, 49ers, Rams and Titans have a bye week this week. | ||||
Apparently the NFL is trying to get the bye weeks over as quickly as possible this season. This week features another 13 game schedule with 6 teams on a bye. Either way, it should be another exciting week of action.
Here are this week’s ESPN Expert Picks.
Update: Another crazy week of upsets in the NFL this week. 6-7 on my predictions this week (horrible, I know) to bring my total to 65-35 (.650). Hopefully next week will be better. Look for my week 8 predictions tomorrow evening!
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