NFL Week 4 Predictions

September 25, 2007, 8:03 PM | 6 Comments

After 3 weeks of action in the NFL this season, my record sits at a respectable 33-15. Last week was every bit as interesting as I thought it would be, and I’m personally very happy that the Packers won again.

This week also brings us the first week where some teams will be off on a bye week. For the Saints (who just found out they’ve lost Deuce McAllister for the season) the bye week comes at the perfect time because they’ll have 2 weeks to get ready for a big game against their division rival Carolina Panthers. Hopefully they’ll also use those 2 weeks to figure out what exactly is wrong with their team this year.

For most teams I would say that they don’t want to have a bye week this early in the season because it could kill their momentum. For the Saints, all of their momentum has been bad, so you can bet they’re hoping that their mo’ will be put out of its own misery.

TV Coverage Rant #1: NBC’s Football Night in America

Last year I really enjoyed NBC’s highlights program, Football Night in America. Bob Costas, Chris Collinsworth, Jerome Bettis, Sterling Sharpe and Peter King were probably the most enjoyable team to watch for all the highlights, news and analysis… at least to me. This year I was really looking forward to another year of good coverage, but NBC went and changed the format of the show and I’m really not a fan of what they’ve done. They also got rid of Sterling Sharpe and in his place added Tiki Barber and Keith Olbermann, who aren’t bad, but I still prefer Sharpe to either.

The biggest gripe I’m having with the new format is how they changed it to be Bob and Keith running through all the highlights, with Olbermann acting like the entire segment is a platform for his comedic episodes… which are rarely funny. “The Viewing Room” (where Costas, Collinsworth, Bettis and Sharpe used to do all the highlights together as a team) is now “The Players Room” where all the ex-players (Collinsworth, Bettis and Barber) hang out and analyze the game at yet another desk. The sit there with their backs to Bob & Keith (and occasionally Peter King) and talk about the game that Bob & Keith just read the highlights for.

It seems a little weird to me and I personally don’t like the addition of Olbermann, but maybe it’s just me. Anyone else like Football Night better last season? Does anyone care?

Game of the Week: Patriots at Bengals

This game could be a shootout. With the Patriots playing the way they have and the Bengals ready to bust open, there’s sure to be a lot of excitement. This game features 2 great offenses and a couple of pretty good defenses… well, that is, if Cincy’s D shows up. Randy Moss has been on fire lately and you can bet that will spark the competitive nature of Chad Johnson this week as well. With so many weapons on offense for each of these teams, this game is going to come down to 2 things: the defense, and the individual match-up between Tom Brady and Carson Palmer.

I fully expect the Patriots to continue on their undefeated path, but I wouldn’t put it past the Bengals to get a tough win at home.

Game of the Week #2: Packers at Vikings

Brett Favre will more than likely break Dan Marino’s all-time touchdown record this Sunday in Minnesota, and for that reason alone this game would be worth watching. Add on top of that the fact that when the Vikings and Packers get together it’s always a great game throw in a little “battle for the top of the NFC North” and you’ve got yourself a great game. Go Pack!

Here are my picks for week 4:

Away	Home	Comments	Pick	Result
Ravens (2-2)	Browns (2-2)	The Browns obviously fell back down to earth last week, and they’ll probably stay there for a while. The Ravens almost lost one to Arizona because of their inability to play for a full 60 minutes. Still, Baltimore should be able to win this one without too much trouble.
Rams (0-4)	Cowboys (4-0)	The Rams have been really hurt by injuries already this year, and as a direct result of it, QB Marc Bulger is taking a beating. Dallas has proven to be the favourites in the NFC this season and should be able to roll all over the Rams.
Bears (1-3)	Lions (3-1)	With all the injuries on the Bears defense, it really isn’t looking good for them. Add in the consistently bad play from Rex Grossman and you get a recipe for failure. Thankfully (for Bears fans) Lovie Smith has decided to bench Grossman in favour of Brian Griese, but I don’t know that that will be enough. The Lions meanwhile have one of the best offenses in the NFL so far this season but a horrible defense that gave up 56 points to Philly last week. This could be a shootout and I’m taking the Lions at home for my upset of the week.
Packers (4-0)	Vikings (1-3)	Well, the Packers look like they’re for real. The defense is playing extremely well, the offense looks like it’s getting into a good rhythm and the Packers have quietly put together a 7-game winning streak stretch back to last December. 3-0 is great, but 4-0 is even better and I expect the Packers to take the win this week and Brett Favre to break Dan Marino’s all time touchdown record.
Raiders (2-2)	Dolphins (0-4)	The Dolphins aren’t my pick to be the last winless team in the NFL this year (that honour goes to Atlanta), so I’ll take them this week in what should be a winnable game against the Raiders.
Texans (2-2)	Falcons (1-3)	The only interesting story about this game is Matt Schaub returning to Atlanta to show everyone what could have been.
Jets (1-3)	Bills (1-3)	With J.P. Losman out this week (and maybe more) with a sprained MCL, the Bills are going to have to struggle through it. I don’t know that they couldn’t win this game, but the Jets just look like the better team right now.
Steelers (3-1)	Cardinals (2-2)	Pittsburgh rolls into the desert to take on former Steelers coordinator Ken Whisenhunt’s Cardinals. That should make for a tough game for the Steelers, but I still think they’ll win. Nice to see Kurt Warner do so well last week against Baltimore though.
Seahawks (3-1)	49ers (2-2)	With a bad offense already, the 49ers didn’t need to hear the news today that star TE Vernon Davis is going to be out for 2 weeks or so… it doesn’t look good. The Seahawks proved their loss to the Cardinals was a bit of a fluke by beating a tough Cincinnati Bengals squad and I think will regain their NFC West supremacy this week.
Buccaneers (3-1)	Panthers (2-2)	This is another tough call because these teams seem pretty evenly matched. Neither has played exceptionally well but neither has been really bad either. So, I’ll take the Bucs for a couple of reasons. For one, the Panthers might not have beaten the Falcons last week if it wasn’t for DeAngelo Hall’s meltdown, and second, Jake Delhomme might not play and even though David Carr had an alright showing, it was against the Falcons.
Chiefs (2-2)	Chargers (1-3)	Quite simply… the Chargers have to win… now. Their offense started to show signs of life last week in Green Bay, but they need to get on a roll.
Broncos (2-2)	Colts (4-0)	If this game comes down to a possible game winning field goal by the Colts’ Adam Vinatieri… you can bet Denver calling a last second time out before he makes the kick won’t phase him.
Eagles (1-3)	Giants (2-2)	Both of these teams woke up last week and got a much needed win. After this week, one of them is going to feel bad all over again. I’ll take the Eagles unless Brian Westbrook shows up as “out” on the injury report. Yeah, that’s right… a conditional pick. Hey, I pick ahead on Tuesdays… I’ve gotta have some wiggle room :) Note: Westbrook was never listed as ‘out’ on the official injury report, so even though he didn’t play, I still had to stick with my pick… unfortunately.
Patriots (4-0)	Bengals (1-3)	This is probably the best game that ESPN is going to see this year on Monday Night Football and on paper looks like a shootout, so it should be a LOT of fun to watch. I have to take the Patriots until they give me a reason not to pick them, but if Cincinnati’s offense plays well, it could be close.
Note: the Jaguars (2-1), Redskins (2-1), Saints (0-3) and Titans (2-1) have a bye week this week.

Don’t forget to check out this week’s ESPN Expert Picks.

Update: Wow. What a bad week! I went 7-7 this week to bring my total up to 40-22. Week 5 picks coming soon!

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