Baltimore at Houston — The Ravens have had a very tough week as they lost one of the top corner backs in the league Ladarius Webb and team leader Ray Lewis for the season to injuries in a hard fought win over the Cowboys last week. It was a game where the vaunted Ravens’ defense was shredded by the Cowboys run game a sight we are not used to seeing. So everyone is wondering if this defense who keeps losing players can hold up well enough for them to make another playoff run. The Texans are another top defense who was shredded last week as Aaron Rodgers threw six touchdown passes against them and it was not pretty. I am very anxious to see how both the Ravens and Texans defenses play this week, but we cant forget that both teams have high scoring offenses as well, with top running backs in Ray Rice and Arian Foster. I think Houston’s defense will come out and be the stingy defense we were used to and Houston wins 24-17.
NY Jets at New England — The Jets are in a tough spot this week as they have to go against an angry Tom Brady, who was called out last week and embarrassed when he was shut down in the second half against Seattle. I feel he will come out guns firing this week against the Jets who don’t have star corner back Darrelle Revis who is out for the season. Even if Brady comes out hot, the Patriots’ defense still needs to stop the Jets, and that might be tough after watching how bad their secondary has been this season. Even though the Jets won last week with Sanchez only throwing for 82 yards, Shonn Greene had over 100 yards and three TD’s. I believe the way to beat New England is by attacking them with the passing game. If Sanchez can come out and limit the mistakes, and if Rex Ryan will allow him to throw the bal,l the Jets have a good chance to win this game. However, I am still going to go with the angry Brady to win this week with a score of 28-21.
Pittsburgh at Cincinnati — Both of theses teams desperately need a win. The Bengals are coming off two bad losses to the Dolphins and the Browns, while the Steelers have lost to the Raiders and Titans in back-to-back weeks. The Steelers have a very high powered passing offense, and started to show some improvement in the running game. Rashard Mendenhall however, injured his Achilles last week and is questionable for Sunday night. Meanwhile, the Steelers’ defense is really bad this season, especially in the fouth quarter, and will not have Troy Polamalu again this week. The Bengals are scary on offense with Andy Dalton and A.J. Green becoming a deadly duo, but they have no running game as well. This match up will come down to turnovers and who ever wins that match up will win this game, I predict the Steelers to win a close game 27-23.
Photo Credits: Trans G Riot
