Denver at New England
This game will be looked upon solely as Manning vs Brady to see which future hall of famer will have the better game and lead his team to victory. Last week Manning looked good in his team’s dismantling of the Raiders, while Brady and the Patriots scored 45 second half points to come back and beat the Bills. Both offenses are hot and I believe this game will come down to which defense can get to the quarterback the most and force a turnover. I expect a high scoring game with the Patriots winning 34-27.
Philadelphia at Pittsburgh
The Eagles want to come into Pittsburgh and show everyone they are indeed for real, although they are 3-1, all three wins were super close with a combined margin of just 4 points. Last week the Eagles looked good on offense against the Giants. They had 0 turnovers which was a big change from their previous 3 games while LeSean McCoy had 23 carries for 123 yards. The defense held Eli Manning and the high powered offense to only 17 points. Meanwhile, the Steelers are 1-2 and coming off a bye week. The loss to the Raiders in Oakland week 3 has been eating at them for two weeks now and we will see if they have what it takes to beat a superior team. They are getting back some key players this week in Polamalu, Harrison, and Mendenhall. All three should make an impact in this game. Ben Roethlisberger is quietly having a great year. He has some great targets in Brown, Wallace with a big time redzone threat Heath Miller. This should be a great game. I am predicting the Steelers will get the victory to hold off going 1-3, and beat the Eagles 27-23.
Atlanta at Washington
The high flying Atlanta Falcons come into this week 4-0, off a tight win over the Panthers and Cam Newton last week, while the Redskins are 2-2 and have looked inconsistent at times this year. The Skins have had a ton of important players on defense go down to injury which has forced RG3 and the offense to carry the weight. Griffin has looked very impressive this season showing off his great arm and running speed, when needed, to pick up the first down. Meanwhile, Matt Ryan for the Falcons has been the MVP of the season in my eyes so far. He has put up big time stats and with his dynamic duo Roddy White and Julio Jones at WR with Tony Gonzalez at TE. I am picking the Falcons to go 5-0 after this week with a score of 38-27.
Seattle at Carolina
Both of these teams are coming off of disappointing losses last week. Seattle did not look good on offense with rookie Russell Wilson throwing three interceptions and 0 touchowns against the Rams last week. There have been rumblings that back up QB Matt Flynn could come in this week if Wilson continues to struggle. Cam Newton had his best game of the year last week and it still wasn’t enough to hold off Matt Ryan and the Falcons for the win. The Panthers’s defense is just terrible; no other way to put it. If Cam doesn’t put up 35+ points each week they probably will lose. I am going with the home team, Carolina, to win on a late field goal 30-27.
Photo courtesy of Post Gazette
