Last week’s predictions went extremely well for me, as I finished with an overall 11-3 record! Frankly, it’s going to be hard to reach anything near that this week, but I’m going to try nonetheless. Let’s get right into the predictions for week 7! (Thursday night game ended with the Broncos demolishing the Cardinals 45-10)
Sunday:
Titans at Chargers (London) – Chargers win 27-13
I know the Chargers have historically bad luck traveling to the east coast (and honestly this is more east than anywhere they’ve been), but I think it’s nothing to worry about here. Last week, I picked Cleveland to beat them at home, in part, due to this reason, but boy was I wrong. The Tennessee Titans are the definition of inconsistent and mediocre, with questionable quarterback play on a weekly basis and a solid but not dominant defense. The Chargers are the better team and should win this football game.
Panthers at Eagles – Eagles win 33-24
I anticipate this being the game that shows the world that the Eagles are not to be taken lightly. Sure, they haven’t had the start of last year, nor have as good of a team, but they should come out of their division with the top seed regardless. This game can prove to everyone that they are still a formidable side. The Philly home field advantage is one that usually works heavily in the favor of the Eagles, and intimidates most if not all of their opponents.
Vikings at Jets – Vikings win 27-24
The Vikings will win this football game. They are a Super Bowl contending side facing a fringe team lead by a rookie quarterback. In saying this though, I am taking into account their recent trend of playing up to their opponents and usually not blowing out inferior competition. Due to this trend, I believe the Vikings win, but in narrow fashion. This should be a back and forth between these two sides for most of the game, but Minnesota pulls out victorious towards the end.
Bills at Colts – Colts win 19-10
This game is what I label as a “snoozer.” A contest between two terrible football teams that are competing for a spot in the playoffs, despite the fact that everyone in the world knows they have little to no chance of being there. I’m giving the home team the slight advantage, as the Bills come in banged up and starting second-string quarterback Derek Anderson. Their already poor offense will be worse and the Colts should capitalize.
Patriots at Bears – Bears win 36-30
This may come as a surprise to some, but let me explain. The Bears lost a heartbreaker to the Miami Dolphins last week in overtime. For the most part, their offense put up good numbers and their defense played alright. I think they bounce back here in front of their home crowd and defeat the New England Patriots. With the level of respectability that comes with the always-dominant Patriots, I feel as if Chicago will come better prepared for this game and ultimately come out victorious.
Browns at Buccaneers – Browns win 24-10
The Bucs have lost all momentum they may have had in the beginning of the year. They now stand as one of, if not the worst team in the entirety of the NFL, as they have a poor offense that fails to move the ball down the field, and an underperforming defense that conceded tons of points. The Browns should bounce back from their horrid performance against the Chargers last week and defeat this inferior side.
Texans at Jaguars – Jaguars win 27-19
Have the Jags been horrible as of late? Hell yeah they have. I was convinced that last week would be a dominant performance for them, as they were going against a Cowboys team that has major trouble moving the ball on the offensive side, but the Jags ended up getting trounced 40-7. This is the Jags’ last chance at staying on the track of relevance and it comes against a beatable division rival. With the home field advantage and usually strong defense, nothing should go wrong…right?
Lions at Dolphins – Dolphins win 31-24
I hate picking in favor of my team, as I feel that it may serve as a “jinx” of sorts, but I am trying to break this fear this week. The Dolphins are coming of off a major win against the formidable Chicago Bears last week and are looking to carry their momentum to this week’s matchup with the Detroit Lions. This Lions team may not be scary to some, but have they have defeated the likes of the New England Patriots and Green Bay Packers this season. I feel as if the Dolphins will take them seriously in their preparation for the game and go out with confidence.
Saints at Ravens – Ravens win 28-17
This is my biggest upset pick of the week, as I truly believe the Baltimore Ravens have a good chance of beating the Super Bowl contending New Orleans Saints. With an always strong defense and now-decent offense, the Ravens are looking to compete for a playoff spot in their division. They have a notoriously good record at home against most teams and I think that carries onto this game. I think that the dominant Saints offense will have a tough time scoring points against this Baltimore defense and will have a tough time coming out of this game with the win. Baltimore wins a competitive one.
Cowboys at Redskins – Redskins win 24-21
I know this sounds a bit odd, as the matchup isn’t the best, but this has been the toughest choice for me to make all season. Both teams have won convincingly last week against two sides that most would argue are much better than them. The Redskins have been my underdog favorites to come out of their division with a potential wild card spot, though, so I will stick with them. Again, this is anyone’s game for the taking, as the Cowboys surprisingly dropped 40 points on the Jaguars and now have a ton of positive momentum with them. I still think though that due to home field advantage and being the stronger side of the two, that Washington will narrowly win this game.
Rams at 49ers – Rams win 33-24
Who is the team that will beat the Rams? The answer is not the San Francisco 49ers. Sure, the 49ers have been surprisingly competitive in each of the games they have played with C.J. Beathard as their quarterback, but each game has produced the same result at the end, a loss. Nothing should change here against the strongest team in the NFL, that is dominating almost every team they play. I do give San Fran the possibility of putting up points against L.A., but they will not win this football game.
Bengals at Chiefs – Bengals win 28-26
Again, this was a tough matchup to predict. Both teams are coming off of heartbreaking losses, but are overall seen as respectable sides. The real question for me though is, “How will QB Patrick Mahomes play after suffering his first career loss?” I think he won’t play terrible, but will have a tough time against a Cincinnati defense that has been on a tear lately. This should be enough in my mind to defeat the Chiefs at home, in what will be an extremely back and forth contest.
Monday:
Giants at Falcons – Falcons win 33-29
This game may have been one to watch, if either of these two sides played up to par with what most experts expected them to before the season started. These two teams come in with losing records and a horrid start to the year. In saying that though, I think the Atlanta Falcons have the bigger upside/bounce back ability between the two teams and should capitalize on that in this matchup. I anticipate both sides scoring a plentiful amount of points in this game, but the Falcons coming out as the victors.