NFL, you and I are gonna need to have some words. First, we've got London Part III at the same time as the New York City Marathon.. But that's Lions-Chiefs, so I'm willing to let that one go. Not willing to let the other big scheduling issue of the week go that easily, though.
I remember a time not too long ago when the NFL didn't schedule a Sunday night game during the World Series. That's no longer the case. And since the NFL is king, the football game always ends up drawing higher ratings than the baseball game. I understand all of this. The problem is that this week is the best Sunday night game of the season and there are a lot of people who'd want to watch both and will now have to make a choice. All because the NFL won't let Baseball have the stage during the World Series like it used to.
More on Packers-Broncos in a second, but one thing we do know is that we're guaranteed to see the number of undefeated teams drop by at least one this week. It's also weird that out of five undefeated teams, only one plays on Sunday afternoon. The Patriots already won and the Panthers are on Monday night.
Thursday Night: New England (Win)
Lions (1-6) vs. Chiefs (2-5): Kansas City-While Kansas City thinks about a potential Royals title on Sunday night, they'll get an early start with the Chiefs playing in London. Unlike last week's London game, this one's actually on TV. It's the start of a FOX quadrupleheader that's bookended by the two Kansas City teams. London actually got a decent game between two bad teams last week, and I think they'll get another one here. The Chiefs are 0-for the NFC North this season. I see that changing here.
Buccaneers (2-4) at Falcons (6-1): Atlanta-Atlanta has to be thinking "When's Carolina gonna lose?" The Falcons are the only one-loss team in football, yet they're in second place in the NFC South. All they can do is keep winning. Especially against the Bucs at home.
Vikings (4-2) at Bears (2-4): Minnesota-Minnesota's one of just six teams in the NFC with a winning record. One of the reasons for that is because the Vikings have been very good at home. Another is because they're in the same division as two of the worst teams in football. They got the road win over the Lions out of the way last week. Now it's the Bears' turn,
Cardinals (5-2) at Browns (2-5): Arizona-This is an interesting one. Cleveland has played some close games against some good teams, but their record's still 2-5. The Cardinals traveled east two weeks ago and got their butts kicked in Pittsburgh. That's what makes me think this will be a close one and that the Browns have a shot at pulling the upset. I have a feeling it'll be like most of their other games against good teams, though. A three-point loss.
49ers (2-5) at Rams (3-3): St. Louis-Is there a team in the NFL that's a bigger mess right now than the 49ers? Colin Kapernick's starting to look more and more like a one-year wonder. The Rams, meanwhile, are right there in the playoff mix. They've already beaten the two good teams in the division. Knocking off San Francisco will move them to 4-3.
Giants (4-3) at Saints (3-4): Giants-New Orleans is one of those teams that nobody has been able to figure out. The Saints got off to such a bad start, but they seem to have righted the ship. They've won two straight and three out of four. The Giants, meanwhile, have won four out of five since starting 0-2 and sit in first place in the NFC East. Something's gotta give here. I'll go with the Giants. I'm not sure why.
Bengals (6-0) at Steelers (4-3): Pittsburgh-We enter the week with five undefeated teams. We're guaranteed to leave it with no more than four. I actually think that number will be three. The Bengals are the least-heralded of those without a loss, but they're also the most vulnerable this week. It's their first game in Pittsburgh since the Steelers won to take the division from them in Week 17 last season. I've got a feeling the Steelers will knock them off again.
Chargers (2-5) at Ravens (1-6): Baltimore-If there's a team in the NFL that needs some home cooking, it's the Ravens. Four of their first seven games have been out West, and they've only played at home twice this season. Now they even it out a little. They won't leave Baltimore for almost a month. The long homestand starts against a Chargers team that typically doesn't do well in early games. They're 0-2 in 1:00 starts this season. Make that 0-3. The Ravens finally change that "1" in the win column.
Titans (1-5) at Texans (2-5): Houston-Because of the way the schedule's set up, the AFC South teams still play each other twice a year. At least one of them is guaranteed a win. I have no idea what happened last week in Miami, but the Texans are a different team at home. And they're a much better team than the Titans.
Jets (4-2) at Raiders (3-3): Oakland-Even though they lost last week, the Jets proved that they're gonna be a force and nobody's gonna want to play them. The Raiders are one of those teams, too. Oakland has gotten its swagger back under Jack Del Rio. I don't remember the last time the Raiders were above .500 this late in the season, but that's exactly what'll happen if they win here. And I see that happening. Oakland typically wins these games against East coast teams making that long trip West.
Seahawks (3-4) at Cowboys (2-4): Seattle-America's Game of the Week is a good one. Dallas is still looking for that first win without Tony Romo. Seattle is still looking to regain the form that's taken them to the last two Super Bowls. For these two teams favored to win their divisions, one will have its playoff hopes hanging by a thread after taking loss number five. Last year, Dallas went to Seattle and won, proving to everyone that was possible. This year, I think the Seahawks return the favor. They turned a corner with that Thursday night shellacking of the rival 49ers.
Packers (6-0) at Broncos (6-0): Denver-Something's gotta give as two of the remaining undefeated teams face off. They both had their bye last week, so rest isn't going to be a factor. And there's really very little separating these two teams, who are up there with New England as the three best in the league. It's the Packers offense against the Broncos defense. Which one will come out on top? Well, Green Bay takes on Carolina next week, so they could easily have back-to-back battles of the undefeated. I don't think they will, though. Green Bay loses this week and (spoiler alert) wins next week. Hopefully this one goes into overtime so I can catch the end of it after Mets-Royals is over.
Colts (3-4) at Panthers (6-0): Carolina-After winning the NFC South with just seven wins all season last year, the Panthers are looking to go 7-0 for the first time in franchise history. On Monday night, they host a Colts team that seems to have lost its way. Indy's in first place, but that's more a testament to how bad the AFC South is. The Colts are 3-0 in the division and haven't won a game outside of it, and there's a ton of front office turmoil. That, to me, doesn't sound like a team that's ready to go into Charlotte in front of a raucous crowd and knock the home team from the ranks of the unbeaten.
This Week: 1-0
Last Week: 7-7
Season: 71-35
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