Well, October sure came and hit us in the face, didn't it? Fall is officially here, which means football season is heating up. And we've got some great matchups this week, highlighted by Kansas City-New England on Sunday night. That's one of several important showdowns this week, as several teams are already running the risk of their season getting away from them.
Thursday Night: Philadelphia (Win)
Buccaneers (2-2) at Falcons (1-4): Tampa Bay-Tampa Bay has turned back to Jamies Winston at QB, which didn't surprise me considering how badly they got smacked in Chicago. Atlanta needs to do something before its season falls into disaster territory (if it hasn't already). I'm just not confident they'll figure it out. At least not this week. The Bucs win it.
Steelers (2-2-1) at Bengals (4-1): Pittsburgh-When the Pittsburgh Steelers are backed against a wall, they come to play. That was the case in Tampa Bay after they started 0-2. That was the case last week against Atlanta. And they face a similar dilemma this week in Cincinnati. Because if they don't win, they'll be 2.5 games behind the Bengals in the AFC North (with Cincinnati holding the tiebreaker). And it's only Week 6!
Chargers (3-2) at Browns (2-2-1): Chargers-The last time these two met in Cleveland, it was so embarrassing for the Chargers that they bolted (sorry!) from San Diego. That was, of course, the Browns' only win in a two-year span. Things have certainly changed since then...for both teams. And I think we can rest assured that this will be competitive. That seems to be the Browns' M.O. Somebody really needs to tell them that games are supposed to be 60 minutes long, not 70! In another game decided by a field goal, the Chargers avenge their last trip to Cleveland.
Seahawks (2-3) vs. Raiders (1-4): Seattle-Three straight weeks in London, starting with the two teams making the longest trip out there. At least the NFL scheduled this one for the British evening so that it wouldn't start at 6:30 a.m. Pacific. The matchups will get progressively better, capped by Eagles-Jaguars in two weeks. But the British faithful will first see Jon Gruden's and Pete Carroll's underachieving squads. Seattle's actually been playing better of late, winning two straight before almost beating the Rams, so their 5,000-mile trip will at least result in a victory.
Bears (3-1) at Dolphins (3-2): Chicago-Chicago has been one of the surprise teams in the NFL this season. The Bears had last week off, which is the only thing that stopped their run. I doubt that was enough to completely slow Chicago down. In any case, the Dolphins are a vastly different team than the one that got out to a 3-0 start. Playing the Patriots and Bengals sure didn't help, but Chicago's in that same category.
Cardinals (1-4) at Vikings (2-2-1): Minnesota-Arizona got its first win last week, meaning we won't have a 2016-17 Browns situation on our hands this season. Minnesota has confused me all season. In their last home game, they got their butts kicked by the Bills. But last week they won in Philadelphia. So who are the Vikings really? I guess we'll find out against a Cardinals team they should have no problem handling.
Colts (1-4) at Jets (2-3): Jets-Just when you think the Jets are totally hopeless, they go and beat a team like Denver. Badly. Then there's the Colts. People want to give Indy the benefit of the doubt, but, with or without Luck, they're not a very good team. They're definitely not as good as the Jets, who should move to 3-3. The coolest part of this game, though, is the 50th anniversary celebration of Super Bowl III. Just keep Joe Namath away from the booze!
Panthers (3-1) at Redskins (2-2): Carolina-A win moves the Panthers into a tie for first place in the NFC South. Washington, meanwhile, could lose and still stay in first place despite having a sub-.500 record. So is the NFC East in 2018. The Redskins got their butts kicked last week in New Orleans, which was merely a footnote to Drew Brees breaking Peyton Manning's record. Either way, look for the Panthers to join the Saints in the penthouse suite.
Bills (2-3) at Texans (2-3): Houston-Both of these teams got a win last week. In fact, Houston has won two in a row, both in overtime (maybe they need the same memo as the Browns). The Bills, meanwhile, go back and forth between looking like the worst team in football and surprising teams that should beat them handily. I think the Texans have figured things out, though. Look for them to make it three straight and jump right back into the AFC South race.
Rams (5-0) at Broncos (2-3): Rams-I've said this before, and I'll keep saying it. The Los Angeles Rams aren't just the best team in football, they're one of the most entertaining. And last week they again showed us that they know how to win, too. Now they head to Denver, which it's exactly Southern California. Shouldn't matter. Because the Rams' defense should be able to slow the Broncos' offense down, and, after what the Jets did to them last week, Todd Gurley should run wild.
Jaguars (3-2) at Cowboys (2-3): Dallas-If Jacksonville wants to be considered one of the NFL's elite teams, they need to stop laying eggs. Although I'm not sure how much of that was the Jaguars and how much of it was the Chiefs. Either way, Dallas comes into this one trying to figure out its own problems. What can Dak and Zeke do against that Jacksonville defense? For some reason, I think they'll do enough to get a W.
Ravens (3-2) at Titans (3-2): Baltimore-These two both earned big wins two weeks ago only to lose on the road last week. Now one of them will be staring a .500 record in the face. The Titans have had some issues scoring, which could be a problem against a Baltimore team that, last week notwithstanding, hasn't had an issue putting points on the board. I think the Ravens go into Nashville and pull off the win.
Chiefs (5-0) at Patriots (3-2): Kansas City-Remember when the Chiefs crushed the Patriots on a Monday night three years ago and everybody thought Brady was done? It was right around this time (I think it dropped New England to 2-2). Well, we all know what happened at the end of that season. So don't think that a loss here means anything about New England's playoff chances. A win would actually go a long way towards improving their position come January. Kansas City's just a much better team right now, though.
49ers (1-4) at Packers (2-2-1): Green Bay-Green Bay and San Francisco have hooked up for some great games over the years. Who knows what they have in store for us on Monday night? The 49ers looked great against the Chargers, then lost to the Cardinals. The Packers, meanwhile, are 2-0-1 at Lambeau and 0-2 on the road, including last week's debacle in Detroit. Mason Crosby has certainly had better days. We'll see if that was just a bad day at the office or a sign that the Packers should be in the market for a kicker. Either way, Aaron Rodgers and Co. better score some touchdowns just to be safe.
This Week: 1-0
Last Week: 9-6
Overall: 44-33-2
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