Last week was bad. I'll be the first to admit that. Thanks to the Vikings, 49ers, Raiders, Steelers, Chiefs, Saints and replacement refs, I suffered through an embarrassing 8-8 campaign in Week 3. (If the fake refs hadn't screwed the Packers, that 9-7 I would've been would look so much better than the 8-8 does.) Looking for the positive in such a dismal showing, I'm going to say that I hopefully got my bad week out of the way early. I also don't think it's possible for me to do any worse this week. With that, here we go with the Week 4 picks...
Panthers (1-2) at Falcons (3-0): Atlanta-As I said the other day when I released my NFL power rankings, I think Atlanta is the best team in the NFL. That rout in San Diego proved that more than anything. After three wins against the AFC West, the Falcons actually play a team from their own division for the first time. I don't see that making too much of a difference. Atlanta keeps rolling.
Patriots (1-2) at Bills (2-1): New England-When was the last time New England was below .500? I think they had a two-game losing streak last year, too, and that was the first time in like eight years. Let's keep in mind, though, that the Patriots' two losses came against Arizona (the most surprising team in the NFL this season) and Baltimore (after leading for most of the game and having the replacement officials almost give it to them). The Patriots will be fine. The Bills, meanwhile, have a deceptive 2-1 record. Their wins are against the Chiefs and the Browns. If they beat New England, then maybe I can buy into Buffalo's record a little bit more.
Vikings (2-1) at Lions (1-2): Detroit-This matchup is similar to New England-Buffalo. The Lions have a good loss in San Francisco and a "bad"/OK loss in Tennessee, while the Vikings' 2-1 mark includes an overtime win over Jacksonville. The Vikings did shock everybody and beat the 49ers last week, though. I still say Detroit at home is the safe bet, but who knows? Maybe Minnesota's better than we thought.
Chargers (2-1) at Chiefs (1-2): San Diego-All the Chiefs' win last week did was establish that the New Orleans Saints are officially a mess. Beating the Saints doesn't really seem to mean that much anymore. Meanwhile, some people view the Chargers' 2-0 start as a mirage after they got spanked at home by the Falcons. However, as I've said, I think Atlanta's the best team in football, so there's no shame there. In this matchup, San Diego's the better team.
Seahawks ("2-1") at Rams (1-2): Seattle-If anybody's going to miss the replacement refs, it's Golden Tate and the Seahawks. The end of that Monday night game was a travesty, although, there is a silver lining, since that's what led to the NFL and the referees coming to a deal. Now they have to venture out of the Pacific time zone for the first time this season. I think the Seahawks will pull it out, but Seattle should be on upset alert.
49ers (2-1) at Jets (2-1): San Francisco-Here's where we learn how good the New York Jets actually are. The Jets won both of their division games, but were slaughtered when they played Pittsburgh. Now they face another actual opponent in the 49ers, who are coming off that surprise loss in Minnesota. I'm banking on that loss being just a bad week. If the real 49ers show up, they should rebound against the Jets.
Titans (1-2) at Texans (3-0): Houston-Houston is the best team in the AFC. The Texans are 3-0 for the first time ever and really showed a lot by going into Denver and coming back with a win last week. The Titans offense seemed to finally figure things out against the Lions, scoring 44 points in the overtime win. The Titans aren't bad, but the Texans haven't been home since Week1 and will enjoy the opportunity to play at Reliant Stadium.
Raiders (1-2) at Broncos (1-2): Denver-The Broncos might have the best 1-2 record in NFL history. Sure, 1-2 looks bad on paper, but look at who the losses are to and consider the fact that they were in both of those games (including on the road in Atlanta). Their 1-2 is similar to the Patriots' 1-2. Both will be fine. Thanks to the Steelers' injuries, the Raiders aren't 0-3. As for their first meeting against Peyton in an orange jersey, I think they go back to being the Raiders.
Dolphins (1-2) at Cardinals (3-0): Arizona-Is there any argument that Arizona has been the most surprising team in the NFL this season? Just when their win over the Patriots looked like a fluke, they go and slaughter the Eagles. I don't see Miami being much of a challenge.
Bengals (2-1) at Jaguars (1-2): Cincinnati-This might be the most unappealing matchup of the entire week. There's nothing about the Jaguars that gets you excited. Cincinnati might be 2-1, but the Bengals barely got by the Browns and Redskins, two not-very-good teams that they only beat by a touchdown each. That probably means another ugly Cincinnati win.
Saints (0-3) at Packers ("1-2"): Green Bay-When this one was set as the national doubleheader game, I don't think anybody expected it to be an early "must-win" game for both teams. But here we are with the pissed off Saints taking on the pissed off Packers. Of course, they're pissed off for very different reasons. New Orleans is gradually realizing they aren't anywhere near as good as they thought, while the Packers are rightfully fuming after having a win literally taken away from them by a bad call last week. I think all of that is more than enough to motivate Green Bay to the victory. And this time, the real officials won't find a way to screw them out of it like the replacements did in Seattle.
Redskins (1-2) at Buccaneers (1-2): Washington-Washington and Tampa Bay. If nothing else, this game will probably be entertaining. The Bucs continue their journey through the NFC East, against the Redskins, who, despite losing, seemed to rebound nicely in Cincinnati last week. The Redskins have learned how to score points. Tampa Bay's the favorite, but I think Washington will find a way to pull this one out.
Giants (2-1) at Eagles (2-1): Philadelphia-The Giants finally looked like the Giants last week, while the Eagles got spanked in Arizona. Maybe we should've seen that coming after Philadelphia managed to win its first two games by one-point each despite committing nine turnovers against Cleveland and Baltimore. It would seem like everything points to a Giants win in this one, but the Eagles have dominated this series of late, especially in their annual Sunday night game. As a result, I'm playing the odds and going with Philly.
Bears (2-1) at Cowboys (2-1): Chicago-Remember back in the old days when the Monday night game was the best matchup of the week? Well, this week we lucked out. Because that's exactly what we've got. And it'll be an important one in determining where the Bears and Cowboys actually stand. Chicago's two wins have been by big margins, but they came against Indianapolis and St. Louis, and Dallas isn't going to shake that loss in Seattle anytime soon. This should be a great game between two very good teams. It's a toss-up, but I'm going with the Bears.
Last Week: 8-8 (I know. I'm embarrassed to even write that.)
This Week: 1-0
Season: 32-17
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