NFL Week 4 thread

eagle eye

Week 1: 10-6 Week 2: 11-5 Week 3: 11-5

Bye: Dallas Cowboys, Kansas City Chiefs, Minnesota Vikings, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

So the bye weeks start here and it means that the Kansas City Chiefs will remains unbeaten for another week.


Sunday 3rd October

6.00pm
New York Jets @ Buffalo Bills
Denver Broncos @ Tennessee Titans
Cincinnati Bengals @ Cleveland Browns
Carolina Panthers @ New Orleans Saints
Detroit Lions @ Green Bay Packers
Seattle Seahawks @ St Louis Rams
San Francisco 49ers @ Atlanta Falcons
Baltimore Ravens @ Pittsburgh Steelers

9.05pm
Houston Texans @ Oakland Raiders
Indianapolis Colts @ Jacksonville Jaguars

9.15pm
Washington Redskins @ Philadelphia Eagles
Arizona Cardinals @ San Diego Chargers

Monday 04 October 2010 1.20am(Sunday Night Game)
Chicago Bears @ New York Giants

Tuesday 05 October 2010 1.30am(Monday Night Game)

New England Patriots @ Miami Dolphins


Sunday 3rd October

6.00pm

New York Jets @ Buffalo Bills - Buffalo got something going on offense last week with C.J. Spiller showing his talents and Ryan Fitzpatrick showing that he is not an easy man to track down even with a horrendous offensive line blocking for him. He was only sacked once while throwing 2 tds and two interceptions. He is not the greatest QB on the planet by any means but he does offer something to a team with a group of talented running backs.
Having said that their defense was ripped apart last week and the Patriots could and should have scored more than they did.
The Jets scraped a win last week thanks to some horrendous decisions in the red zone from Tony Sporano and co. You would think that this game on the road would be easy for the Jets but this Bills team has been down on its luck and last week they saw a glimmer of light with a new man under center and their star rookie getting it together. I would not be altogether shocked if the Bills did something here.
People are talking up Mark Sanchez again but this is an early game and to date he plays bad in early games.
Still I have to pick the New York Jets
Denver Broncos @ Tennessee Titans
I really like the Titans a lot this year. I've been impressed by them and they are not dependent on CJ to get it done for them. They have a good mix on offense but the big difference is that D which has improved a lot since last term which I expected.
The Broncos are coming off a tough loss at home to the Colts where Kyle Orton threw for over 400 yards. I don't know what to make of the Broncos right now but their secondary is in a mess and I think that in this game they will be in awful trouble. I expect to see the Titans come out throwing early and the Broncos will need to go to dime packages early and thats going to open up room for CJ.
This looks like a certain win for the Tennessee Titans
Cincinnati Bengals @ Cleveland Browns
How can a team with CO and TO fly under the radar? I'll tell you how, they get spanked early in New England and everybody decides they were just a one season wonder in 2009. Since that defeat they have beaten the Ravens and easily beat the sorry Panthers in Carolina. I think this team is a lot better than most people are giving them credit for.
This is a divisional game though and the Browns showed signs of life on offense last week. Their D was shredded though and its not a good sign when Joe Flacco has his only good game so far this season against you.
I think the Bengals pick up their second road win here and they will go 3-1 and remain under the radar. Cincinnati Bengals
Carolina Panthers @ New Orleans Saints
Well the Saints should have won ugly for the 3rd week running but that missed field goal from their NFCCG hero from last season Garrett Hartley let the Falcons off the hook and the Saints suffered their first loss.
Imo the Saints have looked like a team with a Superbowl hangover this season and that loss last week could be just the kick in the butt they needed to get their season going. This should be a very handy game for them against the Panthers who look to me right now as certainties for a top 3 pick in next years draft. Jimmy Clausen has taken the reigns now and he could make a difference but they have too many problems all over the place to have any chance of grabbing a big win here. New Orleans Saints
Detroit Lions @ Green Bay Packers
Well the Packers will be hurting after that loss on Monday night to the Bears. They should have won it but they gave up too many penalties. A lot of people have called them the favourites for the Superbowl this season but their special teams is a big problem right now and all those penalties are going to hurt and you will lose games when you lack discipline.
Still the Lions have not been good and with Mark Stafford still out I think this is a terrible matchup for them.
This ones easy for the wounded animal that is the Green Bay Packers
Seattle Seahawks @ St Louis Rams
The Seahawks have one of the best special teams units in the NFL. Leon Washington showed that last week with two returns for TDs, I presume they are the two longest returns in the history of the franchise but I don't know for sure. The Rams are better than they were last season and they are building the right way but I don't like them in this game.
Steven Jackson could miss this one which would hurt them a lot. The Seahawks D is good at getting to the QB having already recorded 7 sacks this season against teams that don't give up many in the Chargers, Broncos and 49ers. I worry for Sam Bradford here if Jackson is out because there will be nothing to worry Seattle and keep them from coming through at him.
Only one result here and thats an easy win for the Seattle Seahawks
San Francisco 49ers @ Atlanta Falcons
Mike Singletary fired his offensive co-ordinator Jimmy Raye. Raye turned around and told the press that he was doing what Singletary wanted him to do and was not running things his own way. That does not surprise me and I expect to see Singletary getting the pink slip himself before too long.
The 49ers have been dreadful this year and its not going to improve here for them.
Matt Ryan has been getting better by the week and is turning into the outstanding QB that a lot of us expected him to be.
I think this game will be tight early but I expect the Falcons, a team who have posted two consecutive winning seasons, to win this one comfortably in the end. Watch out for Roddy White to get things going and then Michael Turner and Jason Snelling to have big days.
Baltimore Ravens @ Pittsburgh Steelers
This is usually a very close affair, a huge divisional rivalry between the two teams that expect to fight it out for top spot in the division. I think the Bengals will have a big say in that but this is one tricky matchup to figure out.
The Steelers had a hangover last season, this year with all thats went on I expected the response that they have come up with. I expected them to be in good shape when Big Ben returned from his suspension but I didn't expect 4-0 and thats the situation they will be in should they take this one on Sunday.
I expect this game to be a really close, low scoring game. I don't trust Flacco for one second and I am dismissing his good week against the Browns as just a good day against an average D. I don't trust Charlie Batch either though. If Ray Rice misses the game then I think that defense wins this one for the Steelers but only just. Its impossible to call but I'll take the Pittsburgh Steelers

9.05pm

Houston Texans @ Oakland Raiders
The Texans came crashing back down to earth with a bang last week. You look at this matchup and you think this is easy for them but I just don't know right now. They remind me of the 2008 New Orleans Saints with a wonderful offense but no D, that team ended up 8-8. Andre Johnson was nowhere near his usual self last week and that has to be a huge concern for the Texans heading into this game. Owen Daniels continues to recover from his injuries and is not near his best yet either so its down to Walters and Jacoby Jones to make up for those problems. Thing is the Raiders have not been good against the run and Arian Foster has been pretty explosive.
The Raiders come into this one after losing out with their usually reliable kicker Sebastien Janikowski having missed 3 field goals on road including one to win the game as time expired against the Cardinals. I really am not a fan of QB Gradkowski at all but he is a huge upgrade on Jason Campbell imo. The Texans D is not good as I said earlier and I'm finding it hard to call this game. I do think it will be high scoring and I think it will ultimately come down to which QB does better and thats an easy one to answer for me and its Matt Schaub. So for me it has to be the Houston Texans
Indianapolis Colts @ Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jags are tough at home and MJD should have a big day against a team thats very poor against the run.
Manning has been impressive as usual this season and the Colts have been business as usual since their loss to the Texans in week 1.
The Jags can keep things competitive but I don't see them stopping the Colts here. Indianapolis Colts

9.15pm

Washington Redskins @ Philadelphia Eagles
Donovan goes to his first home and if he expects anything other than a brutal reception from the Eagles fans then he is deluded.
The Eagles fans are such a fickle bunch too and all it would take is a Redskins win here for them to quickly fall out of love with Michael Vick. I think if McNabb has a big game here and 'mcnabbs' the win that Andy Reid will be under immense pressure too and likely gone if they don't make the playoffs this season.
I don't see that happening though, for all thats good about the Redskins offense their D is average at best and the Eagles are a team that rips apart dodgy Ds. They just have too many weapons all over the place to lose this one.
Philadelphia Eagles

Arizona Cardinals @ San Diego Chargers How did the Cards manage to survive and get the win last Sunday. Its like they had a curse on Janikowski. They were brutal and I don't like them at all. As bad as the Chargers coaching is, this game is a just a situation of talent being too much for the opposition. This will be an easy win for the San Diego Chargers

Monday 04 October 2010 1.20am(Sunday Night Game)
Chicago Bears @ New York Giants
The Giants have been leaning heavily on their running game and Ahmad Bradshaw in particular. The Bears don't allow teams big yardage by running the ball so its on Eli's shoulders this week. This is Julius Peppers' day, he will come off the edge against a horrendous OL and just maul Eli Manning, if they try to stop him then Brian Urlacher will come through the middle and destroy Eli. Either way its going to be a rough day for Eli no matter what way you look at it.
Jay Cutler is still throwing picks and will continue to do so but he is improving and getting back near where he was two seasons ago. With Matt Forte by his side I just can't see the Bears losing this one. Chicago Bears

Tuesday 05 October 2010 1.30am(Monday Night Game)

New England Patriots @ Miami Dolphins
Stupid decisions cost the Dolphins against the Jets last week. I'm talking about the third quarter where they left the ball in Henne's hands from the 2 yard line on all downs when their running game was having success, but then even more stupidly they take a field goal to go 1 point down instead of going for it on 4th and 2. I just hope they continue making stupid decisions this week when New England go to Miami.
The Patriots offense is in really good shape, I thought the loss of Faulk would hurt us but the shrimp that is Danny Woodhead looked awesome last week. Lawfirm looked great last week too but this was all against a horrendous D. Still the Patriots are the highest scoring team in the NFL after 3 weeks and there are just so many receiving threats with Moss back to his very best, Welker as good as ever, Hernandez looking great, Gronkowski who hasn't got many balls but has big yardage and tds when the ball does come his way and Tate who had a drop last week but looks a guy who can beat anybody for speed.
Problem for the Patriots is that D which doesn't look good right now. Its something I expected to see with 4 rookies and 4 second years among the regulars. They will get better as time goes on but they are not good enough right now even though last weeks performance when broken down was better than what is being reported by the mediots.
I am really worried about Brandon Marshall in this game, I'm equally worried about Ronnie Brown. Its going to be high scoring for sure and its going to be a close call either way.
This Dolphins offense is not doing as good as it should be though and for that reason I'll pick the Patriots because I think they will go over 30 points again in this one. New England Patriots

Rick_

Still annoyed about the Packers throwing away that win on Monday, they should make up for it this Sunday though.

Purely out of principle now, I hope NYG trounce the Bears, and badly!

Peyton Manning

Sunday 3rd October

6.00pm

New York Jets @ Buffalo Bills
I think the Jets are better than the Bills. Therefore, I think they will win this game. New York Jets

Denver Broncos @ Tennessee Titans
I think the Titans are better than the Broncos. Therefore, I think they will win this game.Tennessee Titans

Cincinnati Bengals @ Cleveland Browns
I think the Bengals are better than the Browns. Therefore, I think they will win this game. Cincinnati Bengals

Carolina Panthers @ New Orleans Saints
I think the Saints are better than the Pathers. Therefore, I think they will win this game. New Orleans Saints

Detroit Lions @ Green Bay Packers
I think the Packers are better than the Lions. Therefore, I think they will win this game. Green Bay Packers

Seattle Seahawks @ St Louis Rams
I think the Seahawks are better than the Rams. however, I think the Rams will win because thats what I think will happen. St Louis Rams

San Francisco 49ers @ Atlanta Falcons
I think the Falcons are better than the 49ers. Therefore, I think they will win this game. Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens @ Pittsburgh Steelers
I think the Steelers are better than the Ravens. Therefore, I think they will win this game. Pittsburgh Steelers

9.05pm

Houston Texans @ Oakland Raiders
I think the Texans are better than the Raiders. Therefore, I think they will win this game. Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts @ Jacksonville Jaguars
I think the Colts are better than the Jaguars. Therefore, I think they will win this game.. Indianapolis Colts

9.15pm

Washington Redskins @ Philadelphia Eagles
I think the Eagles are better than the Redskins. However, I think the Redskins will win because thats what I think will happen. Washington Redskins

Arizona Cardinals @ San Diego Chargers
I think the Chargers are better than the Cardinals. Therefore, I think they will win this game. San Diego Chargers

Monday 04 October 2010 1.20am(Sunday Night Game)
Chicago Bears @ New York Giants
I think the Bears are better than the Giants. Therefore, I think they will win this game. Chicago Bears

Tuesday 05 October 2010 1.30am(Monday Night Game)

New England Patriots @ Miami Dolphins
I think the Patriots are better than the Dolphins. Therefore, I think they will win this game. New England Patriots

Syferus

Paddy C wrote: »

Still annoyed about the Packers throwing away that win on Monday, they should make up for it this Sunday though.

Purely out of principle now, I hope NYG trounce the Bears, and badly!

It's been said before, but almost all of those penalities were for reasons - be it the defensive player about to break through onto Rodgers with the ball still in hand, or running lanes shutting down. If Chicago wheren't playing good defense then there would have been way less fouls. The only thing the Packers really threw away was that time-out that potentially might have led to a game equalling field goal.

Oh, and :pac: @ Archimedes.

fisgon

Archimedes wrote: »

Seattle Seahawks @ St Louis Rams
I think the Seahawks are better than the Rams. however, I think the Rams will win because thats what I think will happen. St Louis Rams

Such depth of insight, such a closely reasoned argument, such a profound anaysis of the complexities of the week's games, I feel humbled by the breadth of the football knowledge displayed in this set of picks. This is the kind of expertise we have come to expect from the Boards AF forum.

In seriousness, this has to be the most straightforward week to pick yet. there are at most 4 games where substantial numbers of people are going to disagree. For the record I'm taking St Louis, Pittsburg, the Giants and Miami in said matchups.

Peyton Manning

fisgon wrote: »

Such depth of insight, such a closely reasoned argument, such a profound anaysis of the complexities of the week's games, I feel humbled by the breadth of the football knowledge displayed in this set of picks. This is the kind of expertise we have come to expect from the Boards AF forum.

Thanks, I do my best. It'll be a close game, but I calculated the scores and got the following:

Seattle Seahawks - Less than the Rams
St Louis Rams - More than the Seahawks

That formula seems to go hand in hand with my prediction that the Rams will win, so hopefully it works out.

Eire-Dearg

New York Jets @ Buffalo Bills
Denver Broncos @ Tennessee Titans
Cincinnati Bengals @ Cleveland Browns
Carolina Panthers @ New Orleans Saints
Detroit Lions @ Green Bay Packers
Seattle Seahawks @ St Louis Rams
San Francisco 49ers @ Atlanta Falcons
Baltimore Ravens @ Pittsburgh Steelers
Houston Texans @ Oakland Raiders
Indianapolis Colts @ Jacksonville Jaguars
Washington Redskins @ Philadelphia Eagles
Arizona Cardinals @ San Diego Chargers
Chicago Bears @ New York Giants
New England Patriots @ Miami Dolphins

cruiserweight

New York Jets @ Buffalo Bills
Denver Broncos @ Tennessee Titans
Cincinnati Bengals @ Cleveland Browns
Carolina Panthers @ New Orleans Saints
Detroit Lions @ Green Bay Packers
Seattle Seahawks @ St Louis Rams
San Francisco 49ers @ Atlanta Falcons
Baltimore Ravens @ Pittsburgh Steelers
Houston Texans @ Oakland Raiders
Indianapolis Colts @ Jacksonville Jaguars
Washington Redskins @ Philadelphia Eagles
Arizona Cardinals @ San Diego Chargers
Chicago Bears @ New York Giants
New England Patriots @ Miami Dolphins

mikemac

Some fantastic analysis there Archimedes, I think ESPN will snap you up :cool:

New York Jets @ Buffalo Bills
Denver Broncos @ Tennessee Titans
Cincinnati Bengals @ Cleveland Browns, I've very hesitant ,the Bengals are worse then their record suggests, Palmer is playing terribly and the Browns did well against the Ravens except for woeful coverage by CB Eric Wright, Boldin made him look a fool. But the Browns did well elsewhere.
Carolina Panthers @ New Orleans Saints Going to be closer then people think, the Panthers will beat the -13.5 spread.
Detroit Lions @ Green Bay Packers
Seattle Seahawks @ St Louis Rams If this was in Seattle I'd back the Hawks but it's not, so going with the Rams.
San Francisco 49ers @ Atlanta Falcons
Baltimore Ravens @ Pittsburgh Steelers
Houston Texans @ Oakland Raiders
Indianapolis Colts @ Jacksonville Jaguars
Washington Redskins @ Philadelphia Eagles
Arizona Cardinals @ San Diego Chargers
Chicago Bears @ New York Giants
New England Patriots @ Miami Dolphins

ari gold24

New York Jets @ Buffalo Bills
Denver Broncos @ Tennessee Titans
Cincinnati Bengals @ Cleveland Browns
Carolina Panthers @ New Orleans Saints
Detroit Lions @ Green Bay Packers
Seattle Seahawks @St Louis Rams
San Francisco 49ers @ Atlanta Falcons
Baltimore Ravens @ Pittsburgh Steelers
Houston Texans @ Oakland Raiders
Indianapolis Colts @ Jacksonville Jaguars
Washington Redskins @ Philadelphia Eagles
Arizona Cardinals @ San Diego Chargers
Chicago Bears @ New York Giants
New England Patriots @ Miami Dolphins

spiralism

New York Jets @ Buffalo Bills : Jets away to probably the NFL's worst team? No problem. Bills looked good last week but that was mainly down to the NE defence looking dire... Jets D wont make the same mistakes, or anything close to them. The Trevor Pryce pickup can only help their run D too, further weakening Buffalo's only real weapon

Denver Broncos @ Tennessee Titans : Basically this boils down to how well the Broncos can stop the run. If CJ is held to something reasonable, and Young to a lesser extent, an on-form Orton is more than capable of leading the Denver offence to enough points to win this one... I'm not exactly sure how well we will manage it though.. Young and the passing game can be kept in check due to the strength of our secondary, but not if CJ is let have his way with our D.. TEN have less question marks about them so I'll have to lean towards them here but I obviously hope I'm wrong

Cincinnati Bengals @ Cleveland Browns : Upset alert! Bengals have a winning record but 1 win was against a bad Carolina team and the other was against Baltimore where their D dropped 2 Palmer picks and Flacco had the worst game of his life... Cleveland have lost all their games, but they've all been close and i have a sneaking feeling they'll pull this one off, especially at home

Carolina Panthers @ New Orleans Saints : Carolina don't look great and this is a bounce back home game for the Saints.

Detroit Lions @ Green Bay Packers : Lions aren't good enough to win at Lambeau and GB will be pissed off and fired up after Monday

Seattle Seahawks @ St Louis Rams : St Louis are better this year, but thats not exactly hard... still a long way to go and there's a lot more about the Seahawks than the Rams, even though they don't travel well

San Francisco 49ers @ Atlanta Falcons : SF are in a mess, but this isn't an easy one to call... on one hand you have a Falcons team at home (Ryan has only 1 career defeat at home) playing very well... but on the other hand, this is an absolute MUST WIN for the 49ers and Singletary knows he's in the hot seat now, while the Falcons are coming off a huge win in New Orleans. Still though, Smith is a good enough coach to keep ATL focused and i just expect them to pull it out

Baltimore Ravens @ Pittsburgh Steelers : Even without Ben, i think there's a bit more to the Steelers at the moment, their defence is playing unreal and the offence is getting the job done... meanwhile Baltimore have looked a bit shaky of late, losing Pryce like that could well hurt their run D too.

Houston Texans @ Oakland Raiders: Andre Johnson will be erased from this contest by Asomugha but i expect Walter, Daniels and Foster to have big days and the Texans to prove their good start wasn't a fluke with a bounce back win....

Indianapolis Colts @ Jacksonville Jaguars: Jacksonville might actually bother in this one but no matter, another 300 yd, 3 TD performance (or thereabouts) from Manning will get the colts over the line handy enough

Washington Redskins @ Philadelphia Eagles : Two tough losses back to back and McNabb will want this really badly, which is what I see it boiling down to

Arizona Cardinals @ San Diego Chargers : Easiest pick of the week, chargers wont lose in straight weeks and will probably murder them, Arizona are muck

Chicago Bears @ New York Giants : Giants look all over the place... but therefore its a hard one to call because of the same desperation factor as the 49ers... meanwhile the Bears have looked very good but are coming off a short week and a huge win to face a desperate team... very easy to lose those sort of games, call it a hunch

New England Patriots @ Miami Dolphins : Pats dont look great on the defensive side of the ball and have split with Miami in recent years... i expect Miami to pull this one out at home

Peyton Manning

Anybody have a working Red Zone stream? Usual one is down

Frisbee

^^^^^^^

this

Peyton Manning

http://atdhe.net/25296/watch-red-zone-channel

Peyton Manning

49ers block a punt and recover it for a TD. 14-0 up.

cooker3

Packers gone 21-7 up. Rodgers is imperious in the redzone as ever.

landsleaving

Didn't have time for predictions this week Ah well.

I did have time to put on a 12 game accumulator, all going to plan so far :pac: I give it about 10 more minutes before it falls apart for me

Chardee MacDennis

Archimedes wrote: »

49ers block a punt and recover it for a TD. 14-0 up.

yay! go 9ers - are they leading for the first time this season?

cooker3

The Lions must have watched the tape of bears game and decided to try and top the number of penalties given away. 8 so far.

spiralism

watching the Denver game right now, its a highly annoying affair, with stupid mistakes really costing us... typical

Peyton Manning

Jordan Shipley is in trouble. He just took a huge hit to the head from TJ Ward. He's down and it doesn't look good. Palmer confronted Ward over it, very ugly scene.

cooker3

Ok, now I'm worried about this.
Wake up Packers ffs.

Peyton Manning

Packers turn the ball over again. Detroit could win this!

Mr. Guappa

Great finish in the Steelers-Ravens game. Typically tight game between these 2.

Edit: TD Ravens; Flacco - T.J.
Ravens by 3, 0:32 left

Eire-Dearg

What a TD Ravens.

davetherave

Touchdown Ravens.

17-14 to Baltimore with 32 seconds to go.

cruiserweight

Nice defence by the Ravens and then the quick 40 yard drive :cool:

Mr. Guappa

INT Ray Lewis, Game Ravens.. Lovely!!

mikemac

Great drive by the Ravens

Eire-Dearg

Ray Lewis, hero.

Dohnny Jepp

Ray Lewis shows why he is considered the greatest ever linebacker to play the game.