After a lackluster Week 2 (8-8), I was 13-3 last week, bringing my season hit rate to 72%. Here’s what I see in store for NFL Week 4.
The bye weeks begin now with undefeated San Francisco and the woeful Jets getting the week off.
NOTE: All games will be played on Sunday afternoon unless otherwise noted.
Green Bay 30, Philadelphia 20 (Thursday night): A home loss, a short week, and a banged-up roster are all working against the Eagles right now. Oops, I almost forgot! They also have to go on the road to one of the toughest places to play in the league, Lambeau Field. Sooner or later, the Eagles will look like the contenders they are supposed to be, but not this week.
Baltimore 27, Cleveland 10: Can the Ravens beat the NFL’s elite teams? Last week said no. But the question doesn’t apply this week. The Ravens are playing another also-ran. At 1-2, Cleveland is staring at a possible 1-6 start.
New York Giants 26, Washington 12: The Giants won’t have Saquon Barkley for this one (high ankle sprain), but they do have a new quarterback in first-round pick Daniel Jones. They’ll also have a healthy Sterling Shepherd. With a boatload of confidence, NY will face the woeful Redskins.
Kansas City 33, Detroit 13: Yes, the Lions played tough second-half defense to sprung a surprise on the Los Angeles Chargers. But these are the Chiefs. Offense. Offense. Offense. Detroit will head into its bye without stretching its current win streak to three.
Atlanta 34, Tennessee 17: If this was a Week 1 game, I’d take the Titans in a heartbeat. But Tennessee’s offensive line and quarterback play haven’t been good since the team’s opening-week, blowout win at Cleveland.
New England 31, Buffalo 20: The Bills rode the strength of their defense to go 3-0 against mediocre and bad teams. Playing New England should bring this team back to earth–even though the game will be played in Western New York in front of rabid Bills’ fans.
Houston 30, Carolina 17: Houston got a nice comeback win on the road against the Chargers last week. The Panthers had to rally at Arizona behind new quarterback, Kyle Allen. The Texans are at home and they look to be a more viable contender, I’ll side with Houston.
Indianapolis 24, Oakland 16: The Colts have played much better than expected in the wake of Andrew Luck’s retirement. Now they play a second straight home game against a hapless Raider team that will play its second straight road game in the Midwest.
Los Angeles Chargers 27, Miami 6: If anybody needs a week off right now, it’s the Dolphins. Before then, they’re at home against the underachieving Chargers. It’s time for LAC to win a game.
Jacksonville 23, Denver 13: Back in 1996, these two teams met in a second-round playoff game. Denver was expected to win handily, but the Jags (then in their second year as a franchise) upset the Broncos at old Mile High Stadium. This time around, the quarterback matchup (Flacco vs. Minshew) would seem to preordain the result. But Minshew is playing like he has nothing to lose. Meanwhile, the Broncos look to do more losing than winning this year. Advantage J-ville.
Chicago 24, Minnesota 20: If this game were being played in Minnesota, I’d take the Vikings without much thought. But the Bears–if they can ever shake off slow offensive starts–could have defensive answers for Dalvin Cook, Stefon Diggs, and Kirk Cousins. I say they will this week.
Seattle 34, Arizona 17: The Seahawks are usually tough at home. Put them on the road against a highly-inferior opponent, and the result is likely the same.
Los Angeles Rams 40, Tampa Bay 16: In 1979, these two teams met in an NFC Championship Game in Tampa. The Rams won, 9-0. This time, they play a highly-inferior Buccaneer squad that can’t seem to get out of its own way.
Dallas 27, New Orleans 23 (Sunday night): Despite all the Saints’ success in recent years, two things seem to have gotten by a lot of fans. First, Dallas has won its division in two of the past three years. Second, the Cowboys beat the Saints last year when Drew Brees was healthy. Brees is out these days and the Dallas defense still looks sharp. The Saints won’t get by this week on defense and special-teams play.
Pittsburgh 20, Cincinnati 15 (Monday night): In last week’s loss to San Fran, Pittsburgh showed they can get turnovers and good play at QB out of Mason Rudolph. They’ll likely get both again this week against the luckless Bengals.
