Get It White: Week 7 NFL Predictions
Week 7, and it’s hard to believe that we are almost halfway through the regular season already: football comes and goes far too quickly for my liking! There are still the constant weekly surprises (what happened in Houston is baffling), but some things never change: Tom Brady orchestrating game-winning drives, Green Bay winning at Lambeau, Carson Palmer throwing picks, Rookie QB’s being pummelled by Pittsburgh and Ndamukong Suh getting fined.
All this and more happened in week 6, and week 7 is sure to have more of the same: Here’s the run-down.
BYE WEEK: Saints, Raiders
Sunday 6:00pm
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20-27 Atlanta Falcons
Losing Julio Jones for the season is an absolutely colossal blow for Atlanta, especially with Roddy White only playing at 70%. Matt Ryan and the offense need to come up with an alternative plan and fast: something the possible return of Steven Jackson from injury could help with immensely. The Bucs dropped another game at home to the Eagles last week, in a game that I thought they had a huge chance in. It seems not covering DeSean Jackson with Darrelle Revis 100% of the time was a large mistake. I think the Bucs might use Revis on Tony Gonzalez a lot this weekend, and with White hobbled, options look thin on the ground for the Falcons, but Matt Ryan has been playing out of his skin and looks like he can find anyone right now. Mike Glennon is showing promise for Tampa, but this looks a step too far.
Chicago Bears 30-20 Washington Redskins
Chicago bounced back to form when beating the Giants last week, and even though it was a close game, there were signs that the confidence was returning to the offense and QB Jay Cutler after a couple of rough outings. The Redskins have very quietly slipped to 1-4 and the reigning NFC East champs will be worried at how they didn’t even stretch the Cowboys after giving up 222 return yards on special teams: Dallas needed 213 yards of offense to score 31 points. That’s more than a little concerning. While the Bears’ defense has been hit by injuries, it is a unit that will always cause turnovers, and it will do the same for Robert Griffin III, even though the Redskins offense is beginning to find some rhythm now.
Dallas Cowboys 37-34 Philadelphia Eagles
Nick Foles in: Eagles still rack up offense. No worries on that count then, and with the loss of DeMarcus Ware for a month and Jay Ratliff possibly for the season, the Eagles will be confident of scoring a few TD’s on Dallas too. But the problem is that the Eagles’ defense is just not a good unit, and if Romo is even at 80% of his best, he could throw for 350 yards and 3 TD’s (and an INT of course). This has all the hallmarks of a classic NFC East shootout. Here’s a prediction for you: both QB’s throw for 300+ yards and 3 TD’s in a 70+ point game. But Dallas pull it out on the road.
New England Patriots 23-16 New York Jets
What a win for Tom Brady and the Pats in Boston last week, the last minute drive to win the game was a thing of beauty, and with their hugely improved defense holding Jimmy Graham to ZERO catches, yes NONE, they will be confident of extending Geno Smith’s struggles with turnovers. But this Jets defense is a serious unit, and Brady will have his work cut out again to drag his young offense through if his line doesn’t protect him better. The test here will be against the run: the Jets will pound it, eat up the clock and try to take advantage of Vince Wilfork’s absence, but if rookies Joe Vellano and Chris Jones step up once more, the Pats are in a strong position to win. I can see this being another strangely low scoring matchup for New England, but one they can emerge victorious from. [GRONK WATCH: He might play, but then he might not. It’s a soap opera now.]
Buffalo Bills 20-24 Miami Dolphins
Kudos to Thad Lewis, he played pretty well in the Bills’ OT loss to the Bengals last week, but that also speaks volumes for the developing supporting cast in Buffalo who are really fighting. The Phins, coming off a bye week, will be hoping that they can pressure the QB into mistakes with their front seven, while RB Lamar Miller must help to keep the offense balanced for the home side. Ryan Tannehill will also be keen to strike up a better rapport with big-money WR Mike Wallace, who has had an up-and-down year so far. Although Buffalo are improving, I can’t pick against Miami at home here, but it could be quite a close one.
San Diego Chargers 30-17 Jacksonville Jaguars
What a defensive effort by the Chargers on Monday night to keep Andrew Luck and the Colts to just 9 points! I certainly didn’t see that type of tight, defensive game coming. If San Diego do the same again, they should more than have the match of the Jaguars, who are unsurprisingly 0-6, even though they really gave things a good go in their loss to Denver last Sunday. 35-19 is a scoreline not many people would have expected, and it was only later on in the game that Peyton Manning and the Broncos pulled away. Chad Henne is obviously a better QB than Blaine Gabbert, and if they give him another chance, they’re insane. But even Chad Henne makes mistakes, and the Chargers will use those to their advantage. The connection between Philip Rivers and Keenan Allen is exciting for Chargers fans, and the WR could have another 100 yard game here.
St Louis Rams 16-34 Carolina Panthers
The Panthers really impressed me last week, bouncing back to destroy the Vikings with some stingy defense and explosive offensive play. But the Rams were probably the story of the week though, with their beatdown of the Texans, turnovers and special teams came up big time. People are taking this as a good sign for the promising yet disappointing St Louis defense, but just look at Arian Foster’s stat line: 141 rushing yards, 57 receiving yards. Cam Newton and DeAngelo Williams will run all over this defense, and when they do, they will set up play action passes for Steve Smith, Brandon LaFell and Greg Olsen. No matter what happened last week, the Rams still have a lot of creases to iron out of their team.
Cincinnati Bengals 27-30 Detroit Lions
This could be the game of the weekend: two teams looking to make good of the promise their rosters contain, and two teams that have got off to decent starts. Both stand at 4-2, so this one should be a good matchup. Expect a lot of attempted ‘Dalton to Green’ and ‘Stafford to Johnson’ as arguably the league’s two best receivers take to the field in Detroit, and I’m sure the teams will use their star players a whole bunch, putting on a show. The Bengals scraped past the Bills last week while the Lions impressed in a win over the stout Browns, scoring 31 points on a tough D. I’ve been singing the praises of Cincinnati all year long, but this is a game that the Lions could win with their destructive D-line: if you unsettle Andy Dalton, he will throw bad balls, and I have a feeling that those mistakes could cost them here.
Sunday 9:05pm
San Francisco 49’ers 23-13 Tennessee Titans
Tough football is going to be on show in Tennessee on Sunday night, and these are two of the best at it. The Titans defense is playing at a high level right now, and Bernard Pollard is proving to be a huge addition to the roster and locker room. Even Ryan Fitzpatrick looks decent in this solid-all-over squad. But this is an acid test for how tough they really are because the Niners are beginning to rediscover the form of last year, with a simple formula: run the ball and play good defense. It not only allows you to intimidate teams, run clock and open up the passing game, but it helps to negate the hostility that you get on the road. While this game will be close for a long time, San Francisco are one of the best at grinding out hard-fought wins.
Sunday 9:25pm
Houston Texans 13-19 Kansas City Chiefs
I feel for you if you are a Houston Texans fan right now (unless you cheer injuries). This was supposed to be the year that it all fell into place for Houston, but instead it’s a jigsaw, the pieces are all over the place. Matt Schaub has had an awful stretch recently, and it’s so bad that the Texans are considering Case Keenum to start if Schaub is too banged up to go. Arian Foster is still running hard though, and JJ Watt is still on this football team, so I can’t see it being as bad as last week’s debacle. The Chiefs have the most ridiculous scoring defense this year, a real big time unit, and it allows the offense to manage clock, and play a conservative game – something Alex Smith loves, and something Jamaal Charles is loving even more. At Arrowhead, it’s a tough spot for any QB, especially under-fire or inexperienced ones, and a mistake could make all the difference in a tight, defensive battle.
Baltimore Ravens 23-17 Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh are finally off and running this season with a win in New York over the Jets, and the experience of Big Ben and the Steelers’ D told on the road. But this week, although they are at home, they meet a Ravens team who just pushed Green Bay all the way at Lambeau Field, and Baltimore are beginning to gel into a roster that looks capable of challenging for the division. The Pittsburgh offensive line will be seriously tested by Terrell Suggs, Courtney Upshaw and Elvis Dumervil, while Matt Elam and Arthur Brown are looking excellent picks from this year’s draft. If the Ravens can get any offense going here, with Torrey Smith flying right now, they should have enough to win, but even though I’m picking the reigning champs, it comes with a disclaimer. This is Flacco on the road: he could crumble at any second.
Cleveland Browns 16-27 Green Bay Packers
The Browns have impressed everyone with the way they have started this season, strong on defense and capable of big plays on offense through Josh Gordon and Jordan Cameron, but this week’s trip to Wisconsin is not one where I expect them to get anything, even though the Pack are banged up in the most horrible way. Randall Cobb is the latest addition to the injury list with a fractured leg, and the Packers will miss his ability to run in space, but with the emergence of Eddie Lacy, they are able to run the ball effectively. That makes Aaron Rodgers ten times more dangerous than he was already. The Green Bay defense is also looking better this year, and even without Clay Matthews, will cause Brandon Weeden difficulties, so expect a similar outcome for Cleveland as last week’s loss to Detroit.
Monday 1:30am
Denver Broncos 34-24 Indianapolis Colts
Peyton Manning’s return to Indianapolis will undoubtedly be one of the most emotional moments of his career, and the Colts will be hoping his focus slips for long enough for them to pull off an upset at home. Indy’s poor showing in San Diego was very disappointing from a team who looked a lot further along in their development than many expected, and their struggles on the ground made it difficult for Andrew Luck to showcase his talents. I have a feeling that Luck will go head to head with Manning this Sunday night in an air-it-out extravaganza, probably not quite along the Dallas line, but definitely with a view to putting Peyton under pressure to mount a comeback, because he often has thrown picks under that pressure: see Dallas game. He got away with it that night, and if Indy can’t get their ground game going, he may well get away with it again as Von Miller is back to harass the Indy offensive line.
Tuesday 1:40am
Minnesota Vikings 27-34 New York Giants
Minnesota put a really horrible performance on against the Panthers at home last week, and the 35-10 scoreline was fully justified. It must have been impossible for Adrian Peterson to be his usual dominating self after everything that has happened over the past week, and he will be looking to bounce back in a big way against one of the worst defenses in the league. But the Vikes have a pretty shoddy D themselves, and Eli Manning will be straining at the leash to put up 350 and 3TD’s on this team, especially after calling himself out for his bad play recently. This could be another shootout on Monday Night Football, and I’ll take the team with the most weapons and home advantage. 1-6 never looked so good to Giants fans, but after their improved showing against Chicago and a long week to prepare for this, they could finally get that win.