Bears at Dolphins: Miami’s home record of 1-3 is more than a little scary. Conversely, the Bears are 3-1 on the road. According to ESPN.com, the Dolphins third string starting quarterback, Tyler Thigpen, is expected to be playing on Thursday night. He did play well on Sunday, after Chad Pennington went down after two plays with a shoulder injury, and Chad Henne left in third quarter with a left knee injury. The Dolphins were 29-17 winners over the Titans. Thigpen went 4 for 6 for 64 yards, including a 9 yard touchdown pass to Anthony Fasano on an 85 yard drive. Chicago has won their two November games and are tied for the division lead with Green Bay. The Bears are second in scoring defense at 16.2 points, fourth in total defense at 311.6 yards, and first in turnover with 24.They are also second in rush defense at 82.3 yards.
Bears 27 Dolphins 20
Bills at Bengals: Buffalo has been playing competitive football over the last month, and were finally rewarded with their win over Detroit last week. The Bills however, are 0-4 on the road, while the NFL’s biggest disappointment this season, Cincinnati, is 1-3 at home and 2-7 overall. Ochocinco made some amazing catches against the Colts last week, and the Bengals almost made the comeback after getting down by 17-0 in the first quarter, largely because of turnovers. Its difficult to guess which Bengals team is going to show up, the one that started so poorly against Indianapolis, or the one that fought back from the second quarter on. At this stage, both teams are playing for their jobs next season.
Bengals 28 Bills 26
Lions at Cowboys: What a great match. Detroit is 0-5 away, and Dallas is 0-4 at home. You would be inclined to think, in light of the Cowboys shocking 33-20 win over the Giants in New York last weekend, that it’s almost like a new season for them, where the statistics under Wade Phillips are now of little significance, in terms of projecting what might happen the rest of the way, with Jason Garrett as the head coach. I would be shocked if they don’t put on a show for Jerry Jones and and the hometown fans, and come out with a victory.
Cowboys 33 Lions 23
Redskins at Titans:
After getting shell-shocked by Michael Vick’s Eagles, and with Tennessee coming off back to back losses to the Chargers, and Dolphins, after winning 3 in a row, I don’t see anything other than Donovan McNabb seeing stars, with the ongoing problems of protection from the offensive line. It’s going to take some kind of pep talk from Mike Shanahan, even though the players are professionals, for them to recover psychologically from that brutal 59-28 beating from Michael Vick and the Eagles, in Washington last week. McNabb got a boost from his new contract, but we didn’t see an upswing in his play in Monday’s debacle.
Titans 30 Redskins 27
Cardinals at Chiefs:
I’m strictly going on gut feel on this one. I just can’t imagine Kansas City being embarrassed at home, after getting crushed by the Broncos 49-29, at Denver on Sunday. The Chiefs are 4-0 at home.while the Cardinals are 1-4 on the road. Arizona also took a pounding last week, losing at home to Seattle 36-18.
Chiefs 29 Cardinals 26
Packers at Vikings: Considering that the Vikings have lost three of their last four games, and hosting Green Bay, there is certainly a chance that they could win the game, and Minnesota are probably looking for some payback for the 28-24 loss they suffered at Lambeau on October 24. The Packers may be a bit too good defensively for the Vikings, ranked 11th against the pass, although they are only 20th in opposition rush yards, so they have to tighten up against Adrian Peterson, who already has 908 rushing yards, and 7 touchdowns. I would guess some of that low ranking came about with all the injury woes the Packers have been contending with this season. They are ranked 10th in passing yards, when they have the ball. Green Bay has won 3 straight games, including that amazing 9-0 road win over the Jets
Packers 30 Vikings 27
Texans at Jets: There’s no way I’m putting any statistics here. Houston’s defense is lousy. The Jets just have to keep an eye on Arian Foster, with 920 rushing yards, and 10 touchdowns. With that in mind, New York have not allowed a 100 yard rusher in 16 games. Ok, I lied about giving statistics. The Texans rank last in the league on defense, allowing 409 yards per game.
Jets 34 Texans 19
Raiders at Steelers: Pittsburgh was embarrassed to lose at Heinz Field to New England, by 39-26. They will try to take out their frustrations on the much improved Oakland Raiders, and that wont be easy. Having also recently lost to the Saints by 20-10 on October 31, the Steelers should be as fired up as they’ve been in quite some time. The Raiders are coming off 3 straight wins, against Denver, Seattle, and Kansas City. This is obviously quite an upgrade in the quality of the opponent. The resurgent Raiders are 2nd against opposition passing yards, and are also 2nd in rushing yards when they have the ball. In contrast, the Steelers are 1st against opponents rushing yards, and are 22nd against opposition passing.
Steelers 26 Raiders 24
Ravens at Panthers; Miracles do happen, like at Lake Placid in the 1980 Winter Games, with the U.S. men beating the Russians in hockey.There will be no miracles on turf here.
Baltimore 37 Carolina 17
Browns at Jaguars: Cleveland has staged an amazing turnaround. After losing 5 of their first 6 games, the Browns have defeated the Saints, Patriots, and lost to the Jets in overtime. The Jaguars have two wins in succession, against Dallas and Houston. Cleveland will be a much tougher opponent than those two were at that time. Cleveland is 1-3 away, and Jacksonville is 3-2 at home, but I like the recent trend for the Browns, and give them that edge because of the teams they have recently played against.
Browns 26 Jaguars 25
Falcons at Rams: St. Louis is certainly heading in the right direction, with rookie quarterback Chad Bradford’s solid 1925 yards and 12 touchdowns. The Rams are 24th in passing yards and 18th in rushing yards, which means they might have a tough time with the Falcons defense, who looked a little vulnerable against the Ravens late in their game last week, and were saved by some late heroics by Matt Ryan, in a 26-21 thriller, but the Rams aren’t the Ravens. They might make the game interesting, buy the Falcons would have to be snoozing to lose this one.
Falcons 33 Rams 22
Seattle at New Orleans: The Saints have won 3 of their last 4, and were having a tough time with injuries earlier in the season, especially in losing both running backs, but Reggie Bush is back at practice,and according to ESPN, he plans on playing in this game. Pierre Thomas has not yet returned, and has missed six games. New Orleans is 1st against opposition passing, and is 5th in passing on offense. This will be way too much for the Seahawks, who are better on the road than what was expected,with wins at Chicago, and Arizona, but were easily shredded by the Giants 41-7, and by the Raiders 33-3 at home.
Saints 34 Seahawks 26
Buccaneers at 49ers: Tampa Bay are a tough opponent for almost anyone now. The 49ers had a terrible start to the season and are trying to play catch-up. The Bucs have won 3 of their last 4, and gave the Falcons all they could handle in a 27-21 loss. San Francisco has won 3 of their previous 4,and this one will probably go right down to the final play of the game.
Buccaneers 32 49ers 29
Colts at Patriots: I’m a Colts fan, and as much as I would love to see them win. they are just way too crippled with injuries to significant players, like Bob Sanders, Melvin Bullitt,Dallas Clark, Austin Collie, Anthony Gonzalez, Joseph Addai, and Mike Hart. Even with warp speed defensive ends Dwight Freeney, and Robert Mathis,and –never say die- Peyton Manning, Tom Brady will find the vulnerable areas of the Colts defense, which has often been against the run. Indianapolis is a character team with a lot of heart, but this match is too much for them when they have such a limited roster. Brady versus Manning is still a great showdown in any circumstance.
Patriots 35 Colts 27.
Giants at Eagles: Michael Vick is probably giving Tom Coughlin nightmares already. His passing and running are almost letter perfect and very difficult to shut down, as the Redskins saw on Monday night, with his 20 of 28 passing for four touchdowns totaling 333 yards, and running for 80 yards and two touchdowns, in record setting fashion. The Virginia Tech alumnus will find the Giants are a lot less hospitable than the very soft Redskins were on Monday, in the 59-28 blowout. New York is 4th against opposition passing yards,and 3rd versus opposing rushing. They were awful, however, against the Cowboys, in the 33-20 loss last Sunday. Prior to that game, the Giants had won 5 in a row.
Eagles 30 Giants 29.
Broncos at Chargers: Going into last Sunday, the Broncos had lost 5 of their previous 6 games, and then pummeled the Chiefs on the road, 49-29. Considering that Denver has only 3 wins on the year, it can hardly be considered anything more than an example of the old football expression: “On any given Sunday…..”. The Chargers have won back to back games over the Titans and the Texans, after having lost 3 in a row. The Broncos wont enjoy going up against San Diego’s defense, which is 3rd against the pass, and 4th in defending the run. On offense, Phillip Rivers has the Chargers leading the league in passing offense, and they are a more modest 16th in rushing yards. Rivers is quite pleased that receivers Legedu Naanee, and Malcom Floyd are expected to return to action, after being sidelined with hamstring injuries. Antonio Gates is still uncertain about his return from plantar fascia in his right foot. The Broncos are 30th against the run, 19th against the pass, 32nd in rushing, and one positive, 2nd in passing yards. San Diego should win this game by a comfortable margin.
Chargers 38 Broncos 20.