WEEK 5 PREDICTIONS

DOWN GO THE CARDINALS
   
     I stated in my power rankings that the Arizona Cardinals would almost certainly take a fall due to the return of the regular referees.  That prediction proved accurate, but I should not have had them ranked as high as I did.  I simply had a hard time not giving them credit for a 4-0 record even if there was good reason to believe that their undefeated streak would soon come to an end.  Thursday night's game showed just how upside down the league was during the 3 weeks that the replacement officials called the games.  For three weeks we watched fast, up-tempo offenses get stifled by poor calls, non-calls, and incredible officiating delays due to lack of familiarity with NFL rules and speed.  Perhaps the Cardinals benefitted from playing 3 of their first 4 games at home during a period when home teams were winning at an unprecidented rate in the first 3 weeks of the season.  It is more likely, however, that the Cardinals' defense depended largely on the advantage that defensive backs enjoyed under the replacement refs as they were able to go into Foxborough and upset a Patriots team that seldom loses games on their home turf.  Because of this, I will be more confident in my predictions for week 5 as I made last week's predictions shortly BEFORE learning that the real referees would return immediately.  Here's how I predict that this weekend will go down:

DOLPHINS AT BENGALS- The Bengals will win this game, but don't be surprised if the Dolphins put up a fight.  The Dolphins have fought hard right down to the wire even in games that they've lost such as their overtime loss against the Cardinals last week and their overtime loss to the Jets the week before.  The Dolphins could even upset the Bengals, but they'll have to force 2-3 turnovers to do so.  MY PREDICTION: BENGALS 27-21.

PACKERS AT COLTS- This is a week where we see the Packers truly return to their form of the last regular season.  I've been impressed with Andrew Luck thus far, but the mediocre defense of the Colts simply won't be able to slow down Aaron Rodgers and his receiving corps.  MY PREDICTION: PACKERS 31-17.

RAVENS AT CHIEFS- This game made me a bit worried at first as it is only the second road trip for the Ravens this season, and the first trip ended in a loss where the Ravens appeared unable to run the no-huddle and sugar-huddle offense that made them so successful against the Bengals the week before.  I then remembered that a large part of their inability to go up-tempo was the fact that the replacement officials were allowing the Eagles defensive backs to get away with holding the Ravens' wide receivers far downfield without flags.  The receivers couldn't get separation, and thus, Flacco tried to force the ball to Dennis Pitta unsuccessfully.  This kind of thing won't happen under the watch of the real refs.  Crowd noise will be a factor, but Chiefs simply won't be able to keep up with the Ravens offense.  Matt Cassel is also playing rather poorly and expect the Ravens to capitalize.  MY PREDICTION: RAVENS 26-14

FALCONS AT REDSKINS- I'll give credit to RG3 for doing extremely well in his rookie season.  He already looks better than a number of other starting quarterbacks in the league.  With that said, he does not look better than Matt Ryan.  The Falcons offense is a chain-moving machine.  Julio Jones, Roddy White, and Tony Gonzalez can and will give problems to even the best of defenses this season.  Expect the Falcons to get an early lead and attempt to sit on it.  I believe RG3 and company will make this a ballgame in the second half, but Matt Ryan and company will string together a number of first downs late in the game to put the game away.  The Falcons don't usually play as well on the road and outdoors, but this is a year where that becomes less of a limiting factor.  MY PREDICTION: FALCONS 31-24.

BROWNS AT GIANTS- This could very well be a trap game for the Giants.  The Browns, despite their 0-4 record, have been in every single game they've played.  Unlike the Bengals, the Browns took it to the Ravens in Baltimore, and the Giants don't enjoy the same homefield advantage as the Ravens.  With that said, the Browns have limited options in the passing game with Mohamed Massaquoi injured, and the Giants have a far better pass rush than the Ravens.  The browns also don't have the same cailber defensive backs as the Eagles, and Eli Manning could be looking at a huge day in the passing game since the Browns will most likely stuff the run.  MY PREDICTION: GIANTS 24-16.

EAGLES AT STEELERS- Seldom will you see me rooting for the Eagles, but NEVER will you see me root for the Steelers.  This will be a big week for the Steelers as we will see how they perform with the return of Troy Polamalu and James Harrison.  I'm no longer impressed with Polamalu, but his presence still seems to command a certain amount of respect and caution from opposing quarterbacks.  James Harrison, when healthy, was a ferocious player last season.  Harrison is, however, rather old for a linebacker at 34, and seems to have injury issues in the last few years.  Both Troy and James should nevertheless provide and a boost to the Steelers defense, and the Eagles luck in close games is sure to run out.  God, I hope I'm wrong about this. MY PREDICTION: STEELERS 21-17.

SEAHAWKS AT PANTHERS- After a disappointing loss to the Falcons last week, the Panthers are ready to beat a Seattle team whose defense relies too heavily upon home crowd noise to be effective.  This will be Cam Newtons breakout game of this year.  MY PREDICTION: PANTHERS 28-13.

BEARS AT JAGUARS- The Bears are an unpredictable team as their success depends largely on the play of an inconsistent Jay Cutler.  When the Bears get going, though, they're a tough team to stop, and the Jaguars are not the team to stop them.  The Bears will win the turnover battle and this game won't even be close in the end.  MY PREDICTION: BEARS 28-7.

TITANS AT VIKINGS- The Titans rank 27th in pass defense and 27th in run defense.  Thanks to Chris Johnson's career nosedive following last year's holdout, they also rank 28th in rushing offense.  To make matters worse, the Titans are still in the bottom half of the league in passing offense with an 18th ranking.  The Titans only showed a glimmer of hope in week 3 by winning a shootout to a struggling Lions team.  The Vikings beat the Lions convincingly along with the 49ers.  The Vikings can run the ball and stuff the run with a 10th ranked rushing offense and a 7th ranked run defense.  If the Vikings can stop the 49ers at home, they can stop the Titans at home.  MY PREDICTION: VIKINGS 24-13.

BRONCOS AT PATRIOTS- I will, without a doubt, be rooting for the Broncos here.  I like Peyton Manning despite the fact that my Ravens beat him only once (his rookie season) during his time in the league.  I wanna believe that the old guy can return to at least 90% of his old form, and use his incredible experience and football I.Q. to outsmart some tough opponents.  That, unfortunately, will not happen this week as the Patriots are back and ready to use a rather potent ground attack to open things up for an already potent passing attack.  Expect the Broncos to fall behind early but make a heroic comeback late in the game.  This comeback, like most others that Peyton Manning has attempted this year, will come up short as the Patriots now have the ability to run the ball and run out the clock to kill Peyton's opportunities.  This is a game where I'll be thrilled if I'm wrong.  MY PREDICTION: PATRIOTS 27-21.

BILLS AT 49ERS- Good luck, Bills--you'll need it. MY PREDICTION: 49ERS 30-10.

CHARGERS AT SAINTS- This is the game that the Saints will finally win.  They looked good last week and came up just short against the Packers at Lambeau.  This time, they're back on their home turf with real referees facing a formidale (but beatable) foe in the Chargers.  This will be a high scoring game.  MY PREDICTION: SAINTS 38-33.

TEXANS AT JETS- No Revis? Check.  No Santonio Holmes? Check.  Playing the Texans? Check.  This will be a depressing day for Gang Green and their fanbase, but I don't think any of them will be surprised at the outcome.  MY PREDICTION: TEXANS 31-10.

    I went 12-3 in my predictions last week and I hope that I can improve upon that accuracy this weekend.  I neglected to make a prediction for the Thursday night game, and for that I apologize.  This weekend will feature some pretty big matchups with the Patriots-Broncos and Steelers-Eagles.  The Ravens will face a big test to see if they can beat a mediocre team on the road in a noisy venue.  This proved a problem for them last year, but last year was a starkly different year for the boys in purple.  As always, GO RAVENS!