WEEK 3 NFL PREDICTIONS

     NOTE: I began writing these earlier in the week before Thursday night before the Chiefs Eagles game had taken place. I apologize to my readers for the delay on publishing this week's predictions.  Won't happen again, folks.

     Week 3 doesn't have as many major rival matchups as Week 2, but as I said in my last post, Week 3 will reveal much about typically middle of the pack teams that have gotten off to a hot start such as Miami, and Kansas City.  Are these teams as good as their record suggests, or have they simply not faced tough enough competition yet?  We will know soon enough as the Chiefs travel to Philly to face an Eagles team with an explosive offense, and the Dolphins host a Falcons team with an extremely high powered offense of its own.  This week will also reveal much about teams that were competitive in the not too distant future but are currently floundering such as the Redskins, Steelers, Giants, Vikings, and even the Buccaneers.  Week 3 will also reveal if teams such as Houston, New England, Baltimore, Cincinnati, and Chicago are still actually playoff caliber teams as most of their wins have been unconvincingly close even against mediocre competition.
      The theme of this season through the first two weeks is that exactly one team has looked dominant in the NFL: THE DENVER BRONCOS.  The Broncos, however, just lost their starting left tackle for the season, so we'll see if that brings them back down to earth.  Other than the Broncos, no one has looked totally dominant through two weeks.  I would have said the 49ers after Week 1, but they were just obliterated by the Seahawks.  I would have said the Seahawks look dominant after watching their Week 2 game, but let's not forget that they looked pedestrian against a horrible team in Week 1 on the road.  Maybe all of this simply means the NFL will be quite a bit less predictable and quite a bit MORE exciting this season.  Let's take a look at the Week 3 picks!

WEEK 3 NFL PREDICTIONS

 CHIEFS AT EAGLES- Homecoming for Andy Reid should be filled with booing because that's simply what Eagles fans do whether they're happy or sad.  Sometimes I think it's some sort of substitute for applause and cheering specific to that city.  This game features an impressive Chiefs defense against an impressive Eagles offense.  I don't believe the Chiefs have the aerial firepower it takes to take advantage of a poor Eagles secondary.  The Chiefs were able to edge the Cowboys in Kansas City, but they'll be significantly worse on the east coast.  This should still be at least somewhat close. EAGLES 30-24.

PACKERS AT BENGALS-  The Bengals defense is decent, but their offense simply won't be able to keep up with that of the Packers.  I would like to see this game become a shootout, but Andy Dalton simply hasn't shown that he's accurate enough yet to make this competitive.  PACKERS 28-20.

RAMS AT COWBOYS-  The Rams already beat the Cardinals on the road and played tough in their loss in Atlanta.  My first instinct was to give this win to the Cowboys, but sometime tells me that the Rams are going to take full advantage of a relatively weak Cowboys pass defense and squeak by here.  RAMS 27-24.

CHARGERS AT TITANS- This is a showdown between two teams of which I've yet to decide a solid opinion.  The Chargers' road win over the Eagles impressed me, but their collapse against the Texans in San Diego leaves me a bit uneasy about them.  Here's the problem: the Titans also lost an incredibly close game to the Texans and won a solid road game against the Steelers in Week 1.  The Titans have a better defense than the Chargers and will enjoy homefield advantage, so I'm going to have to give them an edge here, but this game could easily go either way.  TITANS 33-28.

BROWNS AT VIKINGS- No Brandon Weeden and no Trent Richardson.  VIKINGS 37-13.

BUCCANEERS AT PATRIOTS- There's a chance that Gronkowski suits up, but it's not a great chance.  Regardless, the Patriots won't lose this game.  PATRIOTS 17-14.

CARDINALS AT SAINTS-  The Saints should finally come alive in this one with a relatively soft Cardinals pass defense and that patented Saints homefield advantage.  SAINTS 35-21.

 LIONS AT REDSKINS- This is going to be a tough game for the Redskins, but ironically, it'll also be one of the most winnable games on an impossibly difficult schedule for them.  Sadly for Skins fans, this is a poor matchup as it features a high powered Lions passing attack against the Redskins' worst pass defense in the NFL.  I think this is a game the Redskins CAN win, but I simply don't see it happening.  I'll be rooting for them though. LIONS 34-28.

GIANTS AT PANTHERS- The Panthers don't have a strong enough pass defense to slow down the Giants.  The Panthers also don't have a potent enough passing attack to take advantage of a less-than-stellar Giants pass defense.  This will be close, but I gotta go with the G-Men on this one.  GIANTS 24-17.

TEXANS AT RAVENS-  It saddens me to say that this is the first time since I've been writing this blog that I actually don't think the Ravens will win.  I've never assumed the Ravens would go 16-0 in the regular season, but in the vast majority of weeks in the last 5 seasons I've always felt the Ravens were a strong team going into each game and always had a great shot at winning, especially at home.  The Ravens, however, are facing a team with a top 10 offense and the 3rd ranked pass defense in the league.  I don't believe the Ravens will have much success running the football without Ray Rice (no offense to Pierce, but he and Ray compliment each other and I don't think Pierce is going to gash the Texans on the ground).  The Texans' run defense is mediocre, but it doesn't NEED to be great tomorrow.  Jonathan Joseph will likely shut down Torrey Smith and the Ravens have no real tight ends on whom Joe Flacco can depend when receivers are struggling.  There is light at the end of the tunnel.  The Texans' starting left tackle is ruled out and that means a rather ferocious Ravens pass rush may find itself hitting Schaub early and often.  I think the defense will perform admirably, but if the offense can't sustain drives then the defense will ultimately grow tired.  Let's hope they prove me totally wrong. TEXANS 30-21.

FALCONS AT DOLPHINS- I'll be rooting hard for the Fins in this one.  The Falcons may have issues winning this game without Stephen Jackson.  The Falcons receiving corps is a bit banged up as well with Roddy White and Julio Jones both listed as questionable for Sunday.  I expect both receivers to play, but there's no way they're playing at 100%.  The Falcons also have pass defense near the bottom of the league as they've allowed an average of 346 yards per game through the air thus far.  I don't usually predict the Falcons to lose, but the Dolphins have looked good on the road against mediocre teams, I think they'll look great at home against a great team that is suffering through key injuries.  This will be a close one though. DOLPHINS 21-20.

 BILLS AT JETS- I've been quite impressed with both of these thus far, but Geno Smith's turnovers have me hesitant to pick the Jets in this contest.  BILLS 17-13.

COLTS AT 49ERS- Kudos to the Colts for acquiring Trent Richardson.  They, however, are about to get held down and beaten by a 49ers team furious at their public humiliation in Seattle last week.  The 49ers are a force at home and the Colts won't be able to stop the 49ers' offense. 49ERS 38-21.

JAGUARS AT SEAHAWKS- *Sigh* I hope they don't expect anyone to watch this one.  I...yeah this game just isn't worth explaining.  SEAHAWKS 49-9.

BEARS AT STEELERS-  Steelers can't protect Big Ben and the Bears are a strong team this year.  I only wish Urlacher was still healthy and playing in this one.  BEARS 19-10.

RAIDERS AT BRONCOS-  The Broncos have now lost two of their starting linemen for the season and there will be weeks where that will prove a major issue...not this week though.  BRONCOS 42-14.

     The timing of my completion of this list of predictions was quite poor.  I can only hope that some people go online on Sunday morning and get a chance to read this before the games begin at 1:00.  I sincerely hope the Ravens show they can step up and beat a quality team at home tomorrow or else this season is going to feel impossibly long.  Let's hope the Ravens receivers can hold on to the ball.

AS ALWAYS
GO RAVENS!!!