Week 7 features some great divisional rivalries, especially in the AFC. The Dolphins travel to Buffalo to face the Bills, the Cowboys travel to Philly to play the Eagles, and the Buccaneers travel to Atlanta to face the Falcons, but two much bigger rivalries will undoubtedly garner far more attention. The Patriots and Jets have surprised fans with a strong amount of success despite major losses in personnel. The Patriots lost Wes Welker, Aaron Hernandez, and now Vince Wilfork, but they also haven't yet seen the return of Rob Gronkowski. Lo and behold, the Patriots are 5-1 and stand atop to AFC East. The Jets lost their best defensive weapon, Darrell Revis, and their starting quarterback of the last 5 years, but somehow have found a way to stay in the playoff hunt at 3-3. The Jets will have homefield advantage, but they'll also have one less Patriots star to deal with as the Pats just lost their leading tackler, Jerod Mayo.
A bit further west of the Patriots-Jets game will be the Ravens-Steelers matchup in Pittsburgh on Sunday evening. These two teams have had a fierce and fairly evenly matched rivalry through the years. These two teams may not be the powerhouses they once were only one or two years prior, but that doesn't mean that Sunday's game won't feature intense physicality and bone-crushing hits. The Steelers still have a number of strong defensive stars and their secondary is ranked 4th in the NFL in passing yards allowed. The Ravens, on the other hand, actually once again have a revamped defense with an incredible pass rush on pace to be the best in Ravens history. This Ravens defense, in fact, could end up being one of the best in recent memory if the Ravens offensive players can pick up the pace and keep their defensive counterparts off the field.
The Ravens and Steelers defenses are still strong...so why are these teams a combined 4-7? The answer, of course, is offensive lines. The Ravens have talented, pro bowl-caliber offensive linemen, but they've been crippled by a new blocking scheme that simply doesn't work for the Ravens offense. The Steelers offensive line has also struggled, but for an entirely different reason. The Steelers have lacked a serious offensive line for a long time, but found a way to produce through the air and on the ground with a talented, surprisingly mobile quarterback and strong running backs. The Steelers offensive line is particularly this this season and so is the Steelers stable of running backs.
Whatever the reason, the Ravens and Steelers simply haven't been able to run the ball well. The Ravens offensive problems are far more easily correctable than those of the Steelers, but somehow it has been 6 weeks and the Ravens have failed to correct them. I would say that the Ravens have some sort of edge in this game, but the Steelers just finished dominating the Jets on the road last week and it might be that they've simply finally found a winning game plan. The bottom line is that personnel seldom seems to matter in divisional rivalries. The Steelers beat the Ravens in Baltimore last year without Ben Roethlisberger, and the Ravens dominated the Steelers in 2011 despite the Steelers' strong healthy staff. This, as always, should be a violent battle that people all over the U.S. tune in to watch.
WEEK 7 NFL PREDICTIONS
BUCCANEERS AT FALCONS- I told myself I'd stop picking the Falcons after they lost to the Jets, but the Bucs are totally winless and have one of the worst offenses in the NFL. Their pass offense is, in fact, the worst in the NFL. No Julio Jones for the Falcons, but they still have enough firepower to beat a team that can't beat ANYONE. FALCONS 30-17.
BENGALS AT LIONS- This is an interesting matchup between two teams that don't share a division or even a conference, but have managed to play a few of the same opponents in 6 weeks. The weird thing is that the Lions of beaten some of the opponents the Bengals lost to and the the Bengals have beaten some of the opponents to which the Lions have lost. As far as yardage produced and allowed is concerned, the Bengals appear to be a more balanced team. The Bengals defense has also allowed 19 points less than the Lions D. The Lions offense, however, has produced 41 more points than that of the Bengals. The Lions' pass rush and a strong Detroit crowd should give Andy Dalton problems. Reggie Bush and Megatron should have decent production against a Bengals defense that has, at times, looked confused against some less than impressive teams such as the Browns and Bears. Going with the home team on this one. LIONS 27-24.
BILLS AT DOLPHINS- Despite last weeks loss to the Bengals, the Bills still impressed me. They can go toe to toe with top teams without question. The Dolphins, however, are coming off of a bye week and they're certainly no pushover. The Dolphins are, in fact, in 2nd place in the AFC East behind the Patriots at 3-2. I won't read to far into statistics with this prediction. Matt Flynn is starting for the Bills and that means they'll almost certainly lose. I'm picking the home team with the better record coming off of a bye in this divisional matchup. DOLPHINS 28-20.
PATRIOTS AT JETS- The last time the Patriots faced the Jets, they played in New England and barely beat Gang Green 13-10. This time the game will be in New Jersey and the Patriots will be missing their best defensive lineman, best linebackers, and best defensive back as Talib will also not play. The Jets will certainly have an easier time moving the ball on the Patriots, but one enormous factor may yet keep the Patriots in this game. Rob Gronkowski has finally been cleared by all doctors to play this weekend. When healthy this tight end is one of the most dominant receiving threats the NFL has ever seen. Gronk has reportedly been "dominant" in practice and should take the Patriots to the next level this weekend. I simply can't bet against the Patriots with a healthy Gronkowski as much as I want an upset here. PATRIOTS 30-24.
COWBOYS AT EAGLES- The Eagles are 31st in the league in pass defense. That's a pity because the Cowboys are a solid passing team that can be downright explosive against poor pass defenses such a that of the Broncos. The Eagles run the ball well and you never can tell what'll happen in a divisional matchup, but I simply can't see a Nick Foles-led Eagles beating the Cowboys right now. COWBOYS 38-31.
BEARS AT REDSKINS- The Bears have made a habit of narrowly beating mediocre and bad teams this season. At 4-2 one would assume they should beat the Redskins. The Bears lost by a touchdown to the high-flying Saints two weeks ago and then only barely managed to beat the winless Giants by the same margin. The Redskins, nevertheless, have not shown the ability to put up big points against other teams with lackluster pass defenses and seriously compete in a shootout. The Redskins defense is near the bottom of the league in both passing and rushing yards allowed. The Redskins offense ranks 10th in both passing and rushing yards produced, but that hasn't translated into a great number of points as the Redskins have allowed 36 more points than they've scored on the season. The Bears don't impress me that much, but the Redskins simply impress me even less. I'll be rooting for an upset here, but I won't be betting on it. BEARS 33-20.
RAMS AT PANTHERS- The Panthers have a bad record at 2-3, but they've been very impressive at home as they took apart the Giants 38-0 and only narrowly lost to a dominant Seahawks team 12-7. The Rams are 3-3, but two of their wins came against two of the very worst teams in the league, the Texans and Jaguars. The Panthers defense should keep the Rams off the field, and their rushing attack should be able to control the clock and win the field position battle. PANTHERS 17-10.
CHARGERS AT JAGUARS- No explanation is needed here. CHARGERS 38-14.
49ERS AT TITANS- Last year this pick would have been a no-brainer. This season, however, the 49ers find themselves without Michael Crabtree and Aldon Smith. The 49ers have been great against mediocre teams, but the Titans will likely be without Jake Locker, but Ryan Fitzpatrick is capable of winning football games too. The problem for the 49ers is that they have one of the worst pass offenses in the league and the Titans have a top 10 ranked pass defense. Boldin has not fared well against the Titans in recent memory, and if the Titans are able to make the 49ers one-dimensional, then I don't see anyway Kaepernick and company walk out with a win. The Titans gave both the Seahawks and Chiefs a solid run for their money and those teams are on a totally different level than the 49ers. Don't let the records fool you. TITANS 24-21.
BROWNS AT PACKERS- This won't be an EASY game by any stretch of the imagination as the Packers are down two receivers and the Browns have a good defense. The Packers, however, will not lose this game at home. PACKERS 28-17.
TEXANS AT CHIEFS- The Texans are among the three worst teams in the league right now. The Chiefs are unbeaten and will be playing at home in the loudest environment in the NFL. CHIEFS 23-9.
RAVENS AT STEELERS- It doesn't surprise me that many members of the media have picked the Steelers to win this game...that doesn't mean I think they're on to something, it just doesn't surprise me. Roethlisberger will be terrorized by the best pass rush in Ravens history and the Ravens will get back to offensive business by reverting to their old blocking schemes this week. The Steelers usually have a way of making this a good game, but I simply don't think they have the offensive personnel to score much on an extremely effective Ravens defense. This game should see the return of the real Ray Rice. RAVENS 24-17.
BRONCOS AT COLTS- I would love to see the Colts be the team to finally take down the Broncos, but the Broncos will get Von Miller back this week and that should provide their bottom-ranked pass defense with enough of a boost to ensure another victory for Peyton Manning. I really--REALLY hope I'm wrong about this. BRONCOS 42-31.
VIKINGS AT GIANTS- The Giants will get their first win this week. They could have won last week, but they were playing a tougher opponent. The Vikings are even weaker than the Giants at this point and the return of Brandon Jacobs should secure a loss for the Vikings. This makes me extremely sad to say, of course, because my heart broke when I heard about Adrian Peterson's little boy, but there's no way a Josh Freeman-led team is going to be beat even the winless G-men. GIANTS 28-19.
This weekend all eyes will be on the Patriots-Jets, Broncos-Colts, and Ravens-Steelers matchups. These games won't likely won't prove pivotal in the overall outcome of this season, but they will tell us much about some teams with rather pressing questions about their current strengths. Will the Ravens offensive line finally be able to break open running lanes for Ray Rice and company and protect Flacco? Will the Rob Gronkowski prove enough of an offensive factor to overcome numerous major defensive personnel losses for the Patriots? Will Von Miller be enough to revamp the Broncos pass defense, and will the Colts pass offense be enough to finally take down Peyton Manning in his old home field? Oh, and in case I haven't mentioned it enough already, IT'S RAVENS-STEELERS WEEK!!!! IT'S ALSO PURPLE FRIDAY, SO PUT YOUR JERSEY ON AND REP YOUR CITY, BALTIMORE!!!!
AS ALWAYS
GO RAVENS!!!
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