Last night's game went pretty much as I predicted which didn't make Redskins fans happy. At this point both Maryland area football teams each only have 3 wins. Neither is likely going to make the playoffs as both are too far behind their division leaders with only half the season left. In the case of the Redskins, it wouldn't be inconceivable for them to catch up to the Cowboys except for one major limiting factor: the Redskins have an impossibly tough schedule ahead of them. The Ravens, on the other hand, have a more reasonable schedule, but simply appear too offensively anemic and inconsistent to put enough points up on any given week to win. The Redskins at least have the potential to score enough points to stay competitive and win games, but lack an effective enough defense to limit the daunting list of upcoming opponents' offenses. Whatever the reason, these two teams are bad this season after both having been dominant last season. Fans will hopefully hold out faith and keep their unflinching loyalty as they have for years, but I see little reason for objective optimism at this point.
The Ravens and Redskins may not give us much reason to cheer, but true football fans will enjoy the rest of this season regardless. Part of the reason that this season should prove enjoyable for football fans is the lack of truly dominant teams. Some may point to the Broncos, but they've demonstrated clear weaknesses from a defensive standpoint and Peyton Manning is beginning to be heavily affected by injuries. Others may point to the Seahawks or Chiefs, but both of those teams have been nearly defeated by rather unimpressive franchises recently. I would have brought up the Saints, but the Jets absolutely took them to task last week. The 49ers, on the other hand, struggled early but have gotten back to a rather impressive form as of late. San Fran will also being getting back help in their receiving corps with the return of Michael Crabtree and Mario Manningham. The return of these two wideouts will likely take this offense to a totally new level and allow for the likes of Anquan Boldin and Vernon Davis to see more success as well.
Another team that appeared to struggle a bit earlier in the season but that appears to have gotten back on track is the Patriots. The return of a healthy Rob Gronkowski does so much for the Patriots offense that is comes as no surprise that the Patriots put up 55 point on the Steelers defense in a week that Gronk finally looked back in form. The Patriots lost a couple of key defenders in Jerrod Mayo and Vince Wilfork, and they may be without Aqib Talib for a little while longer. The increased power of the Patriots offense, however, should more than make up for such defensive absences, and upon the return of Talib the Patriots defense should get a huge boost that could take them all the way through the playoffs to the Super Bowl.
I don't like to make early Super Bowl predictions because the NFL is too unpredictable as far as injuries are concerned. If I had to pick, however, I would say that the Patriots and 49ers will be the two most dominant teams down the stretch because they performed well and weathered the storm without major key players, and those key players will all be returning to bolster their respective teams in the second half of the season in time for a strong post-season push.
Week 10 features a great many games that will be extremely tough to predict because of just how evenly matched each game appears to be. Divisional matchups are always tough to predict, but there isn't a tremendous number of them this week. This week as I look over the NFL schedule I simply don't see more than one or two games where the likely winner is apparent just by looking at the names of the two teams involved. This is a job for more in-depth analysis! Let's take a look.
WEEK 10 NFL PREDICTIONS
SEAHAWKS AT FALCONS- At first glance this game appears as though it should be an easy win for the Seahawks, but they haven't looked dominant since playing the Jaguars in week 3. The Seahawks still have a great record at 8-1, but they haven't beaten a single team that currently possesses a winning record since Week 2 against the 49ers. The only winning team the Seahawks have even played in the last 6 weeks is the Colts and they lost to Andrew Luck and company in Indianapolis. Hell, the winless Buccaneers took the Seahawks into OVERTIME last week. The Falcons are also 2-2 at home with their 2 home losses only by a combined 9 points to the Jets and Patriots. Nevertheless, the Falcons are still too banged up to win this game. Roddy White will play, but he won't be at 100% as he's dealing with a hamstring injury, and Julio Jones is now out for the season. This should be yet another squeaker for the Seahawks against a bottom-of-the-barrel team. SEAHAWKS 30-28.
LIONS AT BEARS- This should be the most exciting matchup of the week as it features two 5-3 divisional rivals in their second meeting of the season. The last meeting ended in a 40-32 win for the Lions in Detroit. The Lions are also coming off of a bye week and should be healthier than the Bears. This should be a typical NFC North slugfest, but I simply can't see the Bears defense stopping the high-flying Lions offense. The Lions defense isn't spectacular outside of Detroit, but they already showed that they can play just well enough to outlast the likes of the Cowboys in Dallas. I'm confident the Lions will do the same this week in Chicago. LIONS 38-31.
EAGLES AT PACKERS- No Aaron Rodgers? That'll be a big problem. Eddie Lacy is a great young running back, but the Packers will be far too one-dimensional without Rodgers. The Eagles aren't great, but they're certainly capable of beating the Packers without their most important players. EAGLES 31-20.
JAGUARS AT TITANS- This is the one prediction that just jumped off the page as easy to predict. TITANS 33-13.
RAMS AT COLTS- The Rams simply aren't strong enough on the road to beat the Colts. This is the OTHER prediction that jumped off the page as an easy prediction. COLTS 35-17.
RAIDERS AT GIANTS- The Raiders aren't consistent enough to win this one on the road. If this were in Oakland it would be a totally different story. The Giant are coming off a bye week and should have a balanced enough offensive attack to put this one away by early in the 4th quarter. GIANTS 24-14.
BILLS AT STEELERS- The Bills should win this game, but I have a feeling the Steelers organization will be in utter chaos if they can't win at home this week against a mediocre team. E.J. Manuel should be starting for the Bills and that will make this tough, but I think the Steelers are offensively strong enough to win this game. The Steelers put up 30 points on the Patriots. If they can put up that same number at home this week then they'll win. STEELERS 31-27.
BENGALS AT RAVENS- The Ravens have been slightly better at home this season than on the road, but they will not be able to stop A.J. Green for the first time in since he came into the league. The Bengals have too many passing weapons and the Ravens simply can't win without a balanced offensive attack that includes a serious running game. The Bengals will be without Leon hall and Geno Atkins, but they're still too strong for a Ravens team crippled by mistakes and poor coaching. Nevertheless, this should be another close, disappointing loss for the Ravens. I hope to the football gods that I'm wrong. BENGALS 24-20.
PANTHERS AT 49ERS- If this game wasn't in San Francisco I might predict a Panthers win, but the 49ers are hitting their stride right now. The Panthers defense is still strong enough to make this a grinder, but I a big game from Frank Gore and a strong performance from Kaepernick to make this a narrow win. 49ERS 17-13.
TEXANS AT CARDINALS- The Texans lost a disappointing game to the Colts last week, but the Cardinals are not nearly as good as the Colts. The Texans made the right move in benching Ed Reed and they'll find more success without his broken, aging body as the last line of defense. TEXANS 26-17.
BRONCOS AT CHARGERS- The Chargers are strong at home and they should give the Broncos a tough time, but the Broncos offense is high powered enough to simply outscore the Chargers. BRONCOS 38-35.
COWBOYS AT SAINTS- Apparently Dez Bryant's back injury issues are beginning to reappear. The Saints are extremely strong at home and Bryant being less than 100% will even further tilt this one in favor of Drew Brees and company. SAINTS 35-27.
DOLPHINS AT BUCCANEERS- The Dolphins should ordinary win this one, but recent controversial events have decimated their offensive line, and I fear that they might just end up being the first casualty against the Buccaneers this season. The Bucs almost beat the Seahawks last week, so it's possible they're getting back on track. BUCCANEERS 21-17.
This should be another disappointing week for Ravens fans if things go the way I predict (Steelers win and Ravens lose) but let's hope I'm totally wrong in both cases and the exact opposite happens. After all, the Ravens have been a couple of mistakes or big plays away from beating each of the last 4 teams to which they've lost. I know they've been consistently disappointing, but it really wouldn't take much to turn their losing ways into winning ways. The problem is that the Ravens coaching staff doesn't seem to realize just what they need to do to correct these mistakes. If anyone in the organization DOES realize what they need to do, they're simply not doing it. Even so, remember that if it weren't for a muffed punt last week, the Ravens simply would have beaten the Browns. I love what we're seeing from Marlon Brown and the rest of the Ravens young receivers. If Pitta comes back in the last two weeks then that might just be the factor that pushes them over the winning edge. If the Ravens can't win before he gets back, however, it simply won't matter. Here's to hoping I'm wrong.
AS ALWAYS
GO RAVENS!!!
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