Predictions for NFL week 5

Ravens to beat the Bengals

Baltimore is playing well but so are the Bengals but I just think the Ravens will have too much for them.  Look for the Ravens defence to play much better after last week.

Panthers to beat the Redskins

Is anyone interested in this game?  Really two bad teams and I fancy the Panthers to win because they are at home.

Bills to beat the Browns

The Browns can’t score on offence and to make things worse they have traded Edwards to the Jets.  Guess they have already written off the season.  The Bills aren’t much better but are at home at least.

Steelers to beat the Lions

Detroit has won one game this season but they aren’t going to get win number 2 this weekend.

Cowboys to beat the Chiefs

Chiefs need to get a win soon but I can’t see it happening this weekend versus the Cowboys.  Look for the Dallas defence to play well and for Romo to have a slightly better game than he has been having.  Though it is nice to see Romo getting found out for what he really is a decent QB rather than this superstar people were making him out to be.

Vikings to beat the Rams

Peterson to get over 200 yards? Wouldn’t put it past him or for Favre to have a big game.  The Rams are probably the worse team in the NFL at the moment.

Giants to beat the Raiders

Oakland just isn’t that good and won’t be when they have a thug has head coach or a nut job as an owner. Manning and the Giants look good and should make it 5 – 0.

Eagles to beat the Buccaneers

McNabb is back and they defence is playing well whereas noone is playing all that well for the Bucs.

49ers to beat the Falcons

San Fran is playing well and I thing they will have enough to beat the Falcons on Sunday.

Cardinals to beat the Texans

I can see both teams putting up a lot of points this weekend and also look for Fitzgerald and Johnson to have big games.  Fancy the Cardinals since they are home.

Broncos to beat the Patriots

Broncos are playing well which isn’t good news for all the McDaniels haters but something I’m personally not shocked about.  Orton is playing well enough to win games and the defence is finally showing how good it can be.

Jaguars to beat the Seahawks

Just not sure about this game since both teams aren’t that great but the Jags are slightly better.

Colts to beat the Titans

When you are winless the last team you want to play is the Colts on fire and Manning playing as well as he has for a few years.  Peyton is already MVP favourite and quite rightly since without this team would be average at best.

Jets to beat the Dolphins

Two young inexperience QBs in this game but the difference is Sanchez has a great defence to get him the ball back a lot.

MVP favourite

Thanksgiving Preview

This week sees not just one match on Thursday but 3.  Though in fairness only one of them actually might be an entertaining match (Cardinals at the Eagles).  Seattle at Dallas and Tennessee at Detroit are likely to be blow outs with the Titans and Cowboys winning each of their games.

 

The third and last game of the evening is the more interesting one.  Philadelphia versus the Cardinals has a good feeling to it and has become an important game for both teams.  The Eagles are in desperate need of a victory after two very poor performances versus the Bengals and the Ravens the last two weeks.  The Ravens game in particular were the offence was terrible, McNabb even being benched and the defence was just as bad, being taken apart by a rookie QB.  The Cardinals on the other hand are desperate to show people that they can live with the better teams in the NFL having failed on a couple of occasions this season already.  Losing to the Giants, Redskins, Jets and Panthers are games the Cardinals have to win if people are to believe they are truly Super Bowl contenders.

 

So tips for tonight are

Titans to beat the Lions

Cowboys to beat the Seahawks

Cardinals to beat the Eagles

Happy Thanksgiving

The Eagles and McNabb

McNabb benched after only a half.

McNabb in happier days

So here I was settling down for a fine evening of NFL action last night and thinking to myself how good it would be to see a talented Eagles offense playing the always tough Baltimore defense.  There was no doubt that the Ravens had an excellent defense but for all the talent that is in the Eagles offense, Westbrook & Jackson spring to mind, boy were they just plain rubbish.

Yet again poor old Donovan McNabb will be the one mostly spoken about and don’t get me wrong I’m not a great fan of his but surely Andy Reid and his staff are equally to blame.  The play calling was time and again totally wrong.  Prime example was trying to throw from about 3 inches out in the second half.  Ed Reed saw headlines written all over the pass and took it back 108 yards, NFL record, for a score.  

Do the Eagles not believe that Westbrook is capable of running it in from this distance? Everyone from sport fans to professional players say he is one of the premier running backs in the league yet the Eagles refuse to run for it from 3 inches or run for it ever on 3 and 1.  

I’m happy to say, being a Redskins fan, that the Eagles are pretty much out of the playoffs and if they are serious about getting rid of McNabb in the summer they might as well give Kolb playing time.  Though from Sundays viewing Kolb might not be the QB that they hope he is, cause frankly he was pathetic on Sunday.
But if the Eagles believe they can still get out of the NFC East then McNabb needs to start on Thursday and he needs to remain in for the whole game.

Finally is it just me or is Ray Lewis looking old?  Even appears to have a bit of belly at times.  Still him and Ed Reed make the Ravens defense great fun to watch.

NFL Predictions week 12

Ravens to beat the Eagles – Philly lose this one and their season is all over.  The fans will boo McNabb and demand Reid out on talk radio but both of these guys will be around next year.

Bears to beat the Rams – Yes the Bears were shocking last week but this is the Rams they are playing.

Titans to beat the Jets – Jets better hope Favre gets out of here in once piece.

Dolphins to beat the Pats - just when Cassel looks good the Pats will lose another game and their playoff dream will also be over.

Browns to beat the Texans – Quinn is playing well and looking the part.

Bucs to beat the Lions - Bucs will easily win this one.

Jaguars to beat the Vikings – Vikings will somehow manage to lose this one but AP will probably still have a big day.

Bills to beat the Chiefs – This could a pretty tight game but I fancy the Bills.

Cowboys to beat the 49ers - Dallas to sneak a close one.

Broncos to beat the Raiders – How many people will even watch this game?  Really about 2.

Falcons to beat the Panthers – This could be a great match but I fancy the Falcons to sneak it.

Giants to beat the Cards – Yes Arizona is playing well but then so are those Giants

Redskins to beat the Seahawks – Seattle is so poor I have no idea who is even playing QB for them this week.

Colts to beat the Chargers – You can’t defend the pass and you face Manning then you have problems.  Though look for both QBs to have big numbers.

Packers to beat the Saints – Green Bay looked good last week and they will continue that into this week.

NFL Preview

NFC EAST

Today I am giving my humble opinions on the toughest division in football, the NFC East.  The divsion has some of the top players in the NFL along with some of the up and coming youngsters.

 

Dallas Cowboys

A team that many feel should have won the NFC Championship last year but failed to produce the goods when it really needed to.  This ability or lack of ability to win the big time games  may have a bigger mental affect than the team or media think.   Romo has shown that he has the ability to bounce back from a nightmare performance, who can forget Seattle.

Dallas have strength in all the key areas and in theory should be pushing for a run at the championship but in this division anything is possible.  

That is why I only think that the Cowboys will finishing 3rd and will missing the play-offs.  Division Position:3rd.

New York Giants

Being Super Bowl champions normally means you have a good chance of at least getting to your conference game but this again is a team that might struggle to perform to that level.  The lose of key defensive players through injury and retirement mean that the front four which is won the Super Bowl is halved before you even start picking up injuries during the season.

Having said that I honestly think that the Giants will win the NFC East but will struggle in the play-offs.  Last season they produce a remarkable string of wins on the road and you would think that this is unlikely to happen again but you never know.  Division Position: 1st.

Philadelphia Eagles

A team that would easily win two or three divisions in the NFL but in this division they will struggle again.  The Eagles having been searching for that number 1 receiver for years and had one in Owens for a season.  Just a pity that the man is a clown.  This lack of a number 1 means that the opposition can attack McNabb and only have to worry about Westbrook.

If the Eagles do finish bottom of their division again this season then you have to think that Andy Reid’s job is on the line but since he seems to be worshipped in the Eagles organisation it might not be.

Overall I see the Eagles struggling to get to .500 and finishing rock bottom of the NFC East again.  Division Position: 4th.

Washington Redskins

Washington have a new coach in Jim Zorn and because of this they have been written off by all the experts.  personally I like the look of the team and especially the young QB Campbell.  Under Zorn’s tuition he could become a special player but the next two years is make or break for him.  The Skins also have a good looking defence, strengthened by the arrival of Talyor, a decent looking offence (under the guidance of a offensive guru) and a solid enough special teams.   For these reasons I think the redskins will make the play-offs again this year but might not get past the wild card game.  Division Position: 2nd.