NFL Week 4

Game predictions
Arizona Cardinals vs. St. Louis Rams
The Rams have been hopeless so far, even though a spate of injuries have taken their toll. Marc Bulger and the now-hurt Steven Jackson were meant to be the key cogs in a brutal run 'n' gun machine backed up by a hardened defense. Wrooooong. As it is, many are picking them to lose this one as they're now going to be short of their starting quarterback as Bulger sits on the treatment table with Steven Jackson. Meanwhile, despite the pouting of Matt Leinart Ken Whisenhunt is successfully running a two-quarterback system and, while it works, why not? Cardinals to get a solid win here as the Rams’ woes continue.

Atlanta Falcons vs. Tennessee Titans
Atlanta got an important, morale-boosting win against Houston last week, but how different would it have been had Houston not turned the ball over a couple of times and if they hadn’t essentially given Atlanta enough yards to constitute a drive from penalties alone? Don’t get me wrong, the Falcon’s Harrington-power slow-and-steady offense worked like a charm as the O-line finally protected him, but they won’t get such charity from a rested Tennessee team who’ve been better that people would have given them credit for.

Carolina Panthers vs. New Orleans Saints
This pick is based on two things. Firstly, the Panthers performance last week was poor on just about every level, and David Carr vastly underperformed compared to my hopeful expectations. Secondly, the winless Saints have had a chance to recuperate and look at where it’s been going wrong and I refuse to believe they can keep on losing the way they have been even with Deuce McAllister injured.

Cleveland Browns vs. New England Patriots
Surely nobody but the most fervent pro-Browns/anti-Patriots NFL fan would pick anything but a New England win in this one? Cleveland have been better than I’ve been giving them credit for, not least Derek Anderson. The Patriots have too much here though and Cleveland don’t have the defensive players to stop the Patriots various offensive outlets.

Detroit Lions vs. Washington Redskins
I like Washington, so it seems harsh that I’m about to pick a Lions win at FedEx field. They’ve got a lot of players that I like in plenty of positions on both sides of the ball, but I think the secondary could tire against Detroit’s intensive passing game, and I don’t think the Redskins will get to Jon Kitna enough to upset his rhythm. It should be an entertaining game with plenty of entertaining individuals on both teams, but I think Kitna’s wealth of options will help him power Detroit to a victory.

Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Kansas City Chiefs
This is another one of those picks where you have to question whether one of the teams actually did well recently or whether they got a win out of circumstances. In this case, that team is Kansas and had San Diego not allowed to get their foot in the door they’d be coming into this game off a defeat. The Jags won’t be so forgiving, and while they’re not going to run over Kansas, they’ll play to their strengths all through the game and not let up in the second half.

Miami Dolphins vs. Houston Texans
Unfortunately for Miami, they’re a team who I’m just not going to be able to bring myself to call a win for until they’ve actually got one because I really don’t trust them anywhere on the field right now. Houston may have been beaten by the much-maligned Falcons but a single game doesn’t usually change everything so I reckon the Texans will clean up their act after last week’s mistake-ridden showing to take the Fins down by a score or two.

New York Jets vs. New York Giants
To look at Eli Manning’s stats you’d think he’d just picked up where he left off in 2006, but you’d need to see some of the Giants’ games to notice otherwise. He seems to have grown in stature as a leader and doesn’t let his mistakes get him down so much as he seemed to at times in seasons gone by. Since the half time mark against the Redskins, the Giants defense has stiffened up considerably. The main concern for the Jets has to be the relentless pass rush which the other New York threw at Donovan McNabb last week and trying to keep their own quarterback safe. I’d have called a Giants win here as it is, but the way they seem to have improved over the course of the first quarter of the season seals it for me.

***Game of the Week***
Seattle Seahawks vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
This will be possibly the biggest test thus far for either of these teams, definitely for the Steelers. Curiously, the only team either of these 3-1 teams have lost to yet is Arizona. Seattle have undoubtedly had the trickier opening schedule so they could be that little bit sharper as they visit Pittsburgh, but the Steelers’ easier run of games could give them an edge as they may be a little fresher. Ultimately, I think we’ve got teams of a similar level here and I think the winner of the passing game will be on the winning team, and I expect Roethlisberger to step up and make the most of the space Willie Parker earns him on the ground.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Indianapolis Colts
It’s a harsh thing to say considering that quarterback Jeff Garcia has been efficient and the defense has been a whole lot better than most would have guessed, but I think Tampa’s three wins have been born of their schedule. The only team they’ve faced who were going about their business as you’d expect are Seattle, and they were beaten. After that, they’ve played the grossly disappointing trio of New Orleans, St. Louis and Carolina. Still, I’m a firm believer that you can’t be criticised too much for your schedule, you can only beat the teams you face after all. So even though I expect them to lose to Indianapolis, who continue to find ways to win, it’ll be the manner of a likely defeat that’ll help me form more of an opinion on this Tampa team.

Baltimore Ravens vs. San Francisco
With all due respect, there are more inspiring individuals than Trent Dilfer you could hope to be stepping in for your injured starting quarterback. He’s got decent players to support him, but defensive coordinators currently seem content to stuff the run and let the 49ers try and win through the air. This week they entertain the Ravens at home who have enough trouble of their own, though they’ll like do enough to make San Francisco stutter on offense so they can concentrate on grinding out points of their own. This one has “ugly” written on it in big ugly letters, but the Ravens are happy with ugly, and they’ll be happy with the win they’ll get in San Francisco.

San Diego Chargers vs. Denver Broncos
I’m predicting a Chargers win on one condition: Norv Turner can not afford to only use LaDainian Tomlinson for one half of a game. He got a stack of yards in two quarters against Kansas last week and the Chargers had the Chiefs where they wanted them. In the second half, Turner changed it around without good reason. The Denver run defense has been weak this year, and if they can get his motor running the Chargers will ride his back to victory, even in Denver. If they can’t make him their key play, Rivers could have trouble against the Broncos secondary and Denver have what it takes to provide a threat to a stumbling Chargers defensive unit. LaDainian Tomlinson (or how he’s used) will make or break this game.

Chicago Bears vs. Green Bay Packers
Brian Griese didn’t exactly look like the answer to the question last week while the Packers 1D game plan is working like a charm. Brett Favre has really been mixing it around in terms of who he throws it to and the different lengths. He’s proven hard to predict, harder to stop and Chicago’s defense are playing well below their own high standards.

Dallas Cowboys vs. Buffalo Bills
There’s nothing in this game to suggest that Buffalo are about to cause an upset and put one over the Cowboys. Dallas are looking solid through the air, on the ground, have a defense willing to work hard all day to cause the Bills offense all kinds of trouble. Couple that with the fact that Tony Romo is now finding ways out of sticky situations (check the clip of his run after fumbling a snap over his head last week and still ran for the first down) and Buffalo are staring down the barrel of a 1-4 record.

PFC Staff Fantasy Picks

If you don’t know by now, this following bit is a mini fantasy football game we’re running amongst a few of the PFC staff. Basic scoring, a bit of fun for us and hey, we might even pass on a fantasy tip or two to you guys. So, without further a do, here’s what happened last week.

Kevin Figg selected Phillip Rivers, Joseph Addai, Torry Holt and Heath Miller for 2 ½, 10, 2 and 0 respectively, for a grand week 4 sum of 14 ½ points.

Chris Pokorny went for Tom Brady, LaDainian Tomlinson, Torry Holt and Jeremy Shockey. The ever-impressive Tom Brady earned him 21 ½, and the other three respectively played for 12, 2 and 0 which totals 35 ½.

I picked record-setting Brett Favre for a return of 17 ½, while Marion Barber, Donald Driver and Daniel Graham pulled in 2, 2 and 0 points, totting up to 21 ½ for me.

With Chris having by far the best week and Kevin not predicting the best quarterback performance in the league for once the table has closed up a little, as Chris leaps up to be a lot closer to second while we both get a little nearer to Kevin.

Kevin – 150 ½
Ian – 120 ½
Chris – 117

And so to this weeks picks as Chris gets some momentum going to try and climb up our ranking.

Kevin Figg:
QB: Jon Kitna (Lions) vs. Redskins - You know the Lions will throw the ball around a lot, and with Washington's aggressive defense, look for a lot of holes in the Washington secondary.

HB: Lendale White (Titans) vs. Falcons - The Titians offensive line is one of the more underrated units in football. Look for White to run for at least 100 yards and a touchdown or two.

WR: Torry Holt (Rams) vs. Cardinals - Holt has not had the greatest start to this season, but he'll have a breakout game over an over-achieving Arizona secondary.

TE: Dallas Clark (Colts) vs. Buccaneers - Facing that Cover 2 defense, Clark should have plenty of room over the middle of the field.

Chris Pokorny
QB: Tom Brady (Patriots) vs. Browns Picking against him is almost dumb at this point. Brady is completing nearly 80% of his passes still, and will be going up against a Browns' defense that has surrendered 12 touchdown passes this year. Despite the Browns holding the Ravens to 13 points last week, that had more to do with Baltimore being a horrid offensive team in general.

RB: LaDainian Tomlinson (Chargers) vs. Broncos - After Tomlinson's breakout in the first half last week, hopefully someone has told Norv Turner to run him for two halves this week against a Broncos defense that has been vulnerable against the run. Denver's secondary will only cause problems for a struggling Philip Rivers, meaning the Chargers should keep it on the ground often. (Side note: could also call for a big day from Michael Turner).

WR: Steve Smith (Panthers) vs. Saints - As much as I believe David Carr is horrible for the Panthers' offense, the Saints defense was among the worst in the league prior to their bye week. They've yet to prove they can do anything significant, and John Fox has had a week to focus on allowing Carr to get the ball in the hands of Carolina's best playmaker.

TE: Tony Gonzalez (Chiefs) vs. (Jaguars) - Are the tides changing in Kansas City? Larry Johnson and Damon Huard are starting to build some steam. When those two start producing, and with the breakout of Dwayne Bowe, the opportunities should expand for the veteran tight end.

Ian Hetherington
QB: Matt Schaub (Texans) vs. Dolphins – I can see Matt Schaub ending up with a couple of scores in this one. Even if they’re not on form the Dolphins will still want to kill off the run with their selection of linebackers and put pressure on Matt Schaub to hurry the throws. Without Andre Johnson, the other receivers stepped up and they’ll help Schaub to another solid performance.

RB: Edgerrin James (Cardinals) vs. Rams – He hasn’t quite got back his Edge, so to speak, but James has stuck with it and kept working hard and it could all come to fruition on Sunday against a dire Rams defense.

WR: Roy Williams (Lions) vs. Redskins – I think Jon Kitna is going to have a good day even against a solid Redskins D, but they’ll be sterner than some units he’s taken on so far and Roy Williams will be his chief outlet.

TE: Dallas Clark (Colts) vs. Buccaneers – Clark has been as important to Peyton Manning as Reggie Wayne this year, and with Marvin Harrison out Peyton will be looking for him in the end zone.

SCORING SYSTEM:
Quarterbacks: Touchdown = 6 points; 50 yards passing = 1 point; interception or fumble (recovered by defense) = -½ point

Running back: Touchdown = 6 points; 50 rushing/receiving yards = 2 points; fumble (lost) = -½ point

Wide receiver: Touchdown = 6 points; 50 receiving yards = 2 points; fumble (recovered by defense) = -½ point

Tight end: Touchdown = 6 points; 50 receiving yards = 2 points; fumble (recovered by defense) = -½ point