Another lackluster week of picking, went 9-7 for the second time this season, bringing my record for the year up to 26-22. To my credit, this past weekend had some major league upsets, in fact, the whole year's been riddled with upsets, which, while making it that much more difficult to pick, certainly increases the enjoyment of watching the games, not really knowing, who will win and who will lose. So, I guess in retrospect, a bit above .500 isn't too bad three weeks in, unfortunately I set a rather lofty goal for myself this year, outdoing the .760 record I had for the 2011 season.
That all said, as I do each week, I'll give it another go here in week four.
Thursday Night
Cleveland Browns @ Baltimore Ravens
Not going to go to much in detail for this game. I'm expecting a Ravens blowout. Most exciting thing to watch in this one, if you're not a Baltimore fan, will be seeing if the regular officials have any rust. 35-10
Sunday Games
New England Patriots @ Buffalo Bills
As much as I want to pick my Bills here, and actually for once, would have a case to back the pick up, I can't. While NE is 1-2 and Buffalo is 2-1 and at home, NE lost a questionably officiated game last Sunday Night against the Ravens, and only lost by a point, and the week before they lost because their Kicker missed a kick he makes 9/10 times. I can't recall the last time Brady and Co. lost 3 in a row, not having Hernandez and having Edelman and Mankins limited in practice won't help though. So, we'll just have to see if the most expensive DL in the NFL can rattle Brady and see if the Bills offense can pull it out. Going with NE though, hoping that I'm wrong. 31-27
San Francisco 49ers @ NY Jets
SF had a reality check last week against the Vikings. NY lost stud CB Revis for the year. I liked SF before Revis' injury and like them even more now. Should be low scoring though. 16-13 SF.
Seattle Seahawks @ ST. Louis Rams
Seattle's defense is too strong right now for the weak Ram line to contend with. Bradford was harassed last week and will be again this week. Ram defense is under the radar decent though. Pair that with a Seattle offense that doesn't exactly light the world on fire, could be a close game where a single play could tilt the outcome in either direction. I'm thinking that tilt will either by from Lynch or a key turnover caused by the Seahawks. Seattle 13-3
Carolina Panthers @ Atlanta Falcons
Cam's not playing that great right now. The Carolina run game is not up to speed yet. Atlanta's surprisingly playing better defense than many would've guessed, and that's before losing top CB Grimes for the year. But Matt Ryan is awesome right now. Atlanta big. 33-14
Minnesota Vikings @ Detroit Lions
Ponder's playing great right now. Detroit's off to a terrible start. But that said, I'm going to take the Lions for the win this week. With as well as Ponder and Harvin have been, and as bad as the Lion Defense has been, could be a higher scoring game though. Lions 28-24
San Diego Chargers @ Kansas City Chiefs
I think this could be a decent game. I like the way Atlanta moved the ball on SD last week and I think, while although a huge drop off, Matt Cassel can do some of the things Ryan did to them last week. I still see Rivers and Company pulling this one out, but should be an entertaining game though. SD 21-17
Tennessee Titans @ Houston Texans
Texans stay undefeated. But Locker keeps the game close until their porous defense just can't hang in their any longer. Lots of running yards to be had this week for Foster, Tate and the Texans offense. Houston 38-24
Cincinnati Bengals @ Jacksonville Jaguars
In J-ville it's all MJD and nothing else. Cincinnati has an aerial assault going on this year, certainly one of the bigger surprises so far in 2012. Green, Hawkins, Binns have been great and so has QB Dalton. I like Cincinnati in a relatively easy one. 24-10
Oakland Raiders @ Denver Broncos
This game will feel like a bye for Denver. After playing Atlanta and Houston, they must feel like they deserve it too. Despite losing both those games, Manning, outside the first quarter against Atlanta, has been getting better, as I assume he'll continue to do so as the season moves on. Oakland may not have to worry about the run though, which could be bad for them, as it most likely means more Manning in the air. I like the Raiders offense though. I think they'll be able to score on what I feel is an underachieving Broncos defense, compared to late last year. But I don't like the Raider defense against Manning and think some points will be scored here. Denver 42-30
Miami Dolphins @ Arizona Cardinals
People are laughing that Arizona is undefeated right now. But they really shouldn't be. The Cardinal defense is for real, and QB Kolb has been playing some good football right now. If the Card's run game could get going they could be really good. I like Arizona big. 24-7
Washington Redskins @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers
I've been picking Washington and they've been losing. I want to take Tampa, I really do, but I just can't trust a Josh Freeman led team. So, that said, I'll take RGIII and the Skins again. 17-13
New Orleans Saints @ Green Bay Packers
This is a very interesting game. Who would've guessed, coach or no coach, that NO would still be looking for their first W of the year. I was going to take them here, just for that reason. But, the way the Monday night game went down, I think GB is ticked off and NO's defense is awful. I'm pretty confident Rodgers and company will take full advantage of it. GB 34-24
New York Giants @ Philadelphia Eagles
This games may be the hardest one to pick this week. I can see both teams winning, and also can see both losing. It is at home, which most times, in such situations, I'd use that as the swing vote. But, something tells me Eli will have a monster game, and I'm thinking we'll see Nick Foles sometime soon. Vick's just not seeing the pressure and we all know what happens when that becomes routine, especially with a fragile QB like Vick. Giants 30-20
Monday Night
Chicago Bears @ Dallas Cowboys
Very interesting matchup. Dallas just squeaked one out against TB last week and Chicago looked ugly offensively in their win. Cutler, after three weeks, hasn't been as impressive as I thought he'd be. They've left a lot of points on the board so far. But so has Dallas. I probably should take Dallas at home, so no real surprise here. The reason though, is not from the pressure the Dallas D will cause, nor the Romo, Witten, Murray, Bryant, Austin offense, its because the Cowboys have now, what they set out to accomplish in the off season, and that's have 3 solid CB's. The top two are playing great right now. Love what Claiborne's been able to do so far, and Carr's looking like a nice FA signing as well. Dallas 21-17
Pittsburgh and Indianapolis are on Bye
See you in Week 5.
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