Week Seven

NFL Week Seven Preview:

Back from Europe and here to provide you with some insight into Sunday's games.

GB @ CLE

Eric Mangini has not looked any better as the Cleveland head coach than Romeo Crennel did. Expect him to start Derek Anderson for the rest of the year, with an outside possibility of Bret Ratliff getting a start late in the year. Ratliff came over from the Jets in the trade that landed them Mark Sanchez, Ratliff, who looked good in preseason was a fan favorite in New York, I would expect, once it becomes obvious that Anderson isn't the Quarterback of the future in Cleveland, to see Ratliff get a look. Unfortunantely I don't expect him to fare much better and I expect Cleveland to draft a Quarterback after this season. Anyway, Green Bay wins this game.

SF @ HOU

Should be an interesting game, both teams are improved from last year, Houston is coming off a big win against Cincinnati. I think this game will be close and could go either way, Frank Gore is coming back from injury and the 49ers are coming off a bye. I expect them to win a close on on the road.

SD @ KC

San Diego is coming off a tough loss against Denver and should be ready to get better against a weak Kansas City team. Kansas City has looked better as of late, taking Dallas to OT and beating the Redskins, but San Diego is a much more disciplined and talented team than both of them, and should handle Kansas City without issue.

IND @ STL

I shouldn't have to tell you who is going to win this game, seriously. Take Indy, take them and give whatever points your bookie wants. This is going to be ugly.

MIN @ PIT

Its not that I don't think Minnesota is a bad team, its just that, they are due for a loss. Last week they, by all rights, should have lost that game, and would have if it were not for a missed field goal in the final seconds. Pittsburgh and Ben Roethlisberger are on a tear, and I expect them to win a close on at home, but I wouldn't be surprised if Farve pulled out that magic one more time.

BUF @ CAR

As bad as Buffalo has been at times, they have proven they can beat bad teams. Even with QB Trent Edwards out, I expect Ryan Fitzpatrick to lead them to a win. It'll be close, but I can't imagine Carolina winning three in a row.

NYJ @ OAK

Mark Sanchez had his worse start of his young career, and now there is some concern that he may not be able to play in cold, bad weather. A legitimate concern if he plans on playing in the Meadowlands. This week however, he returns to the heat of California where he should have a bounce back game. He is once again without Cotchery and Smith in his WR core, so the Jets will have to depend once again on Dustin Keller and Braylon Edwards to keep the passing game going and lean heavily on the running game, if they plan on winning this game. Oakland looked impressive beating the Eagles last week and the Jets will have to get the running game going and not put to much pressure on their Rookie Quarterback if they plan on winning this game.

CHI @ CIN

This should be an interesting game to watch. Benson is playing his old team, and has been talking in the media about them. Both teams are surprise teams this year, and both are coming off of hard losses last week. Expect this to be an offensive game with a lot of lead changes, I give Cincinnati the edge though, simply because they are playing at home.

ATL @ DAL

Wade Phillips is calling this a “Must win game” but he might want to rethink that, and likely will backtrack from it once Atlanta delivers the beat down I am expecting. Dallas hasn't beaten a good team all year, and barely eeked out a win in OT against Kansas City two weeks ago. They had their bye week to prepare for this game but it won't be enough to overcome an Atlanta team that just got done beating down the Bears.

NO @ MIA

While Miami has had a habit of beating undefeated teams in the recent past, I don't expect it to happen here. New Orleans is for real, and they proved it last week with their beat down of the Giants. Look for them to beat down Miami in similar fashion.

ARI @ NYG

The Giants are angry at how the Saints embarrassed them last week, so look for Eli Manning to take it out on an Arizona pass defense that is ranked 31st in the league. Arizona should keep up with them for the first half or so, but eventually the Giants' pass rush will get to Kurt Warner and win the game for the Giants.

PHI @ WAS

The Redskins are a mess, and even though the Eagles were embarrassed last week when they lost to the Raiders, their problems do not compare to the problems of the 'Skins. I think this will be closer then people expect, divisional games usually are, but I think in the end Philadelphia pulls it out on Monday Night.