NFL Inside Blog

Green Bay Packers vs Seattle Seahawks: A big game for both. For the Seahawks, it is a game for them to prove themselves. They can come out and beat a top team in the NFL that isn't doing so hot yet. The Seahawks defense has played well so far. For the Packers, this is a game where they can come out and show that they will be an elite team this year. Aaron Rodgers hasn't done any better than average this year. The Packers have been completely dominated this year, as well as duke it out with a good defensive team. The Packers defense has played great. The problem is their offense just hasn't gotten rolling yet. Rodgers hasn't played like the MVP of last year and he really needs to start if the Packers want to do something this year. The old saying "Defense wins championships" hasn't proved well as of late. I think the Packers will win this game because if both teams are at their best, the Packers are just a better team. Yes, the Seahawks have a great defense, but the offense is good at best. It isn't like the Packers offense can be. The Packers offense can be great if they play to their best ability, and the defense has showed they can play great. Packers win a tight one, 34-31.

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     Before I start off with the Week 3 projections I want to rant a little bit about Tom Coughlin and Golden Tate. I forgot to put this into yesterdays post and I really want to include this into a post.
     Let's start off with the very controversial kneel down in the Giants vs. Bucs game. I am sorry, but I don't see one problem with it. You play all 60 minutes. If you are getting payed millions of dollars, you better finish the game. Taking one play off just simply isn't acceptable. Schiano might have been angry when he told his players to knock Eli on his butt, but it was still an acceptable move. The Giants need to get off of their high horse and get over it. The Buccaneers wanted to knock off the Giants. Plain and simple. Get over it.
     Now for the Golden Tate hit. Perfectly legal. Hines Ward made a living off of these hits. You can't tell me that just because Sean Lee wasn't looking that he was defenseless. Sean even knew that Golden was there. You have to keep your head on a swivel and watch for these things. Sorry but there is no reason to complain about that hit. Get over it. Honestly, if I were a Seahawks fan I would try and get all Seahawks fans to mail him $1. But that is just me.
     If you have any thoughts on this that agree or even disagree. Comment on whether you agree or disagree and why. I like to hear feedback from the people that I write for. Now for the Week 3 schedule and projections.

St. Louis at Chicago        1:00 PM               

Buffalo at Cleveland         1:00 PM               

Tampa Bay at Dallas        1:00 PM               

NY Jets at Miami             1:00 PM               

San Francisco at Minnesota          1:00 PM               

Kansas City at New Orleans         1:00 PM               

Cincinnati at Washington               1:00 PM               

Detroit at Tennessee         1:00 PM               

Jacksonville at Indianapolis           1:00 PM               

Philadelphia at Arizona     4:05 PM               

Atlanta at San Diego        4:05 PM               

Houston at Denver           4:25 PM               

Pittsburgh at Oakland       4:25 PM               

New England at Baltimore             8:20 PM               

MON, SEP 24      TIME (ET)          

Green Bay at Seattle      8:30 PM                

NY Giants at Carolina: I think the Panthers will upset the Giants this week. Why? Because the Giants have way to many injuries this week. The Giants probably didn't have enough time to game-plan for Cam's option offense. Carolina wins 28-14.

St. Louis at Chicago: The Rams are fresh off of a big win versus RG3 and the skins while Cutler and the bears are off a big loss and big locker room breakup. The situation in Chicago is only going to get worse as they keep losing games this year. The Rams stun the Bears at home 21-17.

Buffalo at Cleveland: Buffalo wins this because the Browns suck. Plain and simple. 19-16.

Tampa Bay at Dallas: The Cowboys finally have their home opener. Jerry's palace will be packed and Tony Romo knows he can't lose this. Tampa plays well but Dallas comes out on top 24-17.

NY Jets at Miami: So far the Mark Sanchez has had a great game and a horrible game. Sanchez will have another bad one on the road. Tannehill will top Sanchez at home 44-32.

San Francisco at Minnesota: Well the 49ers will just blow this game open quick. How much is really needed to say about this game? 41-14 49ers.

Kansas City Chiefs at New Orleans: The Saints will finally get their first win and won't be the only winless team in the NFC. The Chiefs really just suck this year. They are going to be as bad as the Browns will be this year. Saints 17, Chiefs 10.

Cincinnati at Washington: RG3 will dominate yet again. This time he will get a win and put them at 2-1. The Bengals defense just isn't their. The offense isn't really playing all that well but they are putting points on the board. The defense could barely stop the Browns. With Washington's explosive offense it won't be good. 42-14 Washington.

Detroit at Tennessee: Detroit's offense will EXPLODE here.Calvin will get plenty of advantageous math-ups and will burn a few guys. Good game for Stafford and Calvin, bad game for Locker and Britt. Lions win 28-10.

Jacksonville at Indianapolis: What a game this will be. Not really. If the Colts can protect Luck like they did last week, this will be a blowout. If the Colts play like they did last week, then there won't be a problem. The Jags are nothing but MJD again this year. Colts win 31-21.

Philadelphia at Arizona: Seriously? Stop with the Cardinals hype. The Cardinals beat the Seahawks and the Patriots at home. Yeah the Patriots game was big but the Seahawks wasn't amazing. It was at home and it was Russell Wilson's first start. The Patriots game was nothing but a fluke and won't happen again. Yes this game will be close but the Eagles pull it out 21-20.

Atlanta at San Diego: Atlanta will win this game as they have beaten their previous 2 opponents. They are cruising right along with few problems. San Diego is playing well, but I don't think they can beat this greatly improved Atlanta team. Phillip is back to his old ways. He is finding the open receiver, no matter who it is.. i.e. Donte Rosario. I just don't think they can beat this Falcons team. They are just playing to well right now. Falcons will win another tight one 31-28.

Houtson at Denver: Denver wins this game, because, and only because it is at Mile High. Houston will be handed their first loss. If you take away the 3 INTs by Peyton, he played just as good a game as Matt Ryan. They almost even came back. The Texans will be faced with a team that has a decent run stop and will have to throw the ball. If you want to beat the Texans, that is what you have to do. Denver wins 17-14.

Pittsburgh at Oakland: Pittsburgh wins this because Roethlisberger is just playing to well. He had a spectacular game last week. Making big plays when needed. Being vintage Ben and leaving the pocket when needed. Oakland just isn't showing good signs yet. I think they will eventually, but not during this game. Steelers win smoothly 28-17.

New England at Baltimore:  New England lost a big game last week. It wasn't a crucial game, but it wasn't a game you want to lose. I think they just looked past them and wanted to get into this game. You can't do that in the NFL. There is to much talent now. Baltimore wins this at home because they are the best team in the AFC right now. 24-17.


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     Boy was I wrong this week, and I imagine many of you all were to. I was so stunned by what happened this week. The Patriots got caught looking ahead, RG3 let the Rams come back, the Giants had one heck of a comeback. Just an all around crazy week that not many saw coming. I went 9-7on my picks this week which puts me at 18-14 on the year.
     I think the Patriots just got caught looking ahead. This coming week they have to go into Baltimore. Dallas just got stunned by the Seahawks. I think that they way underestimated the Seahawks defense. Seattle is an above average team, and looking at them and just marking them off as a W.
     I didn't get to catch the Redskins-Rams game, but it is now on NFL Rewind on the NFL network. This was a great game. The Redskins came flying out of the gates, but the Rams were able to keep themselves in it. In the end, Josh Morgan screwed it up. The Skins had a chance to kick a game-tying FG but Josh Morgan threw the ball at Cortland Finnegan and drew a 15 yard unsportsmanlike.
     The only 0-2 team in the NFC is none other than the New Orleans Saints. Obviously Bountygate is having a negative impact on them. Hopefully once Sean Payton gets back, they can return to their winning ways.
     Andrew Luck got his first NFL win. He beat out the Vikings in a tight one. Congratulations to you Luck. I am sure there will be many more to come. 

Chicago at Green Bay                                     Kansas City at Buffalo 
Cleveland at Cincinnati                                    Minnesota at Indianapolis 
New Orleans at Carolina                                 Houston at Jacksonville
Oakland at Miami                                           Arizona at New England 
Tampa Bay at NY Giants                                Baltimore at Philadelphia 
Washington at St. Louis                                  Dallas at Seattle
NY Jets at Pittsburgh                                      Tennessee at San Diego
Detroit at San Francisco                                 Denver at Atlanta

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     Week 2 has been a shocker so far. We will get right to the Monday Night Football breakdown:

Denver at Atlanta: For starters, this will be a great game. Peyton Manning will be coming into the Georgia Dome, to play one of the best teams in the NFC. Both QB's are coming off of great performances. Manning was able to beat the Steelers even though getting killed in the time of possession battle. Ryan coming off of a blowout performance against the suffering Kansas City Chiefs. Dirk Koetter is the new offensive coordinator for the Falcons, and it showed. It seems he will be taking the route of trusting his QB and is going to have Matt Ryan let it fly. This will be the greatest decision the Falcon's organization has made in years. I always thought that Flacco and Ryan were in the same class when it came to play style and the points in their careers. They like to check it down and be conservative. They have never really tried to put the balls in tight windows, unless it was going to go to Tony Gonzalez or Ray Rice. They both have seem to progressed well since the start of the season. Overall great game but the Falcons win 25-21.

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THU, SEP 13 TIME (ET) LOCATION
Chicago at Green Bay 8:20 PM Lambeau Field

SUN, SEP 16 TIME (ET) LOCATION
Kansas City at Buffalo 1:00 PM Ralph Wilson StadiumCleveland at Cincinnati 1:00 PM Paul Brown Stadium
Minnesota at Indianapolis 1:00 PM Lucas Oil Stadium
New Orleans at Carolina 1:00 PM Bank of America Stadium
Houston at Jacksonville 1:00 PM EverBank Field
Oakland at Miami 1:00 PM Sun Life Stadium
Arizona at New England 1:00 PM Gillette Stadium
Tampa Bay at NY Giants 1:00 PM MetLife Stadium
Baltimore at Philadelphia 1:00 PM Lincoln Financial Field
Washington at St. Louis 4:05 PM Edward Jones Dome
Dallas at Seattle 4:05 PM CenturyLink Field
NY Jets at Pittsburgh 4:25 PM Heinz Field
Tennessee at San Diego 4:25 PM Qualcomm Stadium
Detroit at San Francisco 8:20 PM Candlestick Park

MON, SEP 17 TIME (ET) LOCATION
Denver at Atlanta 8:30 PM Georgia Dome

Chicago at Green Bay: Green Bay didn't have a great performance in Lambeau last week. I think the 49ers were honestly just the better team. Expect a big rebound from Aaron and company. Nobody can stop the Packers offense to straight games in a row. The Bears will keep it very respectable though. This Bears team looks really good. Packers win 31-21.

Kansas City at Buffalo: Both teams got blown out in week 1. I had high hopes for the Bills. If they expect to do something good this year, they must start now. Bills win 17-16.

Cleveland at Cincinnati: If I told you before week 1 that the Browns would play a better game than the Bengals, you would laugh at me. Yes, the Browns didn't put up good numbers but they were a heck of a lot closer to winning their game than the Bengals were. the Bengals looked good for the first half, then the Ravens blew it open. Cincinnati wins this 21-7.

Minnesota at Indianapolis: Adrian Peterson looked good and sounds like he feels good to. Luck had a decent game. He definitely looked like a rookie though. The Indianapolis defense looked abysmal. Minnesota wins this 34-17.

New Orleans at Carolina: Both teams are coming off of loses were they just underestimated the other team. Yes, I think Carolina is a better team than the Buccaneers but I chose the Bucs because I knew they were looking ahead to other games on their schedule, such as this one. New Orleans is also way better than they played last week. Never should have lost that game. I do have to give credit to RG3, rest of redskins team, and the Bucs. They went out and won those games. Cam Newton will not have the same season that he had last year. I never believed in him and still have yet to do so. New Orleans wins this, 28-24.

Houston at Jacksonville: How much is needed to say about this? Houston wins 35-17.

Oakland at Miami: Oakland didn't beat the Chargers last week, but they will beat the Dolphins. They are just simply a better team. 21-12 Oakland.

Arizona at New England: One of the many games that New England shouldn't have to much to worry about. They know how to get things done. Business as usual for the Patriots 38-17.

Tampa Bay at NY Giants: The Giants are a way better team than they played last week. They went out and got their butts handed to them. The defending Superbowl champs will get off of their hangover and beat the Bucs. NY Giants 21, Bucs 13.

Baltimore at Philadelphia: This is how I see it; The Ravens looked great last week, and the Eagles looked horrendous. If anyone has noticed yet, I am an Eagles fan. I am sure some of my bias has shown. As much as it hurts to say this, the Ravens will come into Lincoln Financial Field and win this game. Why? They will win it because that defense knows what they are doing. Vick will be under pressure all night and probably throw another INT or two. Ravens win 24-17.

Washington at St. Louis: Both teams played well last week. They both played teams that are better than them. The only difference is that one team won, and another lost. I think the Rams will have a good year, but they aren't winning this one. Washington takes this one 30-20.

Dallas at Seattle: Russell Wilson played well last week. Unfortunately he couldn't get the win. This is definitely a good sign for Seattle fans. Dallas will win this game though. Romo, coming off one of the better games of his career, will command this game. Demarco will run the ball well and the play action will be working nicely. Dallas wins 24-13.

NY Jets at Pittsburgh: This is an interesting matchup. The Jets are coming off of a huge win, while the Steelers just lost a huge game to the Broncos. On paper, the Steelers would win this game, but after last week can they. I might be over-reacting to the Jets win, but they played VERY well. I honestly don't know what team to pick here. I will go with the Steelers because it is at home, 21-20.

Tennessee at San Diego: San Diego played well last week while the Titans didn't. The Chargers will win this game because they are a better team. Watch out for Jake Locker though. He showed flashes of greatness against the Patriots. San Diego wins 17-14.

Detroit at San Francisco: At midseason, this would be a great game. Both teams will have hit their strides by then. The only problem is that it isn't. The 49ers looked great last week, but the Lions didn't. They almost, and probably should have, lost to the Rams. They got away with one. Don't expect them to get away with this one though. The 49ers are one of the best teams in the league. 49ers top the Lions 21-17.


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