My week 3 Preview/Prediction

I have been asked to write a weekly preview/prediction article followed by weekly recaps of the NFL for a local website here in middle Tennesee. Here is my first one. What do you think? Comments and suggestions welcome.

Week 3 Preview:

Kansas City at Philadelphia - The Eagles get a break this week with the Chiefs coming to town. McNabb did not practice Wednesday and I would not expect him to play. Of course Philadelphia will have the services of Micheal Vick but he will not start the game. I would expect to see him play quite a few plays, perhaps even series of possessions. The Chiefs are not very good so its smart to just sit Donovan and get an easy win with the back up QB's.

Prediction: 2 TD's forVick, one passing, one rushing. Philadelphia 24 - Chiefs 10

Cleveland at Baltimore - Want to hear a little secret? The Baltimore Ravens have a pretty good offense. It also seems that the defense has not lost much with the departure of some starters and the Defensive Coordinator. 2nd year QB Joe Flacco continues to improve and has added a pretty good long ball to his array of throws. I hate to say it, but I think the Ravens are an early favorite to make the Superbowl. Brady Quinn is learning that the dream of playing for his hometown team may not be all its cracked up to be. Cleveland is a solid football team but no way they beat the Ravens on the road.

Prediction: Its even easier then the score reflects. Ravens 28 - Browns 14

New York Giants at Tampa Bay - You know, I watched Tampa Bay play Miami in the Preseason, and have watched both regular season games. I really think this team can be really good. Not playoff contender good, but as the year goes on this could be a very dangerous spoiler team for any playoff hopefull that finds Tampa on thier schedule late in the season. The Giants are the class of the NFC and may be the best team in football.

Prediction: Tampa may keep it close early, but the Giants pull away and win big. Giants 35 - Buccaneers 14

Atlanta at New England - I won't lie, I will be rooting for the Falcons here. Atlanta is 3-0 and riding into New England very confident. Matt Ryan continues to shine and Tony Gonzalez has fit right in to this Falcons offense. New England will have a real chip on thier shoulders. A full week of listening to how the Jets smacked them in the mouth last weekend will have the Patriots fired up! But I have watched New England and they have "come back to the pack". They are not the dominate team they once were. Their Defense is mid level ok and Tom Brady still doesn't look like Tom Brady.

Prediction: On a last second field goal. Falcons 24 - Patriots 21

Tennesee at New York Jets - This is the game of the week in my opinion!! Can't wait for this game. Coach Fisher will have the Titans foaming and willing to do whatever to avoid a 0-3 start. This will be a huge task for the Titans. The Jets are off to a suprising 2-0 start and playing at home in front of a crowd still giddy over thier win against the Patriots. They will be loud and it will be crazy in New York. What a defense the Jets suddenly have. Thier Offense shouldn't scare anybody, but it is capable of being productive.

Prediction: The Jets have a hangover from all the parties after beating the Patriots. Titans 17 - Jets 14

Green Bay at St. Louis - The sting of last weeks loss to the Bears will wear off quickly for the Packers at they travel to play the Rams this week. St Louis found thier running game last week but it still did not allow them to pull out a win. It won't this week either.

Prediction: Green Bay plays mad and win easily. Packers 28 - Rams 10

San Fransisco at Minnesota - This is another don't miss if you can help it game in week 3. 2-0 Minnesota vs the 2-0 49ers. Mike Singletary has been very impressive since taking over the head coach duties in San Fansisco. This team plays with a new attitude and intensity that makes them a pretty good football team. Of course, Minnesota continues to utlize Brett Favre in the game manager mode and limiting how many times he has to throw the ball early in the season. Good strategy considering Favre's let down late last year. A successfull strategy when you have the likes of Adrian Peterson to hand the ball to.

Prediction: Really wanted to pick this as my upset special but Peterson runs all day long. VIKINGS 35 - 49ERS 28

Jacksonville at Houston - Jacksonville has looked terrible for the first 2 weeks of the season and have an 0-2 record to show for it. Houston lost to a surprising Jets team in week one, then upset the Titans last week. However, this being a division game I give the Jaguars a shot at pulling out the win.

Prediction: O.k. I was joking. Texans 24 - Jaguars -10

Washington at Detroit - The Redskins won last week but, then again, they played the Rams in a 9-7 yawn fest. I think this team and staff are in big trouble. Detroit play Minnesote tough and even led at half time.

Pediction: THIS WEEKS UPSET SPECIAL: The Lions get thier first win in 19 games! Lions 17 - Redskins 10

Chicago at Seattle - Jay Cutler found his rythm in week 2 and look like the QB the Bears were hoping he would be when they traded for him. Seattle is sitting at 1-1 and Hasselbeck is questionable. I actually like Seattle's chances more if backup Senaca Wallace plays. Something about that kid I like. The few times I have seen him play, he seemed very exciting.

Prediction: Jay Cutler continues to give the Bears visions of playoffs this year. Bears 28 - Seahawks 17

New Orleans at Buffalo - Ok Mr. Owens and the Buffalo Bills, time so see what you got. Ok New Orleans Saints, time to see what you got. The team that wins this game, in my eyes, is the real deal. At least of these two. Buffalo loses in typical Bills style against New England in week one and followed it up with a solid performance against the Bucs. Drew Bress lit up both Detroit and Philadelphia during the first 2 weeks of the season. This is the part of the season things start to kind of take shape. This is the kind of game the will clear things up some.

Prediction: Man, I like Drew Brees! Kinda reminds me of Marino (Little tear in my eye). Saints 38 - Bills 14

Miami at San Diego - Ok, you would find out eventually. I AM A DIEHARD MIAMI DOLPHINS FAN!!!. Got the Tattoo to prove it. I live here in Tennessee and root hard for the Titans, unless they play the Fins. But..... This is surely a must win for the Dolphins. I am not sure how they will respond to losing after dominating the Colts. But, if coach Saprano is who I think he is.........they will come out firing on both sides of the ball. The San Diego Chargers are another question mark in my eyes. Yeah, they have the talent to go deep into the playoffs, but they seem to play up or down to thier competition. I don't think this team has the focus, early in the season, that a time needs to have.

Prediction: Miami knows this is an important game and will play that way. Dolphins 24 - San Diego 21

Denver at Oakland - I am not convinced that Denver is as good as 2-0 record might indicate. I do think Oakland is playing better football and has displayed Raider intensity on the Defensive side of the ball. Unfortunately, Jemarcus Russell just doesn't look like he is even close to being an NFL QB.

Prediction: Oakland will keep it close but Denver does enough to become a pretty bad 3-0 team. Broncos 14 - Raiders 10

Pittsburgh at Cincinnati - I am officially putting the Pittsburgh Steelers on upset alert. Yeah, they are still the World Champions, but I don't think they are as good as we thought they were. I also think Cincinnati is better then we thought they were.

Prediction: Since I already picked my upset special of the week: Steelers 35 - Bengals 31

Indianapolis at Arizona - The Colts got ran over by the Wildcat last week in Miami, but still won the game. Luckily the Cardinals are not a run first team. The NFC Champions were led to a win last week by the record setting performance of Kurt Warner. I think the Cardinals can pass as well as the Colts. Kurt Warner is not Peyton Manning, but he has much better talent to which the throw the ball. I think both defenses are suspect.

Prediction : He who gets the ball last wins the game. Cardinals 38 - Colts 35
North Carolina at Dallas - I think this will be a much better game then some people think. Carolina can run and pass effectively and they have a pretty solid defense. Dallas will pass the ball, but I think thier defense has some holes in it. This will come down to which Quarterback makes the least mistakes.

Prediction: Romo throws only 1 interception as opposed to 2 by Carolina. Cowboys 17 - Panthers 10