We’re officially three weeks into the season, and nobody knows what is going on yet. The one constant that exists is my sage advice and knowledge, so here are my picks for the week.
Baltimore Ravens (0-3) at Pittsburgh Steelers (2-1)
Ben Roethlisberger is out … for a while. If I were a Steelers fan, or was allowed to curse, in an article, this would be the applicable time. Nonetheless, if there were a week for Roethlisberger to be injured, this would be the perfect one. Luckily for the Steelers, not only do they host a 0-3 Ravens team, but their offense is also filled with superstars who can help carry Michael Vick enough to escape with a win. Vick is a wildcard, but regardless, it’s easy to say that he’ll have a few turnovers here and there. With the help of Antonio Brown, Le’Veon Bell and 50,000 terrible towels in the stands, Pittsburgh should be able to overcome any troubles from the Ravens.
Where to even begin with the Ravens … I guess I can say that they almost won last weekend. In all three of their losses this season, the Ravens have lost by a combined 14 points. However, despite their week one 19-13 loss, the Ravens’ defense looks like it couldn’t stop a common cold. The Ravens let up 37 points to the Raiders in week two and 28 points to the Bengals this past weekend. The sad part about both contests is that the Ravens lose them — in the last three minutes of play. Sadly, I think this weekend’s game will be over before the fourth quarter.
Ravens 21 Steelers 24
Green Bay Packers (3-0) at San Francisco 49ers (1-2)
Everyone knew that this season would be a struggle for the 49ers, but oh my God is it worse than I could have ever predicted. Watching Colin Kaepernick throw two pick-sixes in the first six minutes of the game — one of which was on his first pass of the game — nearly had my jaw on the floor. After their 20-3 win in week one, the 49ers were outscored by 65 points over the past two weeks.
It’s a good thing that the 49ers are hosting the red-hot Packers! Aaron Rodgers looked MVP-worthy in last week’s 38-28 win over the Chiefs as he threw for 333 yards and five touchdowns. In fact, one sports talk show even compared Rodgers to Michael Jordan … I can go on and on about how this game is going to be the equivalent of a monsoon on the 49ers’ defense, but I’ll end my comments with this score:
Packers 41 49ers 13
Philadelphia Eagles (1-2) at Washington Redskins (1-2)
NFC East matchups are always interesting because no matter how well one team is playing and how poorly the other is, games could go in any direction. Picking that direction is always a huge question mark. On one hand, the Eagles are coming off of their first win, a game during which they looked slightly better than they did in their first two appearances of the season. Philadelphia’s running game got going as Ryan Matthews racked up 108 yards on 25 carries. Darren Sproles struggled out of the backfield with only 11 carries for 17 yards but did manage to break into the end zone on a one-yard run in the second quarter. Earlier in the same quarter, Sproles returned a punt 89 yards for a touchdown to help guide Philadelphia to a 24-0 lead.
Washington comes into week four as the home team after a 32-21 loss to the Giants that was much worse than the score shows. Kirk Cousins was forced to throw the ball 49 times as Washington’s running game could not get anything going against the then win-less Giants. Washington is in the middle of an identity crisis; nobody knows whether Matt Jones or Alfred Morris is the starting back.
During week one, Morris rushed for over 100 yards while in week two, Jones rushed for over 100 yards. In week three, neither of them rushed for over 50 yards. Washington needs to figure it out soon, but until then, their defense needs to try to get ready for the high-speed Eagles offense.
Eagles 30 Redskins 13
Kansas City Chiefs (1-2) at Cincinnati Bengals (3-0)
If you’ve been reading my column and are waiting for this week’s upset alert, this is it. No, I don’t think that the Bengals are bad by any means. However, I do think that the Chiefs have the ability to knock them off at home. The Chiefs are 1-2 but could almost be 2-1 or even 3-0 if they had gotten a little bit of luck. Cincinnati’s passing game has ben great so far, but I think that after seeing two weeks of great passing offenses (the Packers and Broncos), the Chiefs will be able to make the adjustments necessary to shut down A.J. Green. That, coupled with the fact that Kansas City’s front-line has been successful in stopping the run, I really do think that they have a potential chance to steal one in Cincinnati.
Chiefs 27 Bengals 23
Last Week’s Record: 4-1
Season Record: 8-4
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