It's Sweeps Time for the Nielsen ratings, which means it's time for the annual Indianapolis/New England regular season matchup. Brady vs. Manning, Colts vs. Patriots. It's an annual AFC Championship game preview that usually never disappoints. This year will be no exception. Indy and New England are 1st and 2nd respectively in scoring defense in the league. Add in the fact that Indianpolis is 8-0 right now and this has all the markings of an instant classic. This is the sixth undefeated team that New England has faced this year in nine games. I might be making this pick with my heart being a Patriots fan, but with the injuries that the Colts are dealing with on defense, I'm picking New England 38, Indianpolis 24.
Speaking of sweeps, the Cincinnati Bengals are looking for their second season sweep in two weeks when they travel to Pittsburgh to face the Steelers. Marvin Lewis has put the kibosh on Chad Ochocinco's plan to send the Steelers' secondary bottles of mustard. I think the emergence of Rashard Mendenhall for the Steelers is huge in this matchup, as he wasn't a big factor in their first meeting. In a close game, I'm picking the Steelers to win at home, 24-20.
The first Thursday night matchup of the year brings us the Chicago Bears traveling to San Francisco to face the 49ers in what is being billed as the Mike Singletary Bowl. Vernon Davis has already caused waves by trash talking the Bears, and the 49ers have yet to win after signing star wide receiver Michael Crabtree. The Bears looked dreadful against the Cardinals last week, and coming into a short week, I don't see any reason why things will be any different. 49ers blowout the Bears, 33-10.
Quick hits for the rest of the week:
Denver at Washington: This is going to be ugly for the Redskins. Broncos are looking to rebound from consecutive losses. Denver 42, Washington 6.
Jacksonville at New York Jets: Jacksonville has improved with the play of Maurice Jones-Drew, and the Jets are still hard to figure out. For some reason, I think the Jags pull off the upset, 21-17.
Buffalo at Tennessee. Vince Young is 2-0 for the Titans. The Bills have won two games all season. Vince goes to 3-0, Titans win 23-3.
New Orleans at St. Louis. A scrimmage for the Saints this week. No chance of an upset for the Rams here, as the Saints win big 49-13.
Tampa Bay at Miami. Tampa is coming off their first win of the season against Green Bay, and they don't have to travel far to face the Dolphins. The 'Fins didn't look impressive against New England last week offensively. I'm going on the board for a Buccaneers upset here, 16-10.
Detroit at Minnesota. Detroit got Calvin Johnson back last week, but still looked awful. Minnesota is coming off a very well timed bye week. Vikings win a game that will be closer than it should be, 27-21.
Atlanta at Carolina. Atlanta needs this win to have a chance to make the playoffs, as they have struggled in recent weeks. As long as Jake Delhomme is still the starting quarterback, I won't pick the Panthers. Atlanta bounces back, 30-13.
Kansas City at Oakland. This game has the potential to be a worst game of the year candidate. One of these teams has to win, however. Or do they? As much as I want to call for a tie, I'm not going to do that. Kansas City 10, Oakland 6.
Dallas at Green Bay. The Cowboys have run off five straight wins, while the Packers just lost to previously winless Tampa Bay. The Packers offensive line is a sieve, and the Cowboys will exploit that. Dallas 28, Green Bay 20.
Philadelphia at San Diego. The Chargers have charged back into the AFC West race thanks to the Broncos losing two straight, and the Eagles have fallen back into second in the NFC East after their loss to Dallas. A must win for the Eagles, but I don't think they will. Chargers win a close affair, 24-23.
Seattle at Arizona. Kurt Warner is coming off a 5 TD performance last week against the Bears overrated defense. The Seahawks aren't as good. Arizona gets their second home win big, 38-14.
Baltimore at Cleveland (Monday night): Baltimore looked bad against Cincinnati for the second time this year. The Browns would look bad against Cleveland State right now. Baltimore wins big 30-7.
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