Chiefs at Titans
The Chiefs as of recently have been heavily struggling. Nowhere close to appearing to like the Superbowl contenders they were last year, the Chiefs now stand at a measly 3-3, far from the expectations of their rowdy fanbase. The defence seems wrecked with holes, barely holding on against the now 2-4 Washington Football Team. The Titans, on the other hand, are faring slightly better, albeit not by much. Coming off a big win against the Buffalo Bills squad, Titans seem to be on the uptrend. However, they will most definitely struggle in the defensive matchup, as they are plagued with issues of a poor pass rush and an injury-riddled secondary, which Patrick Mahomes will easily eat up. Accordingly, I predict a 28-24 win for Kansas, although the game could easily turn.
Bears at Buccaneers
The Bears, as normal, have been middling mainly on the downtrend. Last week’s showing against the Packers seemed mediocre at best, on both sides of the ball. The offence barely managed to churn out, with Justin Fields heavily under pressure, and the defence was exposed, with poor secondary schemes. The Bucs are almost the complete opposite. With potentially the most talented receiving core on offence and a star-studded front seven on defence, the Bucs should look forward to an easy win. A walk over for the Bucs this week, I predict a 35-14 win for the Bucs this game.
Lions at Rams
Another one-sided NFC matchup, the winless Lions arrive in Los Angeles to play the 5-1 Rams. Both teams look forward to the matchup, after trading their starting quarterbacks to each other in the offseason. On the eastern end, Jared Goff has had a poor start to the season at best, even being publicly called out by his head coach in the recent week’s lost. With an average qb rating of 86.9, Goff pales in comparison in the head to head against former first overall pick Matthew Stafford. Stafford has thrown 16 TD passes in comparison to Goff’s only 7 TD passes and a solid 116.6 average qb rating. Stafford’s head to head against his former team should be boosted by his defence, whom have performed well on all three levels both this current and past season. Look forward to a dominant LA win of 28-3.
Jets at Patriots
Another intriguing quarterback matchup. In this game’s matchup we have the 1-4 jets play the 2-4 Patriots. Despite their record, the Patriots have looked fairly strong as of recently. They have been barely edged out in the last three games, losing in last minute drives or overtime. Strong consistent performance from their newly drafted quarterback Mac Jones have only helped to boost the New England stocks. On the other side of the field is Zach Wilson, drafted number two overall in this year’s draft. The Jets have been struggling as of late, with failed production on both the defence and offence. Their offence lacks any chemistry at all, while their defence seems confused and dazed as of often. Even more worrying is the fact that their rookie QB will be facing up against Bill Belichik, arguably the greatest head coach in NFL history. For this week’s game I predict a win of 21-17 for the Patriots.
Bengals at Ravens
Arguably this week’s most interesting matchup. The Bengals, in contrast to recent years, have come off to a strong start, pulling into the game with a 4-2 record. They’ve been led by the Sophomore-Freshman duo of Joe Burrow and Ja’marr Chase, both alumni from LSU. Burrow places himself as one of the favorites for Comeback Player of the Year after last year’s horrific knee injury, while Chase surprises absolutely no one of the front runners as Rookie of the year, having already been awarded three Rookie of the Week awards only six weeks into the season. Baltimore’s defence looks to stop them, headed by the likes of Marlon Humphrey and Calalis Campell. They come into the game being boosted with last week’s excellent performance against the fire-hot Chargers. On the other side of the ball is where it gets more ambiguous. The Bengals’ defence can be best described as inconsistent. There have been flashes of success, but also moments of great dismay. Baltimore’s run-heavy offence has, however, been consistently successful. Who knows how the two will matchup, but Baltimore’s experience, especially coaching wise, should bring them out in a tight win. Prediction is a 31-28 win for Baltimore.
Justin,
This is very similar to Vaughn’s post, and I’m going to respond similarly. The Chiefs pick was brutal. They struggled to do anything. Mahomes really isn’t himself this year, and it’s really showing. I personally had the Titans winning, but I didn’t expect it to be by 24. As a Bears fan, sadly your buccaneers pick was right, and that was my pick as well. To say they looked horrendous this week is an understatement. It might have been the worst game I’ve seen them play in the last five or so years. The Rams pick was the same one I had, but it was much closer than I anticipated. This was largely in part due to the balls Dan Campbell had to run two fake punts and an onside kick, all of which worked. I’d also say Stafford has been nothing short of incredible this year. The Patriots did win, but by a whole lot more than we both thought. The Jets really just are that bad this year. No one saw the Ravens getting blown out, especially at home after a dominant win against the Chargers, another AFC contender. I have no clue what went wrong, but the Bengals look legit this year.
I love the passion!