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BwareDWare94
Where were you when the world stopped turning?
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Sunday: New England Patriots @ Minnesota Vikings
What to Expect:
When Tom Brady last ran into a Mike Zimmer defense, he was held to 6 points in a 13-6 Bengals victory with Mike Zimmer calling defensive plays for Cincinnati. Keep in mind that the Cincinnati defense in question was much more proven than this Vikings bunch. At the same time, Zimmer has made a career out of getting the most out of his players, regardless of their skill level (ie: late career Terence Newman). The Vikings defense has plenty of potential, but there's nothing special about holding the Rams offense under 10 points, especially when Austin Davis plays quarterback in the second half. Offensively, the Vikings have a plethora of quick play weapons that allow Matt Cassel to stear clear of too many deep drop pocket passing plays that reveal just how immobile the USC product is. With weapons like Peterson, Patterson, Rudolph, and Jennings, the Vikings are well stocked on offense. Look out for an eventual emergence by Jerrick McKinnon, as well.
The Patriots come to town at 0-1, which is unfamiliar territory for our Foxborough friends. They ran into a buzzsaw last weekend thanks to Miami's fearsome pass rushers against perhaps the weakest Patriots OL in quite some time. Tom Brady is still the second best quarterback in the league, though, and Rob Gronkowski is at least suiting up, this season. The Patriots also have a budding defense that, barring injury, will be special by season's end. Don't expect a Bill Belichick coached team to look as though they're 0-1 and not 1-0.
Prediction: Patriots 27 Vikings 23
I expect Belichick to push a gameplan that gets the ball out of Tom Brady's hands quicker, thus giving the offensive line a break against the blitz happy Mike Zimmer. Brady shouldn't end up planted on his ass nearly as much as week 1, and therefore won't turn the ball over. Minnesota will continue to show promise on offense thanks to New England's porous run defense, but Darrelle Revis will remind us why he's one of the best cornerbacks in the league by holding Cordarrelle Patterson without one single catch, and Matt Cassel will be forced to rely on Jennings and the likes of Jarius Wright, in the passing game. Minnesota's defense will show more good signs, but their beat up secondary (Xavier Rhodes has a groin injury--he might be active but I doubt he'll be 100%) will fold on some plays, giving the Patriots plenty of points.
Sunday: Detroit Lions @ Carolina Panthers
What to Expect:
Detroit, fresh off of an impressive performance against a re-tooled New York Giants defense, heads to Carolina to face off against a much better front 7, but much, much worse back 4. Calvin Johnson should go bananas in this game, I'm talking 200+ receiving yards bananas, and Golden Tate might even find the endzone, at some point. Unfortunately for Detroit, against a better team like Carolina, who knows how many points they'll actually score, even if they roll up the statistics. Defensively, the Lions still have question marks in the secondary, but solid play by Darius Slay and Glover Quinn will continue to provide some bright spots on the back end.
Carolina nearly choked away a win against Tampa Bay, regardless of how seriously Derek Anderson takes this shit. With an emerging Kelvin Benjamin, solid tight end, and dangerous running game, the return of dual threat Cam Newton should open up the offense a bit, unless Suh punches Cam in the ribs, which wouldn't surprise me. Defensively, the Panthers looked really good holding Vincent Jackson under 40 yards receiving, and keeping the Bucs out of the endzone, check that--off the scoreboard, until late in the game, says a lot about just how effective a fantastic front 7 really is. Davis and Luke are two of the best linebackers in the game, and those 2 alone make the Panthers worth watching.
Prediction: Lions 23 Panthers 13
I don't trust this Panthers offense, right now, and I really liked what I saw out of Matt Stafford on Monday night. I feel like the Lions might have turned a corner, which has completely blindsided me because I have never had faith in either Stafford or Jim Caldwell. Obvious improvements are obvious improvements, though, and to blindly turn my eyes away from the legitimately good team I saw on Monday Night Football wouldn't do justice to these pick threads. The Lions look very dangerous, especially if their defense holds up, and I see no reason why they won't look better against a depleted Panthers offense with an injured Cam Newton.
Sunday: New York Jets @ Green Bay Packers
What to Expect:
The Packers, fresh off of an ass whupping handed to them courtesy of the Seattle Seahawks, come home to face a significantly easier foe in the Geno Smith led New York Jets. Aaron Rodgers and his weapons are still very dangerous, and Packers fans can only hope that Eddie Lacy can play. Defensively, the Packers actually looked fairly decent against Seattle--I particularly loved what I saw out of Sam Shields, and Clinton-Dix had some nice plays. The Packers have liabilities at linebacker, particularly Brad Jones, but most teams end up looking worse than they really are in Seattle.
The Jets picked up a rather lackluster win against a bad Oakland squad, but 1-0 is 1-0 and Jets fans can only hope that Oakland is a little tougher on the field than they are on paper. The Jets have a nice rushing attack in Chris Johnson and Chris Ivory, and that attack will only get better as soon as Powell returns. Eric Decker will hopefully have a breakout performance soon, but with #7 throwing to him instead of #18, God knows when that will happen. On the other side of the ball, the Jets are very depleted in the secondary, which doesn't bode well when traveling to Green Bay.
Prediction: Packers 33 Jets 17
The Packers offense will be too much to handle for a weakened Jets secondary. This game will be in hand by the end of the first half and Geno Smith will struggle, throwing picks early and late. The Packers OL will struggle, at times, against the Jets front 7, but Aaron Rodgers is very mobile and should be able to compensate, most of the time. The Jets have some promise, but it won't be enough to pull off a win at Lambeau.
Sunday: Chicago Bears at San Francisco 49ers
What to Expect:
Fresh off an embarrassing loss to the Bills, the Bears roll into San Francisco to face a much tougher test. The Bears still have weapons all over the field on offense, and one of the best backs in the league in Matt Forte. What remains to be seen is if Jay Cutler can start to minimize mistakes or if he'll always be the same old, inconsistent Cutler. Defensively, the Bears have already held one team under 30 points, so that has to be a plus, moving forward.
The 49ers come into this game off of an impressive and decisive win on the road, though their failure to score in the second half against the Cowboys is alarming. Kaepernick is still wildly inconsistent, but weapons like Boldin, Crabtree, Davis, Gore, and Hyde will more than make up for it. As for the defense, the secondary held up fairly well against a Dallas team that has plenty of firepower. It'll be interesting to see how they handle Marshall and Jeffrey
Prediction: Bears 30 49ers 27
I think Cutler plays much better, and Kaepernick plays much worse. Marshall, Jeffrey, and Bennett will all catch scores, and the Bears will build a surprising lead that will give their fans a bit of hope, but they'll take it all away with a late game defensive collapse that'll nearly result in a loss.
What to Expect:
When Tom Brady last ran into a Mike Zimmer defense, he was held to 6 points in a 13-6 Bengals victory with Mike Zimmer calling defensive plays for Cincinnati. Keep in mind that the Cincinnati defense in question was much more proven than this Vikings bunch. At the same time, Zimmer has made a career out of getting the most out of his players, regardless of their skill level (ie: late career Terence Newman). The Vikings defense has plenty of potential, but there's nothing special about holding the Rams offense under 10 points, especially when Austin Davis plays quarterback in the second half. Offensively, the Vikings have a plethora of quick play weapons that allow Matt Cassel to stear clear of too many deep drop pocket passing plays that reveal just how immobile the USC product is. With weapons like Peterson, Patterson, Rudolph, and Jennings, the Vikings are well stocked on offense. Look out for an eventual emergence by Jerrick McKinnon, as well.
The Patriots come to town at 0-1, which is unfamiliar territory for our Foxborough friends. They ran into a buzzsaw last weekend thanks to Miami's fearsome pass rushers against perhaps the weakest Patriots OL in quite some time. Tom Brady is still the second best quarterback in the league, though, and Rob Gronkowski is at least suiting up, this season. The Patriots also have a budding defense that, barring injury, will be special by season's end. Don't expect a Bill Belichick coached team to look as though they're 0-1 and not 1-0.
Prediction: Patriots 27 Vikings 23
I expect Belichick to push a gameplan that gets the ball out of Tom Brady's hands quicker, thus giving the offensive line a break against the blitz happy Mike Zimmer. Brady shouldn't end up planted on his ass nearly as much as week 1, and therefore won't turn the ball over. Minnesota will continue to show promise on offense thanks to New England's porous run defense, but Darrelle Revis will remind us why he's one of the best cornerbacks in the league by holding Cordarrelle Patterson without one single catch, and Matt Cassel will be forced to rely on Jennings and the likes of Jarius Wright, in the passing game. Minnesota's defense will show more good signs, but their beat up secondary (Xavier Rhodes has a groin injury--he might be active but I doubt he'll be 100%) will fold on some plays, giving the Patriots plenty of points.
Sunday: Detroit Lions @ Carolina Panthers
What to Expect:
Detroit, fresh off of an impressive performance against a re-tooled New York Giants defense, heads to Carolina to face off against a much better front 7, but much, much worse back 4. Calvin Johnson should go bananas in this game, I'm talking 200+ receiving yards bananas, and Golden Tate might even find the endzone, at some point. Unfortunately for Detroit, against a better team like Carolina, who knows how many points they'll actually score, even if they roll up the statistics. Defensively, the Lions still have question marks in the secondary, but solid play by Darius Slay and Glover Quinn will continue to provide some bright spots on the back end.
Carolina nearly choked away a win against Tampa Bay, regardless of how seriously Derek Anderson takes this shit. With an emerging Kelvin Benjamin, solid tight end, and dangerous running game, the return of dual threat Cam Newton should open up the offense a bit, unless Suh punches Cam in the ribs, which wouldn't surprise me. Defensively, the Panthers looked really good holding Vincent Jackson under 40 yards receiving, and keeping the Bucs out of the endzone, check that--off the scoreboard, until late in the game, says a lot about just how effective a fantastic front 7 really is. Davis and Luke are two of the best linebackers in the game, and those 2 alone make the Panthers worth watching.
Prediction: Lions 23 Panthers 13
I don't trust this Panthers offense, right now, and I really liked what I saw out of Matt Stafford on Monday night. I feel like the Lions might have turned a corner, which has completely blindsided me because I have never had faith in either Stafford or Jim Caldwell. Obvious improvements are obvious improvements, though, and to blindly turn my eyes away from the legitimately good team I saw on Monday Night Football wouldn't do justice to these pick threads. The Lions look very dangerous, especially if their defense holds up, and I see no reason why they won't look better against a depleted Panthers offense with an injured Cam Newton.
Sunday: New York Jets @ Green Bay Packers
What to Expect:
The Packers, fresh off of an ass whupping handed to them courtesy of the Seattle Seahawks, come home to face a significantly easier foe in the Geno Smith led New York Jets. Aaron Rodgers and his weapons are still very dangerous, and Packers fans can only hope that Eddie Lacy can play. Defensively, the Packers actually looked fairly decent against Seattle--I particularly loved what I saw out of Sam Shields, and Clinton-Dix had some nice plays. The Packers have liabilities at linebacker, particularly Brad Jones, but most teams end up looking worse than they really are in Seattle.
The Jets picked up a rather lackluster win against a bad Oakland squad, but 1-0 is 1-0 and Jets fans can only hope that Oakland is a little tougher on the field than they are on paper. The Jets have a nice rushing attack in Chris Johnson and Chris Ivory, and that attack will only get better as soon as Powell returns. Eric Decker will hopefully have a breakout performance soon, but with #7 throwing to him instead of #18, God knows when that will happen. On the other side of the ball, the Jets are very depleted in the secondary, which doesn't bode well when traveling to Green Bay.
Prediction: Packers 33 Jets 17
The Packers offense will be too much to handle for a weakened Jets secondary. This game will be in hand by the end of the first half and Geno Smith will struggle, throwing picks early and late. The Packers OL will struggle, at times, against the Jets front 7, but Aaron Rodgers is very mobile and should be able to compensate, most of the time. The Jets have some promise, but it won't be enough to pull off a win at Lambeau.
Sunday: Chicago Bears at San Francisco 49ers
What to Expect:
Fresh off an embarrassing loss to the Bills, the Bears roll into San Francisco to face a much tougher test. The Bears still have weapons all over the field on offense, and one of the best backs in the league in Matt Forte. What remains to be seen is if Jay Cutler can start to minimize mistakes or if he'll always be the same old, inconsistent Cutler. Defensively, the Bears have already held one team under 30 points, so that has to be a plus, moving forward.
The 49ers come into this game off of an impressive and decisive win on the road, though their failure to score in the second half against the Cowboys is alarming. Kaepernick is still wildly inconsistent, but weapons like Boldin, Crabtree, Davis, Gore, and Hyde will more than make up for it. As for the defense, the secondary held up fairly well against a Dallas team that has plenty of firepower. It'll be interesting to see how they handle Marshall and Jeffrey
Prediction: Bears 30 49ers 27
I think Cutler plays much better, and Kaepernick plays much worse. Marshall, Jeffrey, and Bennett will all catch scores, and the Bears will build a surprising lead that will give their fans a bit of hope, but they'll take it all away with a late game defensive collapse that'll nearly result in a loss.
. Anyway, I did write it, and I really enjoy dissecting upcoming games to see what might be inside. I hope to keep doing this. I did write-ups for three divisions last week. I'm going to try to hit those same divisions again, but it takes a bit of time, even as a quick writer. 
