NFL Game Picks: Week 9

Well, I finally had my breakout week last week when my game predictions actually started coming true (thank you for saving me Matthew Stafford) as I went 12-2 last week on my way to a total record of 71-49 for the year so far. Can I keep it up this week? Probably not. But here's hoping! Week nine of the NFL season doesn't feature any real marquee match-ups, perhaps the most notable being Saints and Jets, simply because you have the story of two brothers facing each other on the football field. I mean, it's no HarBowl, but it's something! Last week it was the rich getting richer with many of the top teams in the NFL finding a way to win games again (funny how that works). Still, we are nowhere close to being done with this season yet, and several dark horse contenders still have time to make some noise before they hang up their cleats (I'm looking at you, Tennesee and San Diego). Those teams are still exciting to watch, oh, and those guys that are still undefeated in the land of barbecue are pretty fascinating too.

Byes this week: Giants, Lions, Broncos, Jaguars, 49ers, Cardinals

Bengals at Dolphins
27-20 Bengals
In the early parts of the year, both of these teams seemed like young squabs that were about to make the leap into AFC contention. Fast forward a few weeks, and these teams have gone in completely opposite directions, with the Bengals making the leap and the Dolphins falling backwards, due to an inability to protect their quarterback and said quarterback's refusal to get the ball out quickly. The Dolphins offensive line will actually be weaker this week as right tackle Jonathan Martin had a mental breakdown at the team facility. Expect the Begals front four to take advantage. In all seriousness, thoughts and prayers go to Martin and his family, in the hope that he is able to get help and counseling for his illness (because that's what it is).

Falcons at Panthers
31-17 Panthers
Like the game above, the Panthers have been on a tear and the Falcons can't get off the ground. The Falcons' offensive line is having a rough year, and the Panthers' scary front seven is probably way more than this group can handle. Matt Ryan will rebound slightly from his rough outing against the Cardinals last week, but asking Matty Ice to best Superman with the piece he currently has around him is a pretty tall order.

Chiefs at Bills
20-18 Chiefs
Another week, another win for the Kansas City Chiefs against a backup quarterback. Thad Lewis is officially starting this game for the Bills even though he suffered a rib injury against the New Orleans Saints last week. The Cheifs' pass rush is not going to be kind to that injury. The Chiefs' games have pretty much fallen into a routine at this point: not a lot of scoring, the game is close late even though the Chiefs have been in front most of the day, and the Kansas City defense closes the door with a big play to let their offense run out the clock. Expect more of the same this week!

Vikings at Cowboys
30-14 Cowboys
The Cowboys are going to be a little angry after their last second loss to Detroit last week. Luckily for them, next on their schedule is a team that's not too strong in the secondary, so Tony Romo and Dez Bryant should be able to work out their frustration to their heart's content. And did I mention that Christian Ponder will be starting again for the second week in a row, for no explainable reason? You're welcome, Dallas defense.

Titans at Rams
21-10 Titans
Coming off of their bye, the Titans should have a much healthier Jake Locker under center, while the Rams will still be putting Kellen Clemens out there. With competent quarterback play the Titans should cruise to a win in this game, as Clemens puts a good old Halloween scare into just about nobody on defense, while Locker has shown plenty of improvement in year three. The Titans are still in the thick of a playoff push, and getting their starter back should help them stay alive in the AFC South.

Saints at Jets
33-16 Saints
The Jets have yet to lose (or win) back to back games this season, but that trend may finally be snapped against the Saints in a great brother vs brother match-up on defense. Rob Ryan has been fielding one of the most surprising units in the league, and while Rex Ryan is fielding a much improved unit, his is coming off their worst performance possibly ever in his tenure last week against the Bengals. Unlike Rex, Rob is paired with an offensive mastermind in Sean Payton, and their partnership is what puts their team over the top and into the heart of Super Bowl conversation.

Chargers at Redskins
27-21 Chargers
The Chargers come out of an off week well rested and facing a reeling team in the Redskins, so expect Mike McCoy to have his squad ready to make a statement before they have to start squaring off against the Denver Broncos and the Kansas City Cheifs. Philip Rivers should be able to carve up the Redskins' weak secondary, and the balance the Chargers have been able to establish on offense should keep the ball in Charger hands most of the game. RGIII is coming off perhaps the worst performance of his career against Denver, and probably still has the bruises to show for it, so this week is probably not the week he breaks out in 2012 form. Operation Patience continues.

Eagles at Raiders
17-10 Raiders
Chip Kelly's offensive wizardry has fallen prey to poor quarterback play, and thus his much heralded offense has scored a total of three points in the last two games (the team put up seven last week against the Giants, but that was on a special teams play). The Raiders actually have sneaky talent on defense, and they should be able to flex their muscles again after securing a win against Pittsburgh last week despite little offensive help. Terrelle Pryor doesn't put up big points, but with this defense he really doesn't have to. Dennis Allen may be the man for the job in Oakland after all.

Buccaneers at Seahawks
27-7 Seahawks
This match-up seems a little unfair, as the 7-1 Seahawks get the winless Buccaneers at home, where they're practically unbeatable. The Seahawks have definitely had their struggles, but there's no way the Legion of Boom secondary is scared of what Mike Glennon might do to them. No way. The big (maybe only) thing to watch for this game is whether Percy Harvin makes his debut in a Seattle uniform. With Sidney Rice now out for the year, the Seahawks need Harvin to contribute quickly on offense.

Ravens at Browns
24-23 Browns
These are not the Super Bowl champion Ravens we are seeing on the field every week this year, and the defending champs would take a huge shot to the gut  if they lose to the Browns this week. Unfortunately for them, I see that happening. The Ravens ground game has been one of the worst in the NFL this year even though it was thought that the team had a potent one-two punch in Ray Rice and Bernard Pierce. The Browns front actually excels in stopping the run though, so don't expect anything to change this week. Jason Campbell gave a spark to the Browns' offense last Sunday against the Chiefs, and it's very possible he carries that momentum back home and uses weapons Josh Gordon and Jordan Cameron to keep these Browns rolling as one of the surprise teams of the year.

Steelers at Patriots
26-18 Patriots
Ben Roethlisberger has already called this game a "must-win" for the Steelers, as at five losses any more numbers in the loss column could start spelling doom for postseason hopes. Getting a win in Foxborough, however, seems like a much taller task than these Steelers are capable of. Their offensive line is getting no push for the running game, and that's the one area on defense where the Patriots are vulnerable. On offense, the Pats are still figuring things out, but the Steeler defense's age has been showing all year and they're not going to force Tom Brady into any mistakes, no matter how hard they try.

Colts at Texans
28-17 Colts
Both of these teams are fresh off byes in time for prime-time football, but only one of these squads truly deserves a national audience. The Texans season has been cruel to them, with multiple injuries and shoddy quarterback play dooming a pretty talented team. For this game, the Texans will be starting Case Keenum again, but the young starter may not have talent in the backfield behind him because Arian Foster and Ben Tate are both banged up. This game may not be that competitive, but it is an important eye test game for both teams. How do the Colts look without Reggie Wayne? And what do the Texans have in Case Keenum?

Bears at Packers
28-14 Packers
The Packers have owned this rivalry as of late, and with backup Josh McCown under center for the Bears that seems unlikely to change this time around, especially with the Packers at home in Lambeau. Aaron Rodgers has been dominating opponents recently with pinpoint throws all over the field, and rookie runner Eddie Lacy has been helping truck this offense along at a deliberate pace to give the injured Packers' defense plenty of rest. The Bears' defense has been struggling, giving up 45 points in its last outing, and their only silver lining all year has been their ability to keep forcing turnovers. Unfortunately, now they're facing a Packers' offense that has no problem keeping the ball on the ground, as well as the quarterback with the lowest interception percentage in NFL history. The odds don't look good for Da Bears to take back this rivalry.

NFL Power Rankings: Post Week 8

We are now just about halfway through the NFL season this week, and the pecking order in the NFL is getting clearer and clearer all the time. In fact, the top of the NFL seems all but certain, as the top nine teams in my power rankings last week went 8-0 last weekend (the Colts were on a bye). The top five teams in each conference seem all but set (but not the order), meaning that it will be up to just a few teams to fight for the number six seed for the playoffs. Since we are not at midseason, this week's power rankings will not only rank each team, but point out the major awards contenders for each team:

1. Kansas City Chiefs: 8-0 (1)
MVP: Jamaal Charles
DPOY: Justin Houston, Tamba Hali
COY: Andy Reid

2. Indianapolis Colts: 5-2 (2)
DPOY: Robert Mathis
COY: Chuck Pagano

3. Denver Broncos: 7-1 (4)
MVP: Peyton Manning

4. New Orleans Saints: 6-1 (5)
MVP: Drew Brees
OPY: Jimmy Graham
DPOY: Cameron Jordan
COY: Sean Payton

5. Seattle Seahawks: 7-1 (3)
DPOY: Richard Sherman
COY: Pete Carrol

6. Green Bay Packers: 5-2 (6)
MVP: Aaron Rodgers
OROY: Eddie Lacy

7. San Francisco 49ers: 7-1 (7)
DROY: Eric Reid

8. Cincinnati Bengals: 6-2 (8)
OPY: AJ Green
OROY: Giovanni Bernard

9. New England Patriots: 6-2 (9)
DPOY: Aqib Talib

10. Detroit Lions: 5-3 (11)
OPY: Calvin Johnson

11. San Diego Chargers: 4-3 (12)
MVP: Philip Rivers
OROY: Keenan Allen
COY: Mike McCoy

12. Carolina Panthers: 4-3 (14)
DROY: Star Lotulelei

13. Dallas Cowboys: 4-4 (10)
OROY: Terrance Williams

14. Chicago Bears: 4-3 (15)
COY: Marc Trestman

15. New York Jets: 4-4 (13)
OROY: Geno Smith
DROY: Sheldon Richardson

16. Baltimore Ravens: 3-4 (16)
DPOY: Terrelle Suggs

17. Tennessee Titans: 3-4 (18)

18. Oakland Raiders: 3-4 (26)

19. Arizona Cardinals: 4-4 (24)
DROY: Tyrann Mathieu

20. Miami Dolphins: 3-4 (17)

21. Buffalo Bills: 3-5 (20)
DPOY: Mario Williams
DROY: Kiko Alonso

22. Cleveland Browns: 3-5 (28)

23. New York Giants: 2-6 (29)

24. St. Louis Rams: 3-5 (23)
DPOY: Roberrt Quinn

25. Pittsburgh Steelers: 2-5 (22)

26. Philadelphia Eagles: 3-5 (21)

27. Atlanta Falcons: 2-5 (19)

28. Washington Redskins: 2-5 (25)

29. Houston Texans: 2-5 (27)
DPOY: JJ Watt
OROY: Deandre Hopkins

30. Minnesota Vikings: 1-6 (30)

31. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 0-7 (31)

32. Jacksonville Jaguars: 0-8 (32)

NFL Week 8 Tuesday Whip-Around: Trading Spaces?

The NFL trade deadline comes at 3 pm today, but if everything plays out as expected the deadline will end on a rather soft note. Not many big deals are expected to go down, as only a few teams can really justify giving up on their season at the halfway point and start giving away assets. Hakeem Nicks was popular trade bait for Giants' fans, but now that the team has won their last two games the organization can claim that their season isn't over yet (and somehow, it actually isn't). Josh Gordon was thought to be next on the block after Trent Richardson for the Browns, but after seeing his dominance the last few weeks, it will take a monster offer for the Browns to move him, and even then, would you trade away that kind of talent? The Vikings are listening to offers on Jared Allen, but if he leaves through free agency this offseason the team will still acquire a conditional pick next year, so their asking price will be probably higher than teams may be willing to spend on an aging pass rusher, who looks like he may already have hit a wall in terms of his play. The deal that makes too much sense to actually happen is Tony Gonzelez to the Chiefs, as he is wasting his final season sticking it out with the Falcons and he could actually have that one last shot at a title by returning to his original team (who could really use solid production at the tight end position right now). Tony has actually expressed openness to a trade, but the Falcons organization remains staunch in their position to not trade him, even though a playoff run seems impossible and Tony's retirement following the season is all but certain. Will that climate change at the deadline? Check at 3 pm to find out!

Now, the big takeaways from each game this week:

Panthers 31, Buccaneers 13

1. The Panthers and Cam Newton's hot streak continues! For Greg Schiano and the Bucs...not so much #still winless
2. The calls for Greg Schiano's head aren't going to quiet down anytime soon, and every week more and more of them seem to be coming from inside the Tampa locker room
3. Rookie Mike Glennon didn't throw an interception this time out, but his yards per attempt is an area in need of MUCH improvement. Without receiver Mike Williams for the rest of the year, he's probably going to struggle in that area for a while.

Lions 31, Cowboys 30

1. Matthew Stafford has guts, I'll tell you that. His last minute drive to give the Lions the win was sheer perfection, and his final QB sneak was pure genius. Pure genius.
2. Oh, and that Calvin Johnson guys kind of had a good day too (14 catches for 329 yards, second most in NFL history). Pretty soon, people may start talking about Calvin/Jerry like we talk about Manning/Brady.
3. There's been plenty of coverage of Dez Bryant's "blow-up" on the sideline during this game, but the actual audio of the event is sadly tame. Dez said he was being all positive with his teammates, and he actually was.

49ers 42, Jaguars 10 (London)

1. The 49ers just keep shoving the ball down team's throats, only passing 16 times but still recording a blowout win overseas.
2. Good news for Jaguars' fans: Maurice Jones-Drew looked good, rushing for 75 yards and picking up another 47 yards receiving.
3. The bad news for Jaguars' fans: They're as good at winning overseas as they are in the U.S.

Cheifs 23, Browns 17

1. The Chiefs had a scare at home for the second week in a row, but their defense clamped down and closed out the game again. Hey look, this team is still undefeated.
2. Starting Jason Campbell was a good choice Rob Chudzinski, a good choice.
3. Josh Gordon seems to thrive when the trade rumors ramp up, catching five balls for 132 yards and a touchdown.

Patriots 27, Dolphins 17

1. It looked like the Dolphins might actually stake their claim in the AFC East when they were up 17-3 at halftime, but an epic collapse in half two showed that they're still not ready to take charge just yet.
2. The Patriots' run game helped them turn things around, as Steven Ridley and LeGarrette Blount led the way to big points in half two.
3. The Patriots suffered another big injury Sunday, losing right tackle Sebastian Vollmer to a leg injury for the rest of the year. All has not gone well in Foxborough during 2013.

Saints 35, Bills 17

1. Rookie receiver Kenny Stills has scary deep ball ability for this offense, because yeah, Drew Brees needed more weapons.
2. Jimmy Graham still got two touchdowns with one bad leg, leading many of us to question why we stay at home when we have the sniffles.
3. The legend of Thad became the legend of Thud Sunday afternoon, as the Saints were able to put plenty of pressure on the quarterback, including two sack fumbles recovered in Bills' territory.

Giants 15, Eagles 7

1. The Giants two game win streak has them just two games out of the NFC East. That's somehow a fact after they started 0-6.
2. Chip Kelly's offense has gone back to crashing and burning, but it's really hard to succeed in this league when you don't have competent quarterback play (re: Vikings, Jaguars, Texans).
3. Matt Barkley actually moved the ball pretty well for the Eagles, but turnovers killed drives. That's life with a rookie, especially one that wasn't supposed to see the field this year.

Bengals 49, Jets 9

1. I dabbled Andy Dalton with faint praise last week, but there was nothing faint about his performance on Sunday. The Red Rocket threw for over 300 yards again and this time managed to add five touchdown passes.
2. Four of those throws went to Bengals' receiver Marvin Jones. I'm still not sure who this guy is, but the Bengals are probably happy to have him.
3. Rex Ryan said after the game that he was going to burn the game tape of this blowout loss. Good call Rex, good call.

Raiders 21, Steelers 18

1. Terrelle Pryor is faster than the Steelers' entire defense. That's why the Steelers are now up to five losses.
2. Give this game to the Raiders' defense. They got virtually no offensive help (and no points) for the entire second half but they still hung on to give this team its third win of the season, more than I thought this team would win all year.
3. The Steelers' offensive line is both bad and beat up, with their backups seeing plenty of game action against the Raiders. That's why rookie runner Leveon Bell could only muster a 1.8 yards per carry average on the day.

Cardinals 27, Falcons 13

1. Yikes, Atlanta. Matty Ice seems to defrost in the desert, as in his last two meetings with the Cardinals he has thrown nine interceptions.
2. Last year it was Alfred Morris. This year's sixth round running back gem is Andre Ellington, whose 80 yard touchdown run, despite minimal blocking, should seem eerily similar to Vikings fans.
3. Steven Jackson has been a pretty big disappointment for the Falcons this year, and the back may have run out of tread on his tires. His stat line Sunday: 11 carries for six yards, with a longest gain of four yards.

Broncos 45, Redskins 21

1. Peyton Manning actually threw three interceptions on two bad ankles Sunday afternoon, and this team still finds a way to put up 45 points. Simply incredible, especially because they only had seven points at halftime.
2. The Denver defense clearly heard their critics this week, putting on their best performance of the season. Von Miller looked like himself again, and that tends to help out a team.
3. RGIII was absolutely pummeled in this game and had perhaps the worst game of his short career before being pulled early. Operation Patience might be wearing thin in the capitol.

Seahawks 14, Rams 9

1. So this game came down to a 4th and one with four seconds left on the Seattle one yard line. Raise your hand if you saw that coming.
2. Outside of one long Golden Tate touchdown catch, the Seahawks had 55 net yards of offense in this game. That's scary bad ineptitude for a title contender, especially because the Rams' defense has bene a rather disappointing group this year.
3. How about rookie Zac Stacy taking it to the Seattle defense? If the rookie stays healthy he's emerging as a workhorse candidate for the Rams, carrying 26 times in this game for 134 yards.

Rodgers' Revenge: Packers Stomp over Vikings

Well, Sunday night was no 31-3 (the game in 2010 against the Packers that got Brad Childress fired), but Sunday night's game at the Metrodome will be an embarrassing loss in Vikings' lore, especially since it was Bthe last game of this rivalry at the Metrodome. The Vikings were actually competitive score-wise throughout most of the first half, with Cordarrelle Patterson's opening kickoff return giving the team an early lead. However, the Packers came back on offense to regain the lead, as Aaron Rodgers was surgical against the Vikings defense, always knowing when to strike and never letting the unit get off the field. In the end, Rodgers and the Packers never punted, the only two Vikings' "stops" resulting in field goals. The final score, 44-31, is not indicative of the wide disparity between these two teams, as 14 of the Vikings points came when a Packers victory was pretty much a guarantee, especially because the Packers' offense was unstoppable. Like last week, this week's game reflection is going to take on the form of a rant in the end, simply because the ineffectiveness of this team is universal. It's hard to grade individual position units when they're all failing. It's hard to judge offensive players when their quarterback gives them no chance. I wish there was more I could say about this team, but that's this team's reality right now. The #3 overall pick is where they're projected to be next year, and that seems well in hand. Start taking some looks at Mariota and Bridgewater.

Quarterback: D
Christian Ponder's numbers would actually suggest that he had his best 2013 start so far, as he completed two thirds of his passes and didn't turn the ball over for the first time this season, finishing with a quarterback rating of 90. The eye test however, shows how statistics sometimes lie to us. Ponder did not inspire confidence when this game was still competitive, showing no pocket presence and not pulling the trigger on throws that were there. To even put up offensive points while the game was still close, Ponder needed the assistance of a personal foul call and a very questionable pass interference call. In Ponder's defense, it's very hard to win a game when your defense never gives you the ball, though Ponder could have done more to give that defense a little extra rest.

The Rest of the Offense: B
The sad thing about Ponder's bad outing is that it actually disguised a decent showing from the rest of the offense. The offensive line played a decent game, giving Adrian Peterson room to run and giving Ponder what should have been enough time to get a pass off on most plays. They did take a few penalties that doomed drives for the offense, but this was still one of their better outings. Center John Sullivan did look shaken up near the end of the game, which could be an interesting injury to monitor this week. Sullivan has not looked like himself this year after being named to the Pro Football Writer's Association All-Pro team last year (not the Associated Press team though) and it may be time to give him a rest. The receivers and tight ends around Ponder also showed up to play, as Kyle Rudolph and Cordarrelle Patterson had some impressive leaping grabs on bad Ponder passes. Toby Gerhart looked great near the end of the game too in relief of AP (right before the trade deadline, no less). The Vikings aren't a bad offensive football team right now. They just have no quarterback to prove that to people.

Defense: F
The Packers' never punted. They scored 44 points. The Green Bay Packers didn't convert on 3rd or 4th down only twice during the entire game. Those two failures led to two field goals. The Packers held the ball for over 40 minutes during the game, because this defense could just never find a way to get itself off the field. The defensive line played well early on, but as they wore down throughout the game the Packers were able to run straight up the middle with Eddie Lacy and James Starks. The linebackers also initially played strong, but soon Eddie Lacy was bouncing off tackles left and right as he kept the ball in the Packers' hands. The secondary was as good as invisible on the field, as Rodgers' only missed five of his passes. On third down, Rodgers' was 10/10 for a 172 yards and a touchdown. There's just no excusing this type of play, as every level of the defense failed. The Packers came into the game banged up, with Jordy Nelson the only reliable threat in the passing game. Nelson ended up with seven catches for 123 yards and two touchdowns, though that was on the coaches as well as the players.

Special Teams: B-
The most exciting part of the night for the Vikings was by far the opening kickoff, which rookie Cordarrelle Patterson proceeded to take pack for a touchdown. Patterson showed great vision, speed and explosiveness, like he has the entire season, and even took another kickoff back past the 40. The Vikings' coverage unit though, gave up a punt return for a touchdown, almost negating the great positives Patterson provided.

Coaching: F
Yeah, this staff is as good as gone next season. The decision making by this coaching staff is baffling, and it once again led to an embarrassing prime time showing for this team. The decision to start Christian Ponder made no sense, as the team made it clear that it had moved on from Ponder, meaning backup Matt Cassel should get the start since he at least had played better in his two games of action than Ponder has in now four games. The defensive game plan seemed tangible, but was a complete failure. The Vikings ganged up on the run at the start of the game, to actually good success, but then the secondary could do nothing to stop Rodgers' on third down. As mentioned before, Jordy Nelson was the only reliable receiver for the Packers, but he was often left in single coverage, usually against rookie Xavier Rhodes. On Nelson's 76 yard touchdown catch, he was in coverage with linebacker Chad Greenway. Why the Vikings didn't have multiple people of Nelson is a mystery, as is their decision to not put their "number one" corner, Chris Cook, opposite him. Did I mention that nothing defensive coordinator Alan Williams did worked on third down? Because that's what happened, sadly.

Vikings Week 8 Preview: Hey, it can't get any worse, right?

The Vikings chose about the worse time of the season to have two back to back prime time games, as the entire American public is getting to witness their implosion. The Vikings take on the Green Bay Packers this week, and I'm sure when Sunday Night Football picked up this game they were hoping for a part two to one of the most exciting games of the season last year, when Christian Ponder actually won a shootout against Aaron Rodgers at home to put the Vikings in the playoffs (Adrian Peterson coming nine yards shy of the single season rushing record didn't hurt, either). The quarterbacks are the same for this re-match, but the circumstances couldn't be different. This time, Ponder isn't coming in to prove to fans that he's the quarterback of the future, because this organization has already said that soon he'll be a quarterback of the past. The Vikings aren't close to the playoffs this time, and if the Packers defeat them at home the Vikings will be practically guaranteed to be out of the playoffs with six losses, even though the season will not even be halfway over. Leslie Fraizer is already looking like a lame duck, and one more egg on national television will all but ensure the Vikings will be hiring in 2014. At this point, it would just be great if the Vikings didn't embarrass themselves like they did in the game that got Brad Childress fired, when the Packers romped the Vikings 31-3. As always, here's the key questions coming into Sunday's game:

Offense
Does Christian Ponder have any confidence in himself anymore?
Christian Ponder gets to start again for the Minnesota Vikings, but I think he's well aware that he's not starting because the coaches want him too. Ponder has been on the bench now for the Vikings' past three games and standing on the sideline probably did nothing to help his skills. Ponder's biggest issue during his tenure with the Vikings was a perceived lack of confidence, which caused him to struggle to push the ball downfield or make big plays, and that confidence isn't likely to have skyrocketed while he was riding the pine.

More importantly, does this offense have confidence in him?
Besides just Ponder, how confident is the rest of this offense? They are starting their third quarterback in as many weeks, and I'm sure that no one on this team is happy about that. Players have to be getting fed up with the organization and the coaching staff changing things up week to week, and it's pretty possible that the rest of the offense just won't want to show up Sunday night. I can't really blame them, I wouldn't be happy if this team was starting Ponder again after he led you to three straight losses. The players know that starting Ponder is a backwards move, and who knows whether they'll still give maximum effort for him anymore.

How will Peterson's hamstring hold up, if he actually gets the ball?
Adrian Peterson missed practice this week with a hamstring injury, revealing to the media that it's been tight for the past few weeks and it's made him tentative running through holes and blocks. It's been clear that Peterson is not playing the same as he was last year, but of course part of that has to do with the regression of the offensive line and play calling that takes the ball out of his hands. The Vikings decided to throw 53 passes with Josh Freeman last week in his first start and only give AP the ball 13 times, even though the game was still close late. Will the Vikings use their best offensive player this week, the one that was responsible for getting them into the playoffs last year? I sure hope so.

Defense
Can this team hold Aaron Rodgers to a non-historic day?
Aaron Rodgers' passer rating when playing the Vikings is the highest in history for a quarterback against a single opponent. Rodgers has simply had the Vikings' number since he took over in Green Bay, the only notable slip-ups being when the Vikings swept Rodgers when Brett Favre first game to town. The Vikings should have plenty of intel on Rodgers by this point in his career, especially when they play him twice a year, so it's up to the coaching staff to actually adjust a find a way to slow that man down. Is that likely? Probably not, but if this staff wants to keep their jobs that's what they have to do.

Will this team be able to slow Eddie Lacy down?
During most of Rodgers tenure the team has been known to be very pass-happy, but now rookie runner Eddie Lacy has stepped up and provided balance to the Pack attack. Lacy was injured earlier in the season, but coming off on the Packers' bye he is averaging over 100 yards per game and is pulling ahead in the offensive rookie of the year race. Lacy's emergence has been especially important because many of the Packers' receiving threats have been injured, and Lacy has been able to take the pressure off the passing game. In order to find a way to win this game, the Vikings will have to stop the run (something they're supposed to be known for) via Eddie Lacy, and ironically actually force the ball into Rodgers' hands more.

Will the defense be able to take advantage of the Packers' limited stock of weapons?
The Packers' receiving threats are nursing some injuries right now, as receivers James Jones and Randall Cobb and both recovering for this team while tight end Jermichael Finley actually just got released from the hospital from a hit he took last week against the Browns. With these losses, the Packers' receiving corps is dangerously thin, and they've been forced to rely on second year player Jarrett Boykin, who was undrafted coming out of college and only has 14 NFL catches to his name. At tight end, the Packers will be starting fourth year man Andrew Qaurless. Have you ever heard of him? Of course not. Rodgers is playing with as talent poor a group of weapons as he had his entire career, and the Vikings need to take advantage of this fact if they want to come out ahead Sunday. Can this secondary step up its game? Against Rodgers, once again, not likely.

This prediction piece may seem a tad on the negative side, and that's because I'm simply in a pretty dark place right now when it comes to this team. The Monday Night debacle was one of the worst football games I've had to witness in my entire life, and now a short week to face the Packers at home doesn't exactly smell of success to me. I'm trying to keep my heart in this season, but already it's extremely attempting to simply look ahead and marvel at the possibilities a new coach and quarterback could bring. It's very hard for me to believe at this point that this team is going anywhere, and I'm almost dreading sitting through this game. If you want a better football experience this weekend, check out Oregon vs UCLA. It should be a great game, and one of those signal callers just might be wearing purple in 2014.

NFL Game Picks: Week 8

All the injuries that piled up last week made a lot of game predictions go sour, and how the injuries play out this week might ruin predictions yet again! I can immodestly say that I botched my picks for last week, only going 7-8, because I thought games like Denver-Indy were slam dunk. Just like I thought Jets-Patriots would be with Gronk back in the fold. I also didn't expect the Philly offense to collapse in on itself after how well Nick Foles had been playing, because even before the team was forced to put Matt Barkley out there, hope for getting on top of the NFC East had been lost. Can the Eagles rebound this week against the now winning Giants, who have had a win streak under Tom Coughlin and Eli Manning of at least four games every season? Read below to find out!

Byes: Colts, Texans, Bears and Chargers

Panthers at Buccaneers
Carolina 28-17
Tampa Bay is at home, but I'm not sure that's a place Greg Schiano wants to be right now. The climate in Tampa is red hot, with fans erecting a billboard trying to get Schiano off of this team. This team has lost 11 of its last 12 games, which is scary bad. Now this team is going to have to contend with a hot Carolina team, with Cam Newton coming off the best two game stretch of his career so far. Newton has been on an absolute tear, and the Buccaneers defense has been floundering the last two weeks. That match-up doesn't bode well for Schiano, who may be on the street sooner than people expect.

Cowboys at Lions
31-27 Lions
Call me crazy, but I'm picking the Lions two games in a row at home, even though they disappointed me last week. This match-up could shape up to be a quarterback duel, as both defensive lines have played well but the secondaries on both teams have been pretty bad. The Cowboys had a good performance last week, but that was mainly due to Foles poor ball placement, there were still plays to be made. The Lions may still try to use a running game, something the Cowboys will struggle to do without DeMarco Murray, and so this game may come down to how well Sean Lee can cover Reggie Bush. Lee is one of the best linebackers in the game, but at some point Bush is going to be make him miss, opening up the game for Detroit at home.

49ers at Jaguars (London)
49ers 24-6
London gets its second NFL game of the season this week, and unfortunately they're probably not going to get a very good one. The 49ers are humming again after losing two games early on in the year, and there's nothing to suggest the Jaguars will even come close to hanging with them across the sea. The Jaguars are currently the worst in the league at stopping the run, which is not good when you're facing a team that ran the ball 40 times last week.

Browns at Chiefs
Chiefs 21-10
Jason Campbell will get his first start this year for the Cleveland Browns, unfortunately it comes on the road against a great defense. Sound familiar? It's pretty much the same situation that Houston faced last week starting Case Keenum, and while Keenum performed better than expected he still wasn't able to get his team a win. At home, the Chiefs pass rush has been lethal, and Campbell might end up having bad flashbacks to his start against the 49ers last year. Alex Smith won't put up that many points, but he really doesn't need to.

Dolphins at Patriots
Patriots 24-23
This is the game many people were pointing to in the offseason, as the Dolphins chance to take the AFC East from the New England Patriots. I don't see it happening for them though. The Patriots defense has been vulnerable against the run after the loss of Vince Wilfork, but the Dolphins haven't found a lot of success running the football, mainly because their offensive line hasn't been up to snuff. The Dolphins just don't look ready to take the next step yet, especially with Rob Gronkowski coming back for the Patriots.

Bills at Saints
Saints 31-18
The Bills had a great win last week with Thad Lewis under center, but defeating the Dolphins and taking on the Saints at the Superdome are two very different things. The Saints have let their anger and frustration fester over a week because of the bye, and odds are Sean Payton is going to take out his anger on Buffalo. Jimmy Graham may not be ready to go, but that shouldn't slow down Drew Brees enough to make this game close. Payton will most likely go back to his running game, which was very effective last game.

Giants at Eagles
Eagles 27-20
The Giants got their first win of the season Monday night, but anyone watching the game knew that it was hardly an impressive win. The Giants are on their fifth string running back. The team just doesn't look like it's trying hard anymore, they're just trying to get through the season healthy as possible. Meanwhile, Michael Vick will return for the Eagles, and he'll be eager to show Chip Kelly that he's a much better option than Nick Foles could ever hope to be.

Jets at Bengals
Bengals 24-13
The Bengals come home after a successful two week road trip, a place they haven't lost at this season. For the Jets, it's time for Geno Smith to look like a rookie again, and Mike Zimmer's defense will certainly help him look flustered throughout the afternoon. The Jets took to their run game against the Patriots in their overtime win, but the Bengals are too good against the run for that strategy to work again. The ball has to get into Geno's hands, but he's not trustworthy enough to hold onto it throughout a game yet.

Steelers at Raiders
Raiders 20-18
The Steelers have come out of their bye nicely, winning their previous two games, but Terrelle Pryor may bedevil this defense too much for them to win again on the road. The Steelers lack athleticism of the defensive side of the ball due to age, and so Pryor may be scrambling around all over the field Sunday while the Steelers try to catch up. Big Ben should have plenty of bright moments, especially now that he's supported by a running game, but Pryor may keep the ball out of his hands too much for him to put this team in a position to win.

Falcons at Cardinals
Falcons 28-24
This game was actually tough to call, as both of these teams have some major flaws. The Falcons defense has been rough this season, but at least this offense has offered hope despite some major injuries. Steven Jackson will also be returning to the Falcons, so the Falcons may be able to establish some form of ground attack to take at least some pressure off of Matt Ryan. On the other side, Carson Palmer has been anything but effective, and it's practically guaranteed that he'll give the Falcons a few freebies.

Redskins at Broncos
38-27 Broncos
The Broncos lost their first game of the season last week, but don't expect them to stay down for long. The Redskins gave up over 40 points when the Bears had their backup quarterback in the game, so imagine what Peyton is going to be able to do against this defense. RGIII's rushing ability may help him keep pace with Peyton, but the Broncos are actually solid against the run, and sooner or later RGIII is going to feed the ball to Peyton, who may have a hard time not scoring on this defense.

Packers at Vikings
Packers 34-14
Aaron Rodgers has the highest passer rating against the Vikings as any quarterback has against a single franchise ever. Do you expect this secondary to change that? There is an argument to be made that Ponder could repeat the success he had against the Pack last year, but there was build-up and excitement to that game, it was for a playoff spot. This time this team already has very little to play for, and even if Ponder tries to repeat his performance, this team just might not have enough energy to help him out.

Seahawks at Rams
Seahawks 28-13
The Rams wanted Brett Favre to come in and start this game for them against the Seahawks, even though he's 44. That should tell you how much faith they have in their backup quarterback situation with Sam Bradford done. The Seahawks are tough to face even with your best quarterback out there, and the loss of Bradford will be too much for this team to overcome for the rest of the year.

NFL Power Rankings: Post Week 7

Well, here we are, almost halfway through the season, and by virtue of being the only undefeated team the Kansas City Chiefs sit atop the rankings. Even more surprising might be the second team on the list, as wins against the Seahawks, 49ers and now the Broncos, all of whom have been atop these rankings at one point, have propelled the Colts to the #2 position. The Colts have beaten these three teams that have a 17-1 record when not facing Indy. Every time the Colts face a powerful opponent, the team elevates their game and gets a win. This isn't even the Andrew Luck show like people thought it might be, as the entire Colts' roster is contributing to their wins. Their defense is significantly better than last year, especially in the secondary. Robert Mathis is a defensive player of the year front-runner, and it looks like he's going to challenge the single season sack record. The Colts only have two losses after going through the toughest part of their schedule, and after the bye it looks like they're going to be able to clean up in the AFC South. Their toughest remaining contest might be the Chiefs, actually. Who thought a Colts and Chiefs game could be one of the biggest match-ups of the year? That game could have serious playoff implications.

1. Kansas City Chiefs: 7-0 (2)
Welcome to the top of the mountain Chiefs, you may not be up here long but you've certainly earned this spot. With seven wins already, this team is practically guaranteed to make the playoffs already, and now that the Broncos are in the loss column, they are actually in the driver's seat for home field advantage in the playoffs. Is it likely that they are going to be able to defeat the Broncos in their divisional match-ups? Maybe not, but there's definitely a chance. The Cheifs have a great home field advantage, and it's not impossible that the Chiefs could actually push Denver down to a wild card spot. Did anyone think those games would actually hold this much weight? Andy Reid probably did, and that's why the man's practically a lock for Coach of the year already.

2. Indianapolis Colts: 5-2 (8)
Just like the Chiefs, the Colts may not stay at the peak of the mountain for very long here, but they've certainly earned this spot. The loss of Reggie Wayne may loom large for this team, as Reggie was always reliable and was a fantastic leader both on and off the field for this team. It's been suggested that the Colts may try to trade for a receiver, but their stockpile of draft picks is already pretty low since they gave up a first rounder for Trent Richardson. No matter what, this team will persevere, as the Colts have been no strangers to hardship and still come out on top.

3. Seattle Seahawks: 6-1 (3)
This defense remains solid, but Russel Wilson is starting to become the story of this team. He's been scary good, considering that he's playing with a very poor offensive line and weapons that don't inspire envy. Wilson made some unbelievable plays on the run against the Cardinals, and he made a pretty good defense look silly, simply because there was nothing the Cardinals could do to stop him. Percy Harvin is also back practicing and pretty soon will be ready to help this team out. It'd be shocking if this team wasn't still playing well into January.

4. Denver Broncos: 6-1 (1)
Well, the Broncos aren't going to be the 2007 Patriots. Is that really so bad? This defense needs to spend the rest of the season putting itself together, as there's going to be a game when Peyton and this offense will be unable to put up 30 plus points. The offensive line is banged up right now and if Peyton can't complete passes the running game doesn't get going. The Broncos aren't going anywhere, but this team has issues it needs to fix and they're now going to have to regain the lead in their own division.

5. New Orleans Saints: 5-1 (5)
The Saints had their bye this week, resting after their last second loss to the New England Patriots. The over-under on how many times Sean Payton watched that touchdown pass this week is set around 30.

6. Green Bay Packers: 4-2 (6)
The Packers are still humming along in control of the NFC North, even as more and more of the weapons around Aaron Rodgers disappear. Jermichael Finley suffered what looked to be a horrible injury on Sunday, and even though he has now been released from a hospital there's still no definite timetable for his return. Rodgers keeps making lemonade out of lemons though, as he's now turned youngster Jarett Boykin into a legitimate threat on the perimeter. At the same time, Eddie Lacy is stepping up to pick up the slack, as the rookie runner has more yards than any other back in the past three weeks. Yeah, pre-draft concerns about Lacy don't seem so troubling now, do they Denver? (How's Montee Ball doing again?)

7. San Francisco 49ers: 5-2 (7)
The 49ers stumbled a little bit out of the gate, but this team has returned to its winning formula and now seems like it will be ready to defend its NFC title at the end of the year. The run game has returned to wear down opponents, and Colin Kaepernick is starting to regain his playoff form even if his receivers still aren't able to give him much separation at times. The defense is playing deadly as well, even without Aldon Smith on the outside pressuring the quarterback. The return of Michael Crabtree is still on the horizon for this team, as is the return of Mario Manningham, and with those two receivers back in the mix the 49ers are going to return to being one of the most complete teams in the NFL. What counted as "adversity" for this team was only a few weeks on the outside of the playoff picture. Now, they're right back in the middle.

8. Cincinnati Bengals: 5-2 (9)
The Bengals got a big win on the road Sunday, defeating the Lions in a close game on their home turf. AJ Green and this defense shined on the road, as only Calvin Johnson leaping into triple coverage could stop this defense from holding one of the most effective offenses in the NFL in relative check. Green made plenty of great catches, even though the deep passes from Andy Dalton were often poor. Dalton's defenders will point to his great stats on the day, but he underthrew a bunch of passes when Green was wide open. That's foreboding for this team's possible postseason future.

9. New England Patriots: 5-2 (4)
Well, Gronk is finally back, but this offense still has the same issues it has had all season. The problem is that this defense has now gotten much weaker without Vince Wilfork and Jerod Mayo, and it may no longer be capable of carrying this team while Brady and his receivers start to click. It looked like Brady may have started to develop chemistry with his young weapons, but on Gronk's first game back he targeted him 17 times even though Gronk didn't look like himself. This team is still on track to take care of the AFC East, but the Patriots have made it hard to trust them for the first time in a while.

10. Dallas Cowboys: 4-3 (12)
The Cowboys surprised a lot of people on Sunday, when their defense shut down Chip Kelly's normally explosive attack with a bunch of spare parts on the defensive line. The Cowboy's backups and depth on the line have played better than anyone could have expected, and they were actually able to hold Lesean McCoy in check throughout the day. Sean Lee looked amazing on that day, giving the Cowboys a defensive player just as valuable than Demarcus Ware. The Cowboys aren't firmly in control of the NFC East, but they certainly look to be the division's most complete team.

11. Detroit Lions: 4-3 (10)
The Lions lost a tight game at home on Sunday, and now they've lost the lead in the NFC North to the Packers. The Bengals are a quality opponent, but when you're at home these are the kind of games the Lions have to win if they want to be taken seriously as NFC contenders. Megatron played lights out, making some ridiculous catches, showing no ill effects from the knee injury that's been limiting him in practice the past few weeks. The major weakness of this team is still the secondary, as Andy Dalton was able to pick apart this unit from the pocket even though he didn't make perfect throws. The Lions are going to need to stop opposing quarterbacks if they want to try to compete with the Packers, but that doesn't seem likely anytime soon.

12. San Diego Chargers: 4-3 (15)
If you aren't taking the San Diego Chargers seriously, you should. Philip Rivers is first or second in every major statistical passing category, and he would easily be the MVP if not for Peyton being Peyton. Rivers is leading a flawed team to plenty of success, and his turnaround with Mike McCoy has been nothing short of miraculous. The Chargers may actually sneak into the AFC playoffs, and Rivers' offensive firepower may allow this team to actually compete with the Broncos in their two match-ups. The AFC West is hands down the best division in football, and the best part is the teams involved haven't played each other that much yet. The best is yet to come.

13. New York Jets: 4-3 (20)
It seems like every single week I alternate talking about a solid or horrible performance by Geno Smith. Instead of talking about a win by Geno Smith, how about the coaching job of Rex Ryan, recognizing what the Patriots are doing on field goal attempts? Ryan is definitely not a dead man walking in this town anymore, and he's brought this team to the edge of being in the playoff hunt. Geno Smith's guarantee that he was taking the Jets to the playoffs doesn't seem so crazy anymore. The last time the Jets had a quarterback that went around making guarantees, it worked out pretty well for them!

14. Carolina Panthers: 3-3 (19)
Cam Newton is playing lights out football right now, and he's brought this team to the brink of contention. Can he keep it up though? Newton has been one of the most streaky players in the NFL since he's arrived, but this year he's getting hot a lot earlier than normal. The Panthers will have to hope that Newton doesn't flame out anytime soon, as Ron Rivera's job security certainly depends on it. Rivera may be able to rest easy for a while though.

15. Chicago Bears: 4-3 (11)
The Bears got a pretty bad gut punch on Sunday, losing a key defender in Lance Briggs and their quarterback, Jay Cutler. This defense fell to pieces when faced with the legs of Robert Griffin III, giving up 45 points to a team that almost never scored in the first half coming into the game. The defense has lost a huge step with injuries and age, and they gave up a huge number of points even though they were able to force a turnover in the game. Can Josh McCown keep this team in game when a defense may not be able to support him? He has the weapons and a quarterback friendly coach, but this might be a little above a backup's pay grade.

16. Baltimore Ravens: 3-4 (13)
The Ravens, one of the most consistent organizations for the past half-decade, seem to be falling apart a little bit. Their offensive line isn't great, but there's no question that Ray Rice just isn't himself this year. He's lost some speed, and that's causing the run game of the Ravens to flounder. The Ravens are so far away from the formula that won them a world championship just this past year, which seems like forever ago already. Could the Ravens actually miss the playoffs for the first time in six years? They're going to need Ray Rice to get up to speed and balance out this offense if they want a chance.

17. Miami Dolphins: 3-3 (14)
The protection issues in Miami have become such a dead horse, but each game they play requires another beating. Your quarterback can't be hit as often as Tannehill has, and that's forced the Dolphins' hand this week in a trade for Bryan McKinnie from the Ravens. McKinnie had a great postseason run last year, but he did anything but impress in the regular season so far. This issue is not likely to be solved with a mid-season trade, and that issue might be enough to keep the Dolphins out of the postseason.

18. Tennessee Titans: 3-4 (18)
The Titans got Jake Locker back on Sunday, but he didn't quite look himself. Locker could use some extra time to heal, but there's no doubt that he's still an upgrade over backup Ryan Fitzpatrick. Locker is having a very impressive season so far this year, even though expectations were extremely low for him coming into the season. This Titans team has certainly exceeded expectations so far, and if Locker can get healthy and confidently lead this team the rest of the way, this team still has plenty of upside.

19. Atlanta Falcons: 2-4 (22)
Matt Ryan looked great throwing the ball around the Georgia Dome Sunday, even though both Julio Jones and Roddy White never saw the field due to injuries. This defense still does not expire, but Ryan looked ready to do his best to make sure the Falcons don't completely lose the rest of the season. Ryan may get some help this week when Steven Jackson returns, as this team still has no presence on the ground to speak of. The Falcons aren't going to be able to achieve what they hoped to this season, but it looks like Ryan will make sure they don't go down without a fight.

20. Buffalo Bills: 3-4 (23)
The Bills have been one of the most fun teams in the NFL to follow this year. The Bills. Every single game they have played so far has been filled with tension, and they have surprised many by winning games even though they've had a rookie or a practice squad quarterback at the controls. Thad Lewis has now won more games this year than Christian Ponder or Josh Freeman. Think about that, Vikings fans.

21. Philadelphia Eagles: 3-4 (16)
The Eagles had a chance to take control of the NFC East, but their offense came up short. Extremely short. Nick Foles left the game early with a concussion, and afterwards rookie Matt Barkley looked a lot like a typical 4th round rookie. Just not ready. Even with Foles at the helm though, this offense couldn't move the ball, which is embarrassing because the Cowboys have suffered plenty of injuries on the defensive side of the ball and the Eagles should have been able to take advantage. They couldn't, and going back to Michael Vick at quarterback just doesn't seem like a recipe for long term success.

22. Pittsburgh Steelers: 2-4 (24)
The Steelers are on the up and up following their bye week, taking out two quality opponents in the Jets and Ravens. The Steelers have little room for error the rest of the season, but they're certainly not planning for 2014 yet either. Ben Roesthlisberger has performed admirably with the pieces that have been put in place around him, as he continues to make classic escape plays when his line allows pressure to be put on him. Leveon Bell is healthy now too, and it taking the pressure off Big Ben with a reliable ground game. That formula may let Pittsburgh sneak back into relevance, though even one slip up could send their season tumbling again.

23. St. Louis Rams: 3-4 (17)
The Rams did not have a good day Sunday, and now their starting quarterback Sam Bradford is out for the res of the season. The team has signed Brady Quinn off the street, but none of the quarterbacks on this roster inspire much confidence, which could cause this team to fall down the rankings in the coming weeks. Sorry Rams fans, but this is a quarterback league, and you may not have one anymore.

24. Arizona Cardinals: 3-4 (21)
The Cardinals' defense did its best to get to Russel Wilson Thursday night, but there are just some things you cannot defend. Carson Palmer looked about the same as he does in every start, which is he puts up mediocre numbers and fails to stop turning the ball over. Bruce Arians has to be running out of patience, because there has been no improvement in Palmer's play as he grows accustomed to Arians' system. Did I mention this offensive line is still awful? You can't be excited to be a quarterback in Arizona right now.

25. Washington Redskins: 2-4 (27)
RGIII is looking better and better as the weeks go on, and putting up 45 points on the Bears Sunday was certainly a great step in his recovery. RGIII has also developed quick chemistry with rookie tight end Jordan Reed, as the pair connected often on the field, so much so that the team is now shopping tight end Fred Davis. Of course, this defense is still stopping no one, not even the Bears' backup quarterback, and even if RGIII gets fully healthy they may hold this team back.

26. Oakland Raiders: 2-4 (25)
The Raiders were off this week, so Terrelle Pryor had time to heal his body after being sacked 10 times by Kansas City. He probably had a few bruises.

27. Houston Texans: 2-5 (26)
The Texans season seems beyond repair already, as they've already lost more games than they did all of last season and have lost linebacker Brian Cushing for the rest of the season...again. The good news is that quarterback Case Keenum played very well on the road against the NFL's best defense, and he may at least be an upgrade on beleaguered starter Matt Schaub. Is that going to be enough to save possibly the most disappointing season in the NFL? Yeah, probably not.

28. Cleveland Browns: 3-4 (29)
Rob Chudzinski finally benched Brandon Weeden this week, announcing backup Jason Campbell will get the start for the Browns for the first time this season. Weeden has simply been atrocious as a starter this season, attempting throws that any NFL quarterback should know not to make. The organization has made it clear that they want to move on from him, as Weeden is already 30 years old even though he is only in his second NFL season. You can't do much worse than Weeden, and maybe Campbell will be able to give this team a tiny fraction of the spark Brian Hoyer did.

29. New York Giants: 1-6 (31)
Well, the Giants won a game! Did they look good doing it? Absolutely not. This team still tried to hand the ball to the Vikings, the Vikings are just too bad to take advantage of obvious Giant miscues. This team seems to know that it's bad. This is a team that knows it can go nowhere in 2013. They're just trying to stay healthy for 2014, and along the way they just happened to stumble onto a team willing to give them a game.

30. Minnesota Vikings: 1-4 (28)
No comment. Just....no comment.

31. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 0-6 (30)
Greg Schiano at least probably got a good laugh watching Josh Freeman Monday night.

32. Jacksonville Jaguars: 0-7 (32)
At least you're headed for a vacation to London Jaguars! That could be fun....

Monday Night Meltdown: This is a new low

On Monday night football, the Vikings lost 23-7 to the New York Giants. I thought we hit the bottom when this team lost to the Browns after they lost Richardson. I thought maybe being blown out by the Panthers coming out of a bye was inexcusable. Somehow though, the Vikings managed to top all of that Monday night, in one of the worst disasters the American public has ever been subjected to in prime time. This battle of teams that were a combined 1-10 didn't look like that kind of game. It looked worse. These teams looked like they each had negative wins. The Vikings thought that they needed to give Josh Freeman a shot to see if he was their quarterback of the future. Obviously you can't make that call after only one game, but the early returns aren't even close to good. Freeman could not hit a pass to save his life, and the same problems that Freeman showed on the field in Tampa seemed evident on the field against the Giants. The Vikings scored no offensive touchdowns, only scoring with a Marcus Sherels punt return. You would think then that at least special teams was a bright spot for the Vikings, but they also lost two fumbles on special teams returns. Did this defense play horrendous? No, but do you really give them that much credit for shutting down a Giants' team starting Peyton Hillis off the street at running back? I can't. I wrote that the Browns game was the kind of game that gets coaches fired, but then what does this kind of game do, when you show no positive signs in a game against a winless team that surrendered over 30 points in five contests already this season? If you can't tell, I'm sad right now. If you're a Vikings fan, you should be sad. You know who scored more points than the Vikings on offense this week? The Jaguars. And you know who we play next week? The Green Bay Packers. There might not be a worse day to be a Vikings fan than October 21st, 2013. I thought this team would take a step back this year. I didn't mean a step back from 2011.

Offense: F
Normally I go into specifics in this section, going position group by position group. That seems impossible to do this time around, that's unfair to these receivers and Adrian Peterson. Josh Freeman only completed 38% of his passes, and most of his passes weren't even near their intended targets. Freeman attempted 53 passes, and those passes resulted in only 190 yards. Freeman overthrew 15 of his passes in a game, an NFL record. The Giants' defense geared up to stop Adrian Peterson, and that they did, stuffing AP for only 28 yards on 13 carries. The offensive line could give Peterson no push up front, constantly losing the battle at the line of scrimmage and were dominated by one of the weakest defensive lines in the NFL. Freeman had few clean pockets, and was moving around all night trying to avoid pressure. So, the offensive line didn't play, and Freeman couldn't get close to his receivers. And even when he did, sometimes his receivers couldn't even come up with it, as Jerome Simpson dropped a perfect deep ball in the end zone. That's before even factoring the coaching. How do you pass 53 times and run with Adrian Peterson only 13 when you're starting a new quarterback? Don't you want to take pressure off the new guy? Someone explain that strategy to me, because it's way over my head. So, essentially, there were no bright spots on this offense tonight. None. Whatsoever. Wow.

Defense: C
This defense gave up 23 points on 14 drives Monday night. Seven of those points came when the Giants started a drive on the Vikings' three yard line after a special teams' fumble. That's not a bad defensive performance by any means. The Vikings didn't abuse the Giants, but they gave this offense the ball more than enough to try to let them make plays. They failed to do so. However, the defense still can't get off scot free for this performance because they still missed opportunities. Interceptions were dropped, including on the opening drive by Andrew Sendejo and a sure pick six later in the game by Marcus Sherels. The Giants had two drives eat up almost a quarter of the game clock because the defense couldn't get off the field occasionally when Eli Manning decided to be accurate. The front four still failed to generate pressure, meaning Vikings had to blitz far more often than they should have, especially because the Giants' offensive line is one of the worst in the league. The stats will say the defense played admirably, but they left enough plays on the field where they actually could have pushed the Vikings to an ugly win tonight, but they couldn't do it.

Special Teams: C
The Vikings had a punt return for a touchdown. They fumbled on a return. Cordarrelle Patterson took a kickoff 69 yards to the Giants' 40 yard line. The Vikings' fumbled another kickoff. Jeff Locke had several nice punts. Blair Walsh missed his first field goal beyond 50 yards. It was an extremely inconsistent night from Mike Prifer's unit, who in addition to the above highlights also caused a fumble on a punt return. The Vikings decided to give that great field position away however, when Freeman threw an interception a few plays later. The special teams' unit continues to be a roller coaster ride, even though it looked at the beginning of the game like this might be the one unit that could provide hope for this team. It didn't happen.

Coaching: F
Leslie Fraizer and this staff really want to be unemployed before the season is over. The only way they might make it to the end of December is the simple fact that no one on this staff may be capable of stepping in to handle head coaching duties if Fraizer leaves. Both coordinators will end up leaving with Frazier, neither one is going to be considered for the head coaching job. Does Zygi Wilf like George Stewart enough to give him the reigns of this team for the rest of the season? How am I asking that question when it's still October a year after we reached the playoffs?

And that's all I'm going to say about that. Go home and hug your loved ones.

NFL Week 7 Monday Whip-Around: Sunday Bloody Sunday

Since the Vikings do not play until Monday night instead of Sunday this week, this week's whip-around will come on Monday, to make up for that no post on Sunday thing! Expect a post recapping the action on Monday night either after the game or Tuesday morning, with hopefully some good news to report!

Sunday was one of the most tragic weeks on NFL action in a long time, with major injuries appearing at seemingly every turn. The Rams lost Sam Bradford for the season. Nick Foles suffered a head injury and rookie Matt Barkley had to step in for the Eagles. The Bears will be without Jay Cutler and Lance Briggs for an extended period of time. The Texans lost Brian Cushing for the year, and Arian Foster had to exit the game. Tampa Bay may be without Doug Martin for the rest of 2013. The Bengals lost cornerback Leon Hall. Packers' tight end Jermichael Finley looked like he suffered a very serious injury and even was taken to intensive care, but thankfully he was able to be released today. The last major injury on the day was a sobering one, as on a day of significant triumph for the Indianapolis Colts they lost star receiver Reggie Wayne, a future Ring of Honor member. Needless to say these injuries are far reaching and all will have a big impact of the landscape of the NFL. To what extent, only time will tell. As usual, here's the high points of each game played Sunday, recapping one of the roughest days in recent memory:

Seahawks 34, Cardinals 22

1. The Seahawks' offensive line is still struggling with injuries, but Russell Wilson made some magical plays outside the pocket to make up for it. 
2. Even though the score wasn't that close, Seattle isn't in this game without Wilson. Marshawn Lynch isn't the most important piece of this offense anymore.
3. Carson Palmer threw two more interceptions, giving him 13 on the season. He's not going to be allowed to keep this up much longer.

Falcons 31, Buccaneers 23

1. Matt Ryan looked sharp even with his top two receivers out of the game. Even Tony Gonzalez caught only two of Ryan's 20 completions.
2. Vincent Jackson and Mike Glennon have developed plenty of chemistry quickly, with Jackson having his second consecutive 100 yard, two touchdown game.
3. Tampa Bay's defense comes up short again against a weakened opponent. This unit was supposed to be strong with the addition of Darrelle Revis, but they've been extremely disappointing thus far.

Panthers 30, Rams 15

1. Cam Newton kept his momentum from last week going, only throwing two incompletions all game in an easy Carolina victory.
2. Brian Quick only had two receptions but was the Rams' best receiver, going from 97 yards on his two touches.
3. Sam Bradford went down in the 4th quarter and it's been confirmed that he's torn his ACL and is out for the season. The Rams are not scrambling for options at quarterback, and now the Rams may be forced to question whether they really can commit to Bradford long term.

Bengals 27, Lions 24

1. Two great highlight machines squared off here, as AJ Green and Calvin Johnson both made incredible catches and finished with 155 yards each.
2. The Lions had no turnovers, converted 68% of third downs, had more yards, and less penalties but still lost. Why? They went 1/3 in the red zone.
3. The Bengals get a huge win on the road against an NFC contender, and are firmly in the driver's seat of the AFC North.

Chargers 24, Jaguars 6

1. The Jaguars could do nothing against Philip Rivers as he only missed on four throws and averaged over 10 yards per attempt.
2. The Chargers are currently in the playoff picture as the #6 seed, which would be an amazing turnaround for Mike McCoy's team.
3. How about Mike Brown, an undrafted rookie receiver, going for 120 yards? The Jaguars actually have solid players at wideout, but the lack of talent on the offensive line and at quarterback has held these players back from more praise.

Bills 23, Dolphins 21

1. The Dolphins had one job during the bye week: fix Ryan Tannehill's protection. They didn't get it done, as the Bills had two game changing sacks.
2. Tannehill didn't help himself by throwing two interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown. The Bills have excelled in creating takeaways through the air, which is a big reason why this team has been competitive week in and week out.
3. Peyton Manning wasn't the only one who returned to a former team this weekend. Bills' kicker Dan Carpenter returned to Miami, who cut him this offseason, to drill a game winning field goal.

Jets 30, Patriots 27 (OT)

1. Gronk is back!! In his first game back the tight end was targeted 17 times, just in case you didn't already know how much Tom Brady missed him. Gronk did show some rust though, dropping a few balls and only hauling in eight of those 17 targets.
2. The Jets took to the ground often, starting by giving Chris Ivory the ball 34 times (for 104 yards). The Jets ran 11 straight times in overtime, as they still don't trust Geno Smith to avoid a bad rookie mistake (he did have a pick six on an otherwise solid day).
3. A controversial 15 yard penalty on a field goal attempt in overtime gave the Jets a much easier attempt which kicker Nick Folk was able to hit. It's been confirmed that the referees called the play correctly, and it's even leaked that the Jets told the referees to watch for exactly what the Patriots did. Rex Ryan is on to you Belichick.

Cowboys 17, Eagles 3

1. Well, the Eagles' quarterback controversy ended quickly, as Nick Foles regressed and missed several open receivers, before getting himself injured when he should have thrown the ball away. Michael Vick will be back before long.
2. DeMarcus Ware will be missed, but linebacker Sean Lee has taken over as the best defender on this Cowboy defense. Lee is one of the best cover linebackers in the NFL and he gave up nothing in the middle in the field against the Eagles.
3. After making some rookie mistakes earlier in the year, Terrance Williams now seems to be the #2 receiver for the Cowboys, even if Miles Austin is healthy.

Redskins 45, Bears 41

1. RGIII is starting to run more and more, and the Bears were just giving him yards on the ground Sunday.
2. Jordan Reed was open all over the field Sunday, and the rookie tight end has played so well the team is shopping presumptive starter Fred Davis.
3. Devin Hester got his 19th return touchdown in this game, tying Deion Sanders for the most all time.
4. Jay Cutler will be down for "at least" four weeks with a groin injury. Marc Trestman's quarterback friendly system is going to be put to the test now that he is stuck with Josh McCown for a few weeks.

49ers 31, Titans 17

1. Jake Locker didn't exactly play poorly, but he didn't look completely ready and he could have waited until after the team's bye to get himself fully healthy. He looked rushed Sunday, even though the guts he showed coming back out was admirable.
2. Colin Kaepernick used his legs in this win, and he's starting to look more and more like the Kaepernick of the playoffs last year.
3. The 49ers ran almost twice as much as they passed in this game, and that's the winning formula they've returned to after some disappointing early season losses.

Packers 31, Browns 13

1. Jarrett Boykin stepped up huge in the absence of Randall Cobb and James Jones, catching eight passes for 103 yards. Looks like Rodgers is going to be able to trust this kid after all.
2. Tight end Jermichael Finley suffered a big injury on a clean hit Sunday, leaving the Packers another man down in their limited store of weapons.
3. Just bench Weeden already Rob Chudzinski, no one is going to second guess you for even a second.

Chiefs 17, Texans 16

1. Case Keenum gave Gary Kubiak something to think about Sunday, averaging over 10 yards per attempted with no interceptions on the road against the league's best defense.
2. Keenum's performance was even more impressive considering Arian Foster left the game very early with a hamstring injury. Linebacker Brian Cushing also went down for the season, and his loss last year signaled a steep decline for this defense. 2013 just won't stop beating on the Texans.
3. The Chiefs are now at 7-0 and in sole possession of first place in the AFC West. That's parity, ladies and gentleman.

Steelers 19, Ravens 16

1. The defending Super Bowl champions still can't run the ball, and with the Steelers bouncing back they're in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time in six years.
2. Leveon Bell did exactly what the Steelers drafted him to do: provide a solid ground attack as a feature back and take the pressure off Ben Roethlisberger. 
3. Even with a big win, this Steeler defense still is a big concern. They had no turnovers for the fifth time this year and only had one sack.

Colts 39, Broncos 33

1. Turns out the Broncos are pretty flawed despite their flashy records. Still, Peyton still almost brought this team back anyway until Ronnie Hillman decided to fumble the game away.
2. Peyton's return was well thought out and very special. Kudos to the Colts' organization for an amazing moment.
3. What an incredible job done by the Colt's defense on the night. They were able to get pressure without blitzing and their secondary was able to handle the Broncos' receivers man to man. Who would've guessed the Colts would have the secret to slowing down the Broncos?
4. The Colts have now defeated the Broncos, 49ers and Seahawks. Andrew Luck has already made this team a Super Bowl favorite again.

Vikings Week 7 Preview: Monday at the Meadowlands

So, Monday Night Football this week will feature two teams with a combined 1-10 record, but if you listen to Jon Gruden all night, you'll still think they have the best talent in the league. After their colossal defeat at the hands of the Carolina Panthers last Sunday, there's not much hope left for the Vikings this season. It appeared that they might have momentum coming out of the bye week and facing a pretty favorable schedule of opponents, but losing in spectacular fashion Sunday squashed any remaining dreams this team might have had. The future is now in Minnesota, and the rest of that season will be used to determine whether that future will include two individuals: Josh Freeman and Leslie Fraizer. Freeman will get his first start as the Vikings' cornerback against the Giants Monday night, and it's up to him to prove to the organization that they don't need to go looking in the draft for quarterbacks this May. Fraizer has to prove he can keep this team together despite the mounting odds against them and a lack of talent at key positions. Monday night is very much the beginning of another season for the Vikings, as in a way, 2014 has just about already started. Per usual, here's the big questions facing this team on both sides of the ball, as they try to squeak out their second win of the season.

Offense
You can take Josh Freeman out of Tampa, but can you take the Tampa out of Josh Freeman?
This will be the big question every Vikings official will be trying to answer for the rest of this season: was Josh Freeman struggling because of his situation in Tampa, or is he simply just a talented quarterback who has regressed beyond the point of no return? Before leaving the Buccaneers this year, Freeman was completing only 45% of his passes and his quarterback rating was 59.3, which would be last in the NFL among starting quarterbacks right now. No doubt Freeman is going to be a lot happier without Coach Greg Schiano hovering over him and with Adrian Peterson in the backfield, but he will have to prove that he's still got plenty of talent in his right arm, and his great 2010 campaign (25 touchdowns, six interceptions) was not a fluke.

Will someone give Cordarrelle Patterson the freaking ball?
This is not the first time a question like this has been posed in a game preview, and it's very annoying to think that it probably won't be the last time. The Vikings traded away multiple picks this April to draft Cordarrelle Patterson, completely taking themselves out of rounds two and three so that they had a chance to land the talented Tennessee wideout. However, now it's been almost six months since Patterson first put on a purple hat, and he's currently seeing the field less than Joe Webb. That's right, the former quarterback turned receiver saw more playing time against the Panthers than their prized first round pick. Even more perplexing is that the Vikings let this happen when they were getting blown out, an easy time to insert younger players on the field in order to get them some experience. Even if you weren't ready to give up on anything yet, when you're down you need some big plays, and isn't that the reason you fought so hard for this kid in the first place?

Can this offensive line make life easy for Josh Freeman?
This offensive line should have a pretty easy game Monday night, and it's their job to be a rock solid prescence for Josh Freeman in his first start while he gets comfortable starting for a new team in a new offense. This line is going to need to open up some holes for Adrian Peterson to take the pressure off Freeman, which should not be a difficult task, as the Giants rank 26th in rushing yards allowed per game. The line also needs to make sure Freeman is comfortable directing this new offense, and they should be able to give him plenty of clean pockets because the Giants have about zero pass rush right now. The team has only sacked opposing quarterbacks five times the entire season, and this offensive line is too talented to let that team increase its low total on their new quarterback.

Defense
Can this secondary get an interception without Harrison Smith?
Safety Harrison Smith has officially been ruled out for this game with a turf toe injury, leaving this team devoid of its only playmaker in the secondary. Without Smith, the unit has no interceptions on the season, allowing opposing quarterbacks to fire at will. Eli Manning comes into the night with 15 picks already on the season, but even he can't be that afraid of this secondary, especially when he's working with talented wideouts like Victor Cruz. The Vikings are going to need to jump on any mistakes Eli makes, even without Harrison Smith, as they can't let the two-time Super Bowl MVP get back in stride, because this passing game can still cover plenty of ground. Can the secondary step it up and not be a scapegoat in a loss for once?

Is Shariff Floyd ready to start taking over?
While this question does not have to be asked as loudly as the one concerning Cordarrelle Patterson, rookie Shariff Floyd has also not been seeing the field as much as expected, and Leslie Fraizer might find it would serve this team well to both get a young player some experience, and rest an older starter in Kevin Williams who may be better in shorter bursts now. Before the season started, Leslie Fraizer told the media that he expected Williams' snap count to be around 30-40 per game, but he's well exceeded that because of Christian Ballard's decision to leave the team and a knee injury that set Floyd back in the preseason. Floyd is actually rated better on the website Pro Football Focus right now though, and his pass rushing skills seem to have developed nicely under Williams' tutelage. Floyd could really do some damage against a weak Giants' offensive line that struggles to run the ball, and Fraizer might want to show the organization that he's got their back by putting the players they're highly invested in on the field.

Can this defensive line repeat their exploits in Pittsburgh?
The Vikings' defensive line should be salivating at the match-up they get this week, as the Giants' offensive line has allowed a total of 16 sacks so far this year on Eli Manning. After a great week in Pittsburgh where the line was responsible for four sacks, the line failed to pressure Cam Newton often in their blowout loss to Carolina. giving him plenty of time to decide where to go with the football. The line needs to step it up this week against a week opponent, especially to help cover for their secondary, who will be missing Harrison Smith dearly. Jared Allen looks like he's lost a step this year, but the Vikings need him to dig deep this game so they can force Eli Manning into making bad decisions and give Josh Freeman a chance to win this game.

Coaching
Can this staff get these guys prepared and motivated anymore?
The Vikings just came out absolutely flat after their bye week last Sunday, and that's just not typically seen in the NFL, particularly when you're at home against an opponent that isn't exactly considered formidable. Most disheartening in the big loss to Carolina was just a clear lack of effort from the players late in the game, as it seemed the team quit early on Leslie Fraizer. Now, it's fair to wonder, can he ever get this team back? The team just hasn't looked prepared for its opponents so far this year and now they're already all but out of the playoffs. Can Leslie Fraizer get this team to fight for him, or are most of the players already looking forward to the offseason? We'll see how hard the Vikings come out Monday, because how they do will be a deciding factor in Fraizer's job security moving forward.

NFL Game Picks: Week 7

Welcome back to the full edition of my weekly NFL game picks, complete with analysis and explanations! Last week, even though the picks were short, they worked out pretty well, because my Week 6 record ended up being 9-6. This week, the marquee match-up comes on Sunday night, as Peyton Manning goes home to the house and franchise he built, facing his former team and his successor, Andrew Luck. Much has been made of Colts' owner Jim Irsay's comments in the media this week, where he expressed his dissatisfaction with only one ring from the Peyton Manning. While I'm sure winning only one Super Bowl must be tough to deal with, implying that these comments were a slight at Manning is taking things perhaps a step to far. Irsay is aware that for a while, Peyton was this team. This team was often below average in many positions outside of wide receiver and quarterback, so the fact that they were one of the most dominant teams in the NFL for over a decade is a true testament to Manning's great skill. Irsay merely seemed to imply that had the team been more well-rounded and had found talent elsewhere, his fingers would be more decorated. Once Peyton left his team, the Colts went 2-14. Irsay's comments seem accurate.

Seahawks at Cardinals
21-17 Seahawks
The first match-up of the week pits two NFC West foes against one another, as the Seahawks travel to the desert to take on the Cardinals. This is not a slam dunk win for Seattle, as this is a game they dropped last year in Russel Wilson's NFL debut. Arizona's tough defense will make life hard for Seattle's mediocre offense, which has had trouble putting points up on the road. Even if the offense struggles though, it's unlikely that Arizona is going to be able to put up that many points either, as Carson Palmer hasn't been playing well this year and now he's facing Seattle's mighty secondary. Richard Sherman vs. Larry Fitzgerald should be the must see pairing this game, as it's always a treat when the smack-talking Sherman takes on one of the best receivers in the NFL.

Buccaneers at Falcons
23-18 Buccaneers
Call me crazy, but the Buccaneers just might be in line for their first win of the season. The Falcons are at home, but that's actually where they lost to the Buccaneers last year. Mike Glennon showed improvement last week, and so far the Falcon's defense has managed to make every quarterback that faces them look outstanding. On offense, the Falcons are still extremely banged up, with most of their best skill position players currently in the trainer's room. Revis island should be able to shut down whatever receiver Matt Ryan wants to throw to, meaning the rest of the Tampa Bay defense is going to sell out to stop Tony Gonzalez. On paper, Tampa Bay actually seems set up for a victory, but of course it's very possible Greg Schiano is going to find a way to screw this up.

Bills at Dolphins
20-14 Dolphins
Off of the bye, the Dolphins should come out ready to rebound as they try to stay close with the Patriots for a shot at the AFC East. Cameron Wake should be healthy coming off the bye, and his pass rushing skills should be a huge boost for this defense. Hopefully Ryan Tannehill's protection issues will be somewhat under control, or else Mario Williams will explode off the edge. Thad Lewis will make his second start for the Bills, and he's injured too, and an injured practice squad guy starting does not sound like a recipe for success, no matter how impressive his first performance was. This is a game the Dolphins have to win at home to stay relevant, and I'm guessing they get it done.

Bears at Redskins
17-14 Bears
The score in this game stays low not because of great defense, but because I have a feeling the run game is going to be a major factor. With the  injuries to the Chicago defensive line, the Redskin game plan will include a heavy dose of Alfred Morris, with some RGIII sprinkled in to the side. The best way for Chicago to counter will include a lot of Matt Forte to get the defense some rest, and then some play-action to go over the top with Brandon Marshall. Few possessions will mean a low score, but the Redskins have been starting slow this year, and some wasted possessions in the first half will start signaling doom for the Redskins.

Bengals at Lions
30-24 Lions
The Lions escaped at Buffalo this past week for their first win on the road, but they likely they won't fare nearly as well this weekend when they travel to Detroit. The Lion's track meet offense will be geared up to run on Ford Field, and even the great Bengal defense will have trouble slowing them down. The Bengals don't have anyone who can slow Calvin Johnson down, even if he still has an injured knee. The Bengals have trouble putting up points on the road too, and the odds that Andy Dalton can keep up on the road against Matthew Stafford aren't great.

Cowboys at Eagles
35-31 Eagles
It's phase one of the battle for the NFC East crown, and the high flying Eagles may be headed from worst to first when the game is over. Nick Foles is going to make his second start for Chip Kelly, as Michael Vick's hamstring is still acting up. Foles has been sensational since Vick went down, tossing six touchdown passes to no interceptions, and he seems out to prove that an athletic quarterback isn't necessary for Kelly's system. The Cowboys have Tony Romo to exploit the Eagles' secondary, but coming into this week they are also missing running back DeMarco Murray and plenty of key players on their defensive line. Romo isn't nearly as effective with an unbalanced offense, and LeSean McCoy could be geared up for a big day. This is a big game that could get extremely close, and those are the games the Cowboys always seem to lose.

Rams at Panthers
24-18 Panthers
The Rams have worked their way back up to .500, but it's likely that their winning streak comes to a halt this Sunday in Carolina. Cam Newton is sizzling after stomping the Vikings last Sunday, and the Panthers ground game could find success on the Rams' bad run defense. Sam Bradford, on the other hand, seems unlikely to out duel Newton, especially because none of his receivers or weapons have stepped up this year. At home, Carolina seems set up for another win, especially since Ron Rivera seems determined to keep his job.

Patriots at Jets
20-13 Patriots
We seem set up for a good Geno Smith performance, but even with Jerod Mayo out for the year the rookie probably won't be able to get the upper hand on Bill Bilichick. Geno won't repeat his rough performance in week two, but Bilichick won't have to work to hard to keep Geno Smith's non-existent weapons in check. Rex Ryan is trying to get his defenders pumped up to stop Tom Brady, but Geno's mistakes will set up Brady up in some great situations, and that will be enough for the Patriots to open their season 3-0 in their division.

Chargers at Jaguars
28-10 Chargers
Keep trying Gus Bradley, keep the faith. The Jaguars actually may have more of a chance than I'm giving them, as the Chargers' secondary is a big weak point. Justin Blackmon has been playing like a man possessed since returning from suspension, and he could take over the game for the Jaguars and maybe keep them in the game longer than they should be. Maybe. The more likely scenario is that Philip Rivers stays hot and Chad Henne still isn't a good enough quarterback to pose a serious threat throwing to anyone outside of Blackmon. Keep trying Jacksonville, maybe they can at least score enough points to not be at the bottom of points scored in NFL history.

49ers at Titans
21-7 49ers
The Titans are taking on their second straight NFC West opponent in a row, and like last week it's likely that Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Titan offense will have trouble moving against a tough defensive opponent. Chris Johnson has been unable to make any big strides in the running game, and Fitzpatrick doesn't have a big enough arm to spark the passing game. The 49ers still aren't a perfect team right now and still have their own troubles with the passing game, but Frank Gore has been trucking ahead to make up for it, and Frank the Tank will probably carry the 49ers to another victory, as they keep their NFC West title hopes faintly alive.
Browns at Packers
18-13 Packers

Texans at Chiefs
17-7 Chiefs
Case Keenum will make his first career start this weekend, but Gary Kubiak isn't exactly planning on easing him in. Keenum will be starting against the top ranked defense in the NFL on the road in one of the toughest stadiums to play in. Keenum had many concerns two years ago that led to him being undrafted, but he looked solid in the preseason, better than second string quarterback TJ Yates did, so he may actually may be an upgrade on the Texans' current quarterback situation. The Chiefs have to be ecstatic that their defense is receiving a pretty easy assignment, so if Alex Smith doesn't screw things up again the Chiefs could be sitting pretty with their seventh win of the season.

Ravens at Steelers
21-20 Ravens
The Steelers final stand of 2013 could come as early as week seven of the season, as if Pittsburgh fall to the Ravens on their home turf, any hope of saving their season will likely go out the window. This is one of the last great rivalries remaining in pro football, so no matter the talent disparity between the two teams this is going to be a close match-up. Neither offense is blowing other teams out, but the key here is that the Pittsbrugh defense still looks very much past its prime. The Ravens still have plenty of talent on their defensive line to attack the Steelers' weak offensive line, and dominate the line of scrimmage. The Ravens won't be able to win the reverse of that battle handily, but Joe Flacco and the passing game may be able to produce enough big passing plays to vault them over their rivals. It doesn't look like anyone on the Steeler roster should be able to handle Torrey Smith by themselves, and that's who Flacco needs to look to all day to put some points on the board.

Broncos at Colts
38-31 Broncos
Peyton Manning's homecoming is a happy one, for him at least. The Colts' defense just doesn't even come close to matching up with Denver, as the Broncos aren't going to try to out-muscle the Colts, they're going to try to out-gun them. That's going to force offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton to abandon his conservative power run game, and what we've seen from Hamilton so far seems to show that it's unlikely that he's going to be able to match Peyton point for point. The return of Von Miller should also spark the Bronco pass rush, which should not be good news for a Colts' offensive line that still struggles to protect Andrew Luck.

Vikings at Giants
26-20 Vikings
What a rousing Monday night match-up! Both teams have few things going right for them, but at least the Vikings are the less awful of the two. New quarterback Josh Freeman may be able to provide a spark for this offense, just like Matt Cassel was able to give them a lift in week four. Hopefully Freeman's spark will last a little bit longer.

Bad news for Harrison Smith

Harrison Smith's toe turf injury is not looking good, and the Vikings may have to face losing the best player in their secondary. Recent tests have shown Smith's injury is more serious than previously thought, and he has already been ruled out for the Vikings Monday night game against the Giants. According to Ian Rappaport of the NFL Network, the injury is serious enough that Smith may have to opt for surgery, and even if he does not he's likely to earn the IR/designated to return tag, meaning that he can return to the team if his injury heals but he will be out at least 8 weeks. This is extremely bad news for a Vikings' secondary that is among the worst in the league, and now their best young player may be unavailable to them for most of the rest of the season. Smith is the only secondary member to record an interception this year and has been one the Vikings most productive tacklers, so his loss will leave a huge hole in a defense that already can't seem to do much right. Andrew Sendejo will take over Smith's starting spot while he is out.

In other injury news, Desmond Bishop was officially placed on Injured Reserve today, ending his season and possibly his career, at least with the Vikings. In his place, the Vikings activated undrafted rookie receiver Rodney Smith to the 53 man roster. Smith will join his former Florida State quarterback Christian Ponder on the Vikings' active roster, even though Ponder has now been relegated to backup duties behind Josh Freeman, who will get the start Monday night against the Giants.

NFL Power Rankings: Post-Week 6

Welcome to Week 6 of the NFL Power Rankings, where the Chief's position is equal to the number of games they won last year. Barring a pretty epic collapse, the Chiefs are going to become one of the great NFL turnaround stories of the past decade, revitalizing the franchise and Andy Reid's career in the process. The only thing that could hold this team back is one of their biggest changes this year, their quarterback. While Alex Smith has been able to work a complementary offense to the team's defense, he has struggled to put up points of his own on the board and throw for any significant yardage. Without Jamaal Charles, this offense would not be able to function, as even though Smith has never been known for big plays, his offensive line is struggling and his receivers and sub-par. The defense is good enough to make up for all of that though, as it is far and away the best unit in the league. Bob Sutton is going to be interviewed for head coaching jobs a lot during the spring.

1. Denver Broncos: 6-0 (1)
Well, the Broncos were unable to beat the gigantic point spread as they won their sixth game of the season against the Jacksonville Jaguars, but does it really matter? The team is still 6-0, and the NFL isn't about style points, it's about wins. The game against Jacksonville played almost like a college trap game for Denver, as most likely Peyton spent just as much time this past week looking at film of Indianapolis as he did looking at Jacksonville. You can bet Peyton is pumped up for his Lucas Oil Stadium homecoming, especially when Colts' owner Jim Irsay may or may not be paying him some disrespect with his comments to the media this week. I'm sorry Peyton Manning only got you one ring, Jim, but I hope you realize that 14 NFL franchises would kill to have just one of those.

2. Kansas City Chiefs: 6-0 (3)
The Chiefs have yet to let up on their hot start to the season, to the surprise of just about anybody. It was expected that the Chiefs would be better, but this good? People didn't see that one coming. The Chiefs have absolutely been eating teams and opposing quarterbacks alive, as they got 10 sacks just this past Sunday against the Raiders. The next three quarterbacks they will face? TJ Yates (providing Gary Kubiak isn't desperate enough to start Case Keenum), Brandon Weeden and Jeff Tuel. Go to town, Kansas City, this team has a great chance to be 9-0 during their bye week.

3. Seattle Seahawks: 5-1 (4)
Well, the Seahawks made things harder than they had to, but they were still able to beat Tennessee at home to get their fifth win of the season, including their 11th win at home during the past three years. The Seahawks just keep getting it done, even though they are dealing with some major injuries, even to their kicker. Their winning ways get them back in front of the rest of the NFC teams on these rankings, as once this team gets healthy it's hard not to imagine that they're headed for home field advantage in the playoffs. By then, I'm sure the 12th man will be looking to break another record.

4. New England Patriots: 5-1 (9)
Tom Brady, man. You can't keep giving the man opportunities to beat you, because he will find a way. That said, barring his late game heroics Brady is still playing average at best this season, and his wideouts aren't doing him any favors by dropping any passes he throws on target. Brady has played admirably with the talent around him, but the Patriots are really relying on their defense to keep them in games and help them out. You would think that when they get Gronk back in the mix Tom can take on some more responsibility again, and that may have to come fast, as in addition to losing Vince Wilfork for the year, linebacker Jerod Mayo is down now with a pectoral injury.

5. New Orleans Saints: 5-1 (2)
The Saints were knocked from the ranks of the unbeaten Sunday, but to keep things in perspective it's nothing but a speed bump for this team. Sean Payton is too smart a coach to make the same mistakes twice, so if he's ever faced with a similar situation again he'll probably handle things a little differently. The Saints path to winning the NFC South is still pretty much unblocked, as their closest competition, the Panthers, is still three games behind them and has been wildly uneven this season. The turnaround in the Big Easy is still a go, Payton just needs to get out of his own way.

6. Green Bay Packers: 3-2 (6)
The Packers suffered some big losses Sunday with the injuries to Randall Cobb and James Jones, but without them Eddie Lacy was able to step it up and help close out the game for this team, along with Jermichael Finley. This team certainly isn't complete by any means, but players have been stepping up in the wake of injuries, most notably on defense after it was revealed Clay Matthews would have to miss a month of the season. This team is going to need to work out some issues before making a run at the playoffs, most notably in its red zone production, but at least for now they're still fully entrenched as the biggest NFC North contender.

7. San Francisco 49ers: 4-2 (7)
The 49ers, like the Packers, have returned to winning again after a rough start to their schedule, due to some flaws that they have really yet to correct. The passing game for this team is non-existent without Vernon Davis, and this team really needs to get some wide receivers healthy or start dealing some of their seemingly unlimited supply of draft picks for current players. The 49ers already have two second round picks and a whopping three third round picks for the 2014 draft. It might be time to use one of those by giving Cleveland or New York a call and asking about the price of Josh Gordon or Hakeem Nicks.

8. Indianapolis Colts: 4-2 (5)
The Colts dropped to 4-2 Sunday, the same fate that befell many footballs that left Andrew Luck's hands. The football actually needs to start being in Andrew Luck's hands more, Pep Hamilton has helped this defense improve by being more conservative on offense, but it seems like his approach is limiting potential opportunities for the best young quarterback in football. Trust in Luck, Pep, the guy may only be in his second year but he knows what he's doing out there.

9. Cincinnati Bengals: 4-2 (9)
The Bengals have been a complete enigma this year, because while they have the best collection of talent in the AFC North by far, they never seem to play like it. The Bengals have the best offensive line, the best defense (in terms of points allowed), the best receiver and the most electrifying running back, due to Ray Rice's down year. Yet somehow, they managed to find themselves blowing a 14 point 4th quarter lead in Buffalo when the Bills were starting a guy off of their practice squad. Say what now? Maybe this is on coaching, because out of the ones in the AFC North it's not hard to put Marvin Lewis at the bottom.

10. Detroit Lions: 4-2 (14)
Well, with Calvin Johnson back in the lineup the Detroit offense got humming again. Things opened up for Reggie Bush and Matthew Stafford was able to direct the Lions to their fourth win of the season, meaning they have already matched last year's win total. The big story was tight end Joseph Fauria, who was virtually uncoverable near the red zone. If the Lions can keep their track meet offense rolling, they're already out in front of any and all challengers to a potential wild card berth, with the only close contenders being the rival Bears, who the Lions have defeated once already.

11. Chicago Bears: 4-2 (11)
Jay Cutler and the offense looked solid again facing the Giants Thursday night, and Brandon Marshall came in to make some key grabs after being largely taken out of last week's game against the New Orleans Saints. The big questions for this team actually lie on the defensive side of the ball, as injuries to the defensive line allowed Brandon Jacobs to become the Giants' first hundred yard rusher of the season, even though Jacobs was just sitting at home for most of the offseason. Teams are going to start challenging this defensive line a lot more than they challenge the Bears' great cornerbacks, and that may limit the takeaways on defense that the Bears thrive off of.

12. Dallas Cowboys: 3-3 (12)
The Cowboys were able to return to .500 after knocking off their rivals the Redskins, but the after effects on the win may prove costly to the team. DeMarco Murray went down in the game with a knee sprain, and without him the Cowboys found it difficult to run the ball, meaning this team could have to abandon the two-dimensional offense it spent the offseason building. The defensive line has also sustained a slew of injuries, and while the depth there played well against the Redskins, a repeat performance might be hard against the Philadelphia Eagles. Expect plenty of Lesean McCoy early and often in that game, and that's when we'll figure out how much trouble the Cowboys' line is in.

13. Baltimore Ravens: 3-3 (10)
The addition of tackle Eugene Monroe to the Ravens' lineup still wasn't enough to get their ground game going, not even on a 4th and 1 on the goal line. The Ravens' inability to run is putting a lot of pressure on Joe Flacco and his new targets, none of whom come highly praised. Flacco showed some increased pressure with a few of his weapons Sunday, hooking up with Dallas Clark for a late touchdown catch and Tandon Doss for a long gain on 4th and 21, but without the additional threat of Ray Rice the Ravens just aren't putting up many points offensively. The defense did its part Sunday, holding one of the best quarterbacks in the game to just 19 points, but without a run game they're not getting as much rest and it's hard for them to do this alone.

14. Miami Dolphins: 3-2 (13)
The Dolphins were on their bye this past week, so here's hoping Joe Philbin used the extra time to design better protections for Ryan Tannehill, or he simply told his quarterback to throw the ball sooner. If that's not what they spent the entire week doing, then you might as well hand the Patriots the division crown right now.

15. San Diego Chargers: 3-3 (19)
This team wasn't flashy in its victory Monday night over the Colts, but Philip Rivers executed the game plan to perfection and he's rebirth is why this team is ranked as high as it is. Rivers connected on long third down after long third down, wearing the Indianapolis defense down while keeping Andrew Luck and his offense off the field. He gave the defense plenty of time to rest and made sure they were playing with a lead when they had to see the field again. Like Brady, Rivers is making the most of a poor supporting cast, as his chief wideouts are down with injuries, and his offensive line is still subpar at best. That's the Mike McCoy magic at work right there.

16. Philadelphia Eagles: 3-3 (23)
Does Chip Kelly decide to throw Nick Foles back in the lineup this week when the Eagles play the Cowboys for the division lead? It's a big decision for the first head year coach, and it could have a big impact on how much momentum this team carries throughout the rest of the year. Either way, Shady is going to get a ton of touches this Sunday as Kelly looks to wear down a battered Cowboy defensive line. The big question will be, can this secondary hold up when they're given a lead against Tony Romo?

17. St. Louis Rams: 3-3 (24)
A beat-down at Reliant Stadium causes the Rams to move up the rankings, as their impressive win against the Texans showed the team that many people thought would be one of the big surprises of 2013. The Rams have yet to truly live up to the expectations surrounding the team during the offseason, but in the past few weeks Sam Bradford has gotten on track, albeit against two weak opponents. Still, momentum is momentum, and if the team can stay hot they still have the chance to make noise in a lackluster NFC. One would hope rookie Tavon Austin steps up at some point to make that happen, as right now pre-draft concerns about his size have been totally justified.

18. Tennessee Titans: 3-3 (15)
Remember this team before Ryan Fitzpatrick? Now, Fitzpatrick has not played horrible by any stretch of the imagination, it's just that, he hasn't really played that well and this team had plenty of momentum going its way before he was forced onto the field due to Jake Locker's injury. The Titans were serious contenders in the AFC South, and now that the Texans have fallen off they could end up being the Colts' main competition for the division crown. Fitzpatrick doesn't make them strong competition though, and even though overall this team has seemed to take a major step forward it doesn't look like it'll have enough gas to get over the hump. Oh, and by the way, where's Chris Johnson? I feel sorry for all of his fantasy owners.

19. Carolina Panthers: 2-3 (28)
The Panthers churned out a dominating performance against the Vikings, as Cam Newton threw for his best passer rating as a pro. Ron Rivera started getting aggressive like Sean Payton, even though Payton became more like Rivera Sunday. The approach worked, as Carolina was able to put the game well out of reach with several long scoring drives that gassed the Vikings' defense and forced Adrian Peterson to be taken out of the equation. The only question is, are they going to be able to keep this up? The Panthers have gone through many hot and cold streaks under Rivera's tenure, and the Panthers have yet to show they're capable of having sustained success when the pressure's on.

20. New York Jets: 3-3 (16)
And the Geno Smith roller coaster rookie year ride starts trending down again. You never know what you're going to get from Geno, as he has alternated winning performances with rookie mistakes all year long. Of course, if he were to have better weapons (that is, any weapons), the peaks and valleys might be a little less pronounced, so hopefully next offseason Rex Ryan will be able to ignore his defense for a change and get this kid some help. Geno still looks like the best rookie quarterback that we've seen this year, even though he's not exactly on last year's level of impressiveness. The important thing for the young man is that he continues to improve every week, and at some point, he needs to stop turning the ball over.

21. Arizona Cardinals: 3-3 (18)
Speaking of people who turn the ball over too much: Carson Palmer. The man has yet to not throw an interception in a game this year, and most games so far have involved multiple picks. It's hard to not feel for the guy when he's getting hit like a ragdoll every day, but with the weapons around him and the defense the
Cardinals have, Palmer isn't asked to be great for this team, he's asked to be average. He hasn't been able to be average so far this year. It's unclear how tied Bruce Arians is to Carson Palmer at this point, but pretty soon he has to start wondering how average Drew Stanton is capable of being.

22. Atlanta Falcons: 1-4 (21)
The Falcons were on bye this week, so Tony Gonzalez could go home and wonder why he didn't decide to stay retired. The organization may be against it, but trading Tony to the Kansas City Chiefs would make a lot of sense and would be beneficial to both sides if Tony was willing to sign off on it. It's the only other team Tony has played for, he'd be able to end his career where he started it. It gives the man a chance to go out in a playoff game, rather than sit through one of the most disappointing seasons in Falcons' history. The Chiefs need weapons around Alex Smith, and their tight ends have suffered through a huge number of injuries this year. One last chance at glory for Tony would be the best way for him to leave the game and the compensation would set the Atlanta Falcons up for the future, on paper it seems like a great move for both sides. Sadly, what looks good on paper hardly ever happens in the National Football League.

23. Buffalo Bills: 2-4 (27)
The legend of Thad the Rad almost began on Sunday when Lewis forced overtime with the Cincinnati Bengals, but ultimately this team came up just short when a punt return set the Bengals up in field goal range. Even though the Bills' win total doesn't look a whole lot different from previous years, there's simply an energy around this franchise now that's been absent for as long as I can remember, possibly going back to the end of the Jim Kelly era. Exciting things are happening in Buffalo even though the team has suffered a series of bad setbacks, including a bad injury to their rookie quarterback. Needless to say, Doug Marrone is doing a good job righting this ship, and there's plenty of young talent for the Bills to be excited about in the future.

24. Pittsburgh Steelers: 1-4 (29)
The Steelers notched their first win of the season Sunday, defeating the Jets off of their bye week. Apparently Mike Tomlin's removal of games in the locker room sent a pretty strong message to the team, because the defense finally got their first takeaways once Mike Tomlin decided to literally take their stuff away. The Steelers might be in too big of a hole already to win their foosball back, but maybe their quest will at least make the rest of the season interesting for them.

25. Oakland Raiders: 2-4 (22)
The Raiders' defense played very well against the Chiefs on Sunday, holding Jamaal Charles under four yards per carry and only giving up 128 yards through the air on Alex Smith's 31 passing attempts. The problem was that the Chiefs didn't really even need their offense to put points on the board, as they intercepted Terrelle Pryor three times, and took one of those back for six. The offensive line for this team is just a mess right now, because 10 sacks on the elusive Terrelle Pryor means that almost any other starter could have been dropped 15 times against the Chiefs. The Rams got 62 sacks all of last year, and that was first in the NFL. If the Chiefs played the Raiders every Sunday they would break the NFL sack record for a team by 88 sacks.

26. Houston Texans: 2-4 (20)
Arian Foster looks great for the first time this year and the Texans still get blown out. Matt Schaub exits the game for the Texans and they still throw a pick-six. This team is imploding right now, and it's fair to question whether this team is mature enough to pull itself back up. Last year, this team wore letterman jackets to a game against the New England Patriots. They proceeded to get blown out, and were never the same team afterwards. Is anyone enough of a leader of this team to snap this team back into shape? Possibly, but that player isn't going to be the one throwing passes, and the crushing void at that position right now is dragging down this team with it.

27. Washington Redskins: 1-4 (26)
RGIII looked a lot fresher coming off of the bye week, but he still hasn't led this team to a touchdown in the first half of the game. His legs looked a lot better, but his arm looked nowhere near as impressive as it did last year, as he threw wobbly passes and wasn't on target with those throws. He missed plenty of open guys against the Cowboys, and his inability to hit passes held this team back. Can RGIII regain the magic again? Hopefully, but he hasn't put everything together this year and his soul-searching has set this team so far back that their season is almost dead in the water already. Of course, this was a team that started 3-6 last year and then had home field advantage in a playoff game, so never say never.

28. Minnesota Vikings: 1-4 (25)
The Vikings suffered a full team meltdown at the Metrodome on Sunday, collapsing in every phase of the game against the Carolina Panthers. This defense is flawed at all three levels. Matt Cassel was as ineffective throwing down the field as Christian Ponder has been. Adrian Peterson was forced out of the game because of a large deficit, and whatever feeble game plan the coaching staff had come up with was ruined. The keys to this team are going to be handed to Josh Freeman now, let's see where he drives it, because that's the one thing the Vikings season still has going for it.

29. Cleveland Browns: 3-3 (17)
Welcome back Brandon Weeden! His return sparks a huge drop in the rankings for Cleveland, who are just are infinitely better team when that man is not under center. How bad is Weeden? This is how he chooses to throw passes: http://larrybrownsports.com/football/brandon-weeden-interception-gif/207112

30. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 0-5 (30)
Mike Glennon looked a lot better in his second start for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, unfortunately though, this team still lost because they were unable to even slow down the Eagle's attack. Seat hot enough for you, Greg Schiano?

31. New York Giants: 0-6 (31)
I have a feeling that all the Giants want to do at this point is bury their heads in Metlife Stadium and just wait to come out until the regular season is over. Are you sure you want Tom Coughlin coming back to this mess of a team? And why isn't general manager Jerry Reese on the hot seat more for putting such a talent deprived team on the field? This team is about to miss the playoffs for the fourth time in five years, somebody has to take the fall.

32. Jacksonville Jaguars: 0-6 (32)
The Jaguars get a lot of credit for showing up and playing hard in Denver against the best team in the NFL right now. Gus Bradley looks like he's the man to help turn this team around, he just needs some better talent to coach.