NFL Week 3 Preview

Storylines
* Andy Reid, after stonewalling for weeks, changes his mind and declares Michael Vick the starter for the foreseeable future. The Eagles immediately jump into the playoff picture. The main cause, I believe, is that Philly's offensive line is so bad that Kevin Kolb would get killed in there. Michael Vick was running for his life and still making huge throws down the field. So what are they doing with Kevin Kolb then, their anointed "franchise quarterback"?
* Jets: They had a huge win over their hated rivals, and celebrated by having their #1 receiver arrested for drunk driving with two teammates in the vehicle. Darelle Revis tweaked his hammy, which seems remarkably easy to expect after he skipped all of training camp and preseason. This team is always in the news.
* Teams in Trouble? 0-1 is easy to recover from, but 0-2 brings some cause for concern. Cowboys, Vikings and 49ers are all 0-2. Vikings ought to get on board hosting the Lions, but the Cowboys have a tough game in Houston and the 49ers go on the road to Kansas City against the 2-0 Chiefs. Cowboys and Vikings are a mess.
* Quarterback Carousel: Bruce Gradkowski, Seneca Wallace, Jimmy Clausen, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Shaun Hill, Charlie Batch, and the aforementioned Michael Vick are all starting quarterbacks this week. Welcome to the NFL.
* Lions' rookie Jahvid Best has five touchdowns in his first two games.
* Hot Seat: Eric Mangini, still on schedule to get fired on Halloween. John Fox is likely to follow. Jerry Jones says no coaching change will be made midseason, which is more than what Wade Phillips deserves. Lovie Smith escapes the hot seat with a nice win last week.

Key Matchups
- Falcons @ Saints: big divisional game, Falcons' statement game. No Reggie Bush.
- Jets @ Dolphins: both teams coming off big wins. Without Revis, will Brandon Marshall finally take off?
- Titans @ Giants: my teams.
- 49ers @ Chiefs: a KC win would really cripple the Niners and put the Chiefs in the driver seat.
- Cowboys @ Texans: see 49ers/Chiefs.
- Packers @ Bears: division rivals are both 2-0.

Individual Performance Predictions
- QB: Vince Young scores two touchdowns (pass or run)
- RB: Adrian Peterson scores two touchdowns.
- WR: Miles Austin totals 100 yards and scores a touchdown.
- DF: Dolphins allow less than 130 yards passing.
(last week: Vick only 2 TDs miss, Bradshaw 89/0 miss, Moss only 1 TD miss, Titans allow 18 miss = 0-4. To date = 3-4-1)

Upset Alert
Titans over Giants
Bears over Packers
last week = 2-0 (Bengals and Chiefs). To date = 4-0

Stone Cold Picks:
- Dolphins over Jets. Sanchez will have a terrible game. Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown each run for over 80 yards.
- Eagles over Jaguars. Michael Vick goes to 2-0 as a starter.
- 49ers over Chiefs. Alex Smith stinks, but Matt Cassell is worse.
- Saints over Falcons. The Champs are just better.
(last week = 1-3. To date = 4-5)

When will they win their first (or next) game? Not before...
*Rams: Week 4
*Lions: Week 5
*Bears: Week 7 (wrong)
*Bucs: Week 7 (wrong)
*Bills: Week 9
*Browns: Week 12