Week 3 Preview

A lot of crazy things happened last week, including the Patriots, Ravens, Saints and Cowboys losing and the Giants narrowly avoiding defeat. Home teams went 14-2 after a more reasonable 9-7 in season openers. I'm picking 9 road teams this week. For people in Eliminator/Survivor/Knockout pools, you should be very nervous about this week as I see potential for any team to get upset. Do you trust the 0-2 Saints? Of the 2-0 49ers on the road? Packers in Seattle?

Five Big Games

- Patriots vs. Ravens: A rematch of the AFC Championship game won by a missed field goal. (Ironic that the Patriots lost last week the same way?) Both of these top AFC teams are coming off disappointing losses and neither wants to continue a losing streak. Aaron Hernandez is out and with all the talk about how Wes Welker has been neglected, maybe this is the game that he goes on fire. As for the Ravens, Ray Rice is getting half the carries he should be.

- Falcons vs. Chargers: Battle of two 2-0 teams so something has gotta give. Matty Ice has been the hottest quarterback the first 1/8 of the season and the defense frustrated Peyton Manning last week. This will be the first real challenge for the Chargers, who will be getting Antonio Gates and Ryan Mathews back from injuries.

- Texans vs. Broncos. Houston is 2-0 and get their first real test in Denver against a very good Broncos defense and Peyton Manning who is looking to avenge a terrible game last Monday Night. Arian Foster and Ben Tate have been the busiest back field. Texans have not turned the ball over on offense yet.

- Eagles vs. Cardinals: The other matchup of teams looking to reach 3-0. Kevin Kolb has looked good coming in for John Skelton but he’ll get his biggest test against his former team, the very aggressive Eagles. The Eagles have the top offense so far but also a a zillion turnovers, and the Cardinals just gave Tom Brady a terrible day.

- Giants vs. Panthers: No Nicks, Bradshaw, Diehl, or Hixon and the G-Men are underdogs on the road in Carolina. For a team that struggled as heavy favorites last year, maybe this is a good situation for Eli and Coughlin. Cam had a great game against a terrible Saints defense, and now he gets to face Jason Pierre-Paul and Justin Tuck.

Upset Alert
(2-0 last week, 3-1 overall)

Bengals over Redskins
Broncos over Texans

Miller’s Fearless Pic ks
(2-2 last week, 2-6 overall)

Giants over Panthers. Dealing with major injuries to key people, but the depth is there. Look for Martellus Bennett and Andre Brown to step up with big games, and the pass rush will give Cam Newton troubles. I don’t think the Panthers are very good and are in danger of letdown after a big win over the Saints . 34-20

Bears over Rams. Chicago is coming off an embarrassing loss last week and get a few extra days to prepare for this one. Meanwhile, the Rams are coming off a strange win after a dumb Redskins penalty screwed up a Washington comeback. The Bears are desperate and angry and will punish Sam Bradford and light up the defense. 34-14

Packers over the Seahawks. Green Bay is on the road in hostile Seattle, but like the Bears have a few extra days to make the trip. With all the controversy surrounding comments about Aaron Rodgers I expect him to go out and finally have a great game in Prime Time. 38-17

Cowboys over Buccaneers. Home opener in Dallas and the Cowboys are coming off the season’s worst loss so far so they will be hungry to make a statement. Eli Manning went hog-wild against the Bucs defense, and Tony Romo is 3-0 with 11 touchdowns and no interceptions in his career against Tampa Bay. 28-17

The Rest of the Games

Bills 30, Browns 27
Lions 31, Titans 26
Colts 20, Jaguars 14
Jets 17, Dolphins 16
49ers 20, Vikings 10
Saints 38, Chiefs 30
Bengals 26, Redskins 24
Eagles 30, Cardinals 13
Chargers 28, Atlanta 27
Broncos 23, Texans 20
Steelers 30, Raiders 19
Patriots 24, Ravens 23

(7-5 last week, 16-7 overall)