The fourth week of the National Football League regular season is upon us. After starting off hot the first two weeks sporting a 25-7 pick record, I came back down to earth in Week 3 and had only ten of sixteen
games chosen correctly. Through three weeks, I’m sitting at 35-13 with predictions. That’s not bad, but I’m hoping to perform much better this week.
Thursday Night Football — Seattle Seahawks at Arizona Cardinals
Winner: Seahawks
Every team in the NFC West has at least two wins to start the season. Thursday Night Football’s matchup will dictate which of one potentially becomes the bottom dweller in the division. I’m worried about the Cardinals losing running back James Connor for the season. Is Trey Benson ready to carry the load for Arizona? We’ll see. I’m taking Seattle on the road.
Sunday Football (Early Game) — Minnesota Vikings at Pittsburgh Steelers
Winner: Vikings
Both the Vikings and Steelers are 2-1 to start the season. Minnesota heads on the road to take on Aaron Rodgers, a quarterback they are familiar with. I’m thinking Brian Flores finds a way to pressure and rattle Rodgers and keep their defensive efforts going strong to secure a road victory.
Sunday Football (Early Game) — New Orleans Saints at Buffalo Bills
Winner: Bills
The Saints are 0-3 at the bottom of the NFC South while the Bills are the class of the AFC East with an undefeated record. I think it’s a safe bet to assume Josh Allen will outplay Spencer Rattler in this game. I’ll take Buffalo at home.
Sunday Football (Early Game) — Cleveland Browns at Detroit Lions
Winner: Lions
The Browns were able to upset the Packers last week while the Lions dazzled to defeat the Balitmore Ravens on Monday Night Football. Can Cleveland pull off two huge upsets against NFC North teams in back-to-back weeks? Anything is possible, but I’ll take the hometown roaring Lions in this one.
Sunday Football (Early Game) — Tennessee Titans at Houston Texans
Winner: Texans
It’s a battle of AFC South winless teams when the Titans head to Houston to take on the Texans. The Texans’ offense is struggling without Joe Mixon and Tank Dell and aren’t putting many points up on the board. That being said, I would be floored of DeMeco Ryans dropped their first four games of the year after two years of consecutive division titles. I’ll take Houston at home.
Sunday Football (Early Game) — Carolina Panthers at New England Patriots
Winner: Patriots
The Panthers looked like an entirely different team beating up on the Falcons last weekend and are now 1-2 on the season. While Drake Maye has shown some promise, the Patriots offense has still struggled to score points. Even so, I like New England at home in this one.
Sunday Football (Early Game) — Los Angeles Chargers at New York Giants
Winner: Chargers
It’s the start of a new era for the G-Men. The odds of rookie Jaxson Dart, who replaces Russell Wilson at quarterback for the Giants, being able to do enough to win against one of the league’s best defenses seem quite slim. I think the Chargers will wind up winning this one quite easily.
Sunday Football (Early Game) — Philadelphia Eagles at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Winner: Eagles
This should be one of the best matchups for the slate of early games. Both the Eagles and Buccaneers are 3-0 to start the season, but the injuries are already piling up for Tampa Bay. They have squeaked out wins to date, but I believe the Eagles are the better team and poised to win this road matchup.
Sunday Football (Early Game) —Washington Commanders at Atlanta Falcons
Winner: Commanders
The Falcons looked absolutely terrible against the Panthers last weekend while the Commanders were able to win even with Jayden Daniels out. Daniels still remains day-to-day with a knee injury, but I like Washington’s odds of winning on the road regardless of who starts at quarterback for them on Sunday.
Sunday Football (Early Game) — Indianapolis Colts at Los Angeles Rams
Winner: Rams
The Colts continue to be one of the surprises early on in the season with three straight victories. The Rams are hoping to rebound after a heartbreaking loss to the Eagles last weekend. I’ll take Los Angeles at home in this one to give Indianapolis their first loss of the season.
Sunday Football (Late Game) — Jacksonville Jaguars at San Francisco 49ers
Winner: 49ers
The 49ers received devastating news that star defensive end Nick Bosa has been lost for the season with an ACL tear. San Francisco’s injury woes endure, yet they are still finding a way to win football games. I’ll take Kyle Shanahan and his team at home going up against a 2-1 Jaguars squad.
Sunday Football (Late Game) — Baltimore Ravens at Kansas City Chiefs
Winner: Ravens
I don’t think there are many folks out there who predicted the Ravens and Chiefs starting out the year 1-2. It’s kind of wild to know one of them will be 1-3 come Sunday evening. Neither of these teams are firing on all cylinders, but I’ll give the edge to Jackson and the Ravens despite heading to hostile territory at Arrowhead Stadium. If they can run the ball more effectively, I think they get the job done.
Sunday Football (Late Game) — Chicago Bears at Las Vegas Raiders
Winner: Bears
Both of these teams are 1-2 and still struggling to hit their stride to begin the season. Though I will say I like what I saw from Caleb Williams and the Bears offense against Dallas last week. If they can continue to play that well, this game should be there for the taking. I’ll take yet another road team to get the dub on Sunday.
Sunday Night Football — Green Bay Packers at Dallas Cowboys
Winner: Packers
The Packers need to find a way to get back to winning after suffering a last second defeat to the Browns last weekend. Perhaps Micah Parsons will play a little bit harder against his former team on Sunday Night Football to make that happen. I’ve got Green Bay winning on the road.
Monday Night Football — New York Jets at Miami Dolphins
Winner: Dolphins
The early Monday Night Football game features two winless AFC East teams. I guess it’s a gridiron battle to see who is the least terrible. I honestly don’t even have a good reason to pick the Dolphins other than the fact they are playing at home. So yeah, I’ll take Miami.
Monday Night Football — Cincinatti Bengals at Denver Broncos
Winner: Broncos
This is a must-win game for the Broncos who certainly can’t afford to drop to 1-3 to start their season. The Bengals will be without Joe Burrow and were absolutely trounced by the Vikings last weekend. I expect the Broncos to come away with a statement victory on Monday Night Football in order to get back in the win column.
