Game(s) I Love:

Chicago Bears. It appears Alex Smith will be play on Monday; Jason Campbell is going to get the start; There’s not a big gap between Jay Cutler and Campbell in terms of offense output; 49ers have the best offensive line in the NFL, but the Bears have the best defensive; Bears also have 8-9 defensive linemen so they can mix and match, which keeps them fresh (I’m thinking how hockey players, when they actually play, how they play for one minute then rest for three); 49ers offensive line looked bad last week against the Rams because they were shifting and used speed to get by them; Even though both defenses are top 5, there’s a major gap between the 49ers and Bears; I do not expect a high scoring game (17-10)

Upset Special(s):

Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jaguars are bad, really bad…the worst team in the league bad; every player matchup favors the Texans; unlike college football where the disparity between talent can be huge, in the NFL the gap between talent isn’t that dramatic, which is why 15 points is a lot of points to give any NFL team; of all the games in NFL history only 32% of games have been won by 16 or more; important to note the opening line was +16 for the Jaguars;

Quick Hits:

Baltimore at Pittsburgh. The Ravens have been left for dead two weeks ago and all they have done is smash both their opponents; granted the Browns and Raiders are not elite teams, but they still smashed them; Byron Leftwhich is a great unknown, it’s hard to expect what he’s going to do; more importantly, how will the Steelers offense look?; I like the Steelers because their running backs are going to be active; I expect a heavy dose of running and I do not believe in the Ravens run defense

San Diego at Denver. The Broncos look like a legit contender; the game would not have been as close against the Panthers if McGahee doesn’t fumble the ball; Philip Rivers isn’t getting any help at all

New Orleans at Oakland. Everyone is expecting a shootout, but to throw a little cold water on that notion, rain in the forecast for Sunday; Darren Sproles looks like he’ll be active; Both teams are bad; At the end of the day who do I trust more: Drew Brees or Carson Palmer: Brees

Cincinnati at Kansas City. The Chiefs have a lot of talented players, but their coaching staff is bad; I’m not a fan of Andy Dalton; The Bengals running game is pathetic; If Jammal Charles gets the ball 20+ times (which he should get); This is a situation where both teams are evenly matched and I’ll always take the home dog

Indianapolis at New England. The Patriots win the game but not by a lot; the Patriots defensive scheme is fairly simple, do not allow big plays and give up field goals so we (Patriots) can outscore the opponent; Andrew Luck will carve up the defense, but they won’t be able to hang with the Patriots offense

New York Jets at St. Louis Rams. I have no feel for this game at all; the Jets look lost on offense; Rams offense looked respectable last week, which could be due to the return of Danny Amendola; Rams defense has looked bad the last 3 weeks but the 4 weeks prior they looked like a top 5-7 defense;

Cleveland at Dallas. Will the Cowboys win? Yes, but not by 8.5 points; if Joe Hayden is out I like the Cowboys; Browns defense is underrated and can shut down the Cowboys running game, which will make them one dimensional

Tampa Bay at Carolina. Panthers defense has been under the radar the past 5 weeks, looking like an above defense; Cam Newton has not been as bad as the media says; despite the hot start, the past 2 weeks the Bucs defense has looked bad;

Arizona at Atlanta. Cardinals offensive line is the worst in the league; Jon Skelton is bad; Falcons bounce back from a close loss

Green Bay at Detroit. This is a must win (I hate that phrase too, but I can’t think of anything better) game for Detroit; biggest surprise has been the Packers defensive line; I wouldn’t be surprised of the Lions pull out an upset and Matthew Stafford carves up the Packer defense

Philadelphia at Washington. Nick Foles looked far worse than his stat line suggests; if Andy Reid features LeSean McCoy the Eagles should win, but I don’t think Reid has the stones to change his offensive philosophy; also, the Eagles want to see what they have in Foles so why not let him air it out; I’m taking the Redskins because of RG3 and their coming off a bye week