Well, after last week's retro picks, I was tempted to go back to the well that netted me a respectable 10-4 record, but I could not bring myself to stoop so low again. So I ponied up and put my money on the table ahead of time. My picks are in bold.
Arizona at Atlanta - So, when do we see the playoff-caliber Cardinals? Not this week anyway. Dennis Green may wrestle away my top spot for "first coach to be fired " from Tom Coughlin.
Dallas at Tennessee- T.O. or no T.O., he doesn't have a hold of this locker room and Parcells will keep the 'Boys focused. Tennessee is the early frontrunner for 2007 #1 Overall Draft Pick.
Indianapolis at N.Y. Jets- Something tells me Mangini may bring some ol' New England v. Indy magic with him, but I don't think his team has enough talent to stop Peyton & Co.
Miami at Houston- Houston has to get a win sometime, and what would be better than Miami starting 1-3 in what was promised to be a "sleeper" playoff team.
Minnesota at Buffalo- The sting of last week's home loss is still fresh and the Bills won't do it again. Losman is coming into his own.
New Orleans at Carolina- There simply HAS to be a hangover from Monday night in New Orleans. This is like one of those college games for a team who just played spoiler on national TV against a Top 10 team one week and then lays an egg the next week against mediocre competition.
San Diego at Baltimore- Baltimore will witness 1st hand how far it's offense needs to go to catch up to its defense. San Diego is Baltimore from 2000 with an All-Pro offense to boot.
San Francisco at Kansas City- The Niners have played pretty well and the Chiefs have, well... the Chiefs at least attend the game. Who picked Week 4 as the start of the "Fire Herm" campaign?
Detroit at St. Louis- Mike Martz sees what he's lost... and weeps.
Cleveland at Oakland- Somebody has to win. Of course, it could go into an OT tie, but I'll play the odds.
Jacksonville at Washington- Bitter? No. Angry? Maybe. Motivated? Definitely. Jacksonville knows they let one slip through their fingers in Indy, but Del Rio has a quickly maturing (and improving team) who have confidence that they can win on the road against good competition.
New England at Cincinnati- New England's secondary is fast becoming a M.A.S.H. unit again. And with that, they'll become fodder for conference opponents outside their division.
Seattle at Chicago- I don't like it when 2 elite teams play each other and 1 team is not at 100%. The Seahawks without Alexander are not the defending NFC champs. That doesn't mean the Bears will take pity on them.
Green Bay at Philadelphia - I don't know which will be worse: a) the beating McNabb lays down on a porous Packers defense, or b) the nationally televised horror that shows everyone what Brett Favre has become against good teams.
