Mattie T’s Week 7 NFL Predictions

The NFL returns to London this Sunday! Although the matchup isn’t sexy, we’ll see if Tom Brady & the Patriots have any sort of hangover after their thrashing over Tennessee last weekend….

Week 6: 7-7

Overall: 61-29 (.678)

Green Bay at Cleveland.

Possible trap game for the Packers with a HUGE matchup looming next week as Brett Favre returns to Lambeau as a visitor for the first time ever. But first things first, they’ll face a Cleveland team that has shown a bit more punch in front of their home crowd.

The Browns’ offense is struggling bigtime, while Derek Anderson’s 44.4 rating is the lowest among all quarterbacks that have appeared in 4 games or more.

The only way the Browns keep this close is if Joshua Cribbs breaks off some explosive punt returns, otherwise i see Green Bay recording an easy win on Sunday.

San Francisco at Houston.

All eyes will be on 10th overall pick Michael Crabtree, as he will start at wide receiver in his NFL debut on Sunday & might end up playing a big role for his 49ers.

San Francisco gets a huge boost offensively with the return of Frank Gore, who missed 3 games with an ankle injury & gets to face Houston’s 24th ranked run defense.

Good matchup to watch in this one will be All-Pro cornerback Nate Clements on wide receiver Andre Johnson, but Johnson is only averaging 62.7 yards per game in 3 home starts this season with NO touchdowns.

That will have to change if the Texans want to win on Sunday, since Matt Schaub has been on fire & actually leads the NFL in touchdown passes with 14 entering Week 7.

I am going to go with San Francisco in an upset, as they’ve had two weeks to prepare from their 45-10 blowout loss to Atlanta. I know that Mike Singletary will have his crew focused & ready to go on Sunday, as Houston has been an inconsistent team, so i figure they are due for a letdown.

San Diego at Kansas City.

I think this is a must-win for the Chargers considering how their special teams unit cost them a chance at beating Denver on Monday night.

Luckily for San Diego, they will be facing a Kansas City team that has ZERO rushing touchdowns between 11 different players who have at least one carry.

Matt Cassel has been interception-free for the past month & has gotten better play recently out of Dwayne Bowe, who caught a game-tying touchdown in Week 5 & also went over the 100-yard mark during their win last weekend against Washington.

With the Chiefs’ bad pass rush & secondary, look for Philip Rivers to air it out quite often as the Chargers will win to get to the .500 mark.

Minnesota at Pittsburgh.

Even though the Vikings survived a near 2nd half collapse last week at home to Baltimore, they still have some issues to work on.

Their secondary is already in trouble now that starting cornerback Antoine Winfield (foot) is doubtful for Sunday, as he is 4th on the team in tackles.

While everyone has been caught up in the Brees/Manning hype, Ben Roethlisberger is quietly putting up a good season so far as he leads the NFL in passing yards (1,887) & ranks 2nd with a 72.5 completion percentage.

Pittsburgh’s defense has the ability to both slow down the combo of Adrian Peterson/Chester Taylor AND get pressure on Brett Favre, so i am picking the Steelers to win at home to hand Minnesota their first loss of the season.

Indianapolis at St. Louis.

Probably the biggest mismatch of the week, as Peyton Manning should have no problems carving up the Rams defense.

They will welcome the return of Bob Sanders, who is ready to make his 2009 season debut after missing the first 6 weeks with a knee injury.

Austin Collie has done a nice job recently, as the rookie wide receiver has three touchdowns in his last 2 games & is quickly gaining Manning’s confidence, as the Colts have four players with 20 receptions or more this season.

It just figures to get even scarier once Anthony Gonzalez returns from his knee injury. But for now, Indianapolis should absolutely steamroll St. Louis on Sunday.

New England at Tampa Bay.

I guess the folks at London’s Wembley Stadium can’t get the best matchups every year!

This won’t have the same excitement & flair as last season’s Chargers/Saints game, but i know the London faithful want to see what Tom Brady can do after his record-setting 2nd quarter during New England’s 59-0 rout over Tennessee.

With the combination of Tampa Bay’s bad run defense (31st in NFL) & Tom Brady’s pass attempts (241 leads NFL), look for New England to commit more to the run, as Laurence Maroney & Sammy Morris should go wild on Sunday.

Even though the Buccaneers are the home team, i think the crowd will have a “New England” type of feel as i expect the Patriots to win in blowout fashion.

Buffalo at Carolina.

Carolina can get back to the .500 mark with a win on Sunday, while Buffalo is looking to build off their surprising road win last week at the Meadowlands over the New York Jets.

The Bills will most likely have to do it without Trent Edwards, who has already been ruled out for Sunday after suffering a concussion during last week’s overtime win.

Who will have the first sideline blowup, Terrell Owens or Steve Smith?

Look for DeAngelo Williams & Jonathan Stewart to punish Buffalo’s run defense (32nd in NFL), as the Panthers win for the 3rd straight week & get back to the .500 mark.

N.Y. Jets at Oakland.

This is a very dangerous game for the Jets. They have not fared well in Oakland history wise & their run defense figures to take a tremendous hit with the loss of Kris Jenkins.

Even with all of that being said, i still think Rex Ryan’s defense can get after JaMarcus Russell & harass him for the entire game. Let’s not forget that the Raiders’ lone touchdown last week was aided by some great downfield blocking by rookie wideout Louis Murphy, who helped Zach Miller to an impressive 86-yard score.

Mark Sanchez understands that he must play better in order to keep his starting job, as the rookie quarterback has thrown 8 interceptions in his last 3 games.

I think the Jets bounce back in a big way here & get a much-needed win in the Black Hole.

Chicago at Cincinnati.

Huge storyline here will be Cedric Benson (3rd in NFL with 531 yards) going up against his former team, as he had an uninspiring 3-year run in Chicago which included several off-field incidents.

Benson has turned things around in Cincinnati, where he’s currently on pace to smash his career-high in rushing yards (747 last season in 12 games) & is already averaging 88.5 yards per game.

The Bears do have a stout run defense that’s ranked 6th in the NFL, as they held Michael Turner to just 30 yards on 13 carries last week despite losing Pisa Tinoisamoa at linebacker to a season-ending knee injury.

Hunter Hillenmeyer will step into Tinoisamoa’s role on Sunday, as the Bears have already lost two linebackers for the season (Urlacher in Week 1 with wrist injury) & are starting to get quite thin at that position.

Chicago will also be without starting defensive tackle Tommie Harris, who will miss Sunday’s game with a knee injury & will be replaced by Marcus Harrison.

Cincinnati suffered a FATAL blow with the season-ending injury to defensive end Antwan Odom, who was 2nd in the NFL in sacks (8).

I think that the Bears will contain Benson & try to make Carson Palmer beat them, as the former Pro Bowl quarterback hasn’t had a 300-yard passing game since Week 17 of the 2007 season against Miami.

Look for Chicago to record a close win over Cincinnati to remain in 2nd place in the NFC North.

Atlanta at Dallas.

Even though the Cowboys are coming off a bye, star linebacker & elite pass-rusher DeMarcus Ware is still not at 100% with a neck injury, which is criticial if Dallas wants to get any pressure on Matt Ryan.

I guarantee you that Atlanta won’t be overlooking Dallas on Sunday, as a huge divisional Monday night showdown awaits next week with New Orleans.

Should be an exciting & close game, but Ryan will outplay Tony Romo as the Falcons squeak out a close win on the road.

New Orleans at Miami.

I see this game having potential for an upset, since Miami is coming off a bye & figures to use a ton of the Wildcat formation in order to keep Drew Brees off the field as much as possible.

The Dolphins can certainly do it with the league’s top-ranked rushing attack (177 yards per game), as they will use a combination of Ronnie Brown & Ricky Williams to keep the Saints’ defense off balance.

There is only one team that has a better 3rd down conversion rate & time of possession than New Orleans, which happens to be their Sunday opponent. Time to go out on a limb and deliver a HUGE upset pick, as i am taking the Dolphins here at home.

Arizona at N.Y. Giants.

This game has the potential to become a shootout with Arizona’s struggling secondary & a battered New York secondary that got thrashed by Drew Brees last weekend.

The Cardinals might have to do it without Anquan Boldin, who will be a game-time decision with a knee injury that was suffered during last week’s blowout win at Seattle.

After recording NO sacks of Brees, the Giants pass rush will look to get after Kurt Warrner on Sunday evening while Eli Manning could have his way if the Cardinals’ top-ranked run defense slows down Brandon Jacobs & Ahmad Bradshaw.

I think this will be a high-scoring game, but the Giants will fluster Warner into one big mistake which will be the difference in a close home win.

Philadelphia at Washington.

Jim Zorn will have his head coaching job for the rest of the season, but he won’t have play-calling duties anymore.

This comes after a surprising move to have Sherm Lewis come out of a 4-year retirement to become Washington’s new offensive coordinator, as Jason Campbell has already admitted that he “might” need to call his own plays at the line of scrimmage.

It will get ugly against an Eagles team that has to be fuming over the way they played in a stunning loss to Oakland, as they were unable to score an offensive touchdown for the first time all season.

They’ll have no problems doing so here, as Philadelphia will rout Washington for an easy win.