Life comes at you fast, as does the NFL season, as we’re already a quarter of the way through the regular season. Cherish every second of it, as we make 5 bold predictions for Week 4…
1) The Losing Coach of the London Game Will Be Fired
Some ideas sound good on paper, like a new game console from Sega or another Anchorman movie, but once put into action, they don’t live up to your drawn up expectations. Football in the morning is one of those ideas, as sure, we’d love to wake up and sizzle some bacon and eggs while NFL football plays out in front of us, but it just means we’re a step closer to the ridiculousness of a London team in the NFL, and we’re subjected to games like Colts-Jaguars to boot. Hey, England, you gave us Russell Brand, so we’re giving you the Jaguars. Deal with it.
Anyway, Indianapolis and Jacksonville, a game that hasn’t been appealing since probably 2007, meet in dire straights. Sure, they’re in the AFC South, where a 6-10 record probably win the title, but NFL fans, and brace yourself, this may shocking, don’t like losing records, both of which the two teams have entering. The Colts sports a 1-2 mark, last minute heroics over San Diego providing a win last week, whereas the Jags, are winless, monstrous expectations giving way to equally large disappointment. The respective coaches, Chuck Pagano and Gus Bradley, are nice enough guys, so it’s tough to see their squads struggle in this fashion. The NFL, of course, is a business, nothing personal, so if the bad times keep up, one could be punished with the ultimate Lane Kiffin…being left behind in London with another loss.
2) The Patriots Will Be Fine (Again)
I’m willing to be Ryan Leaf could suit up for the Patriots this week against the Bills and not only would the Flying Elvises win that game by two scores, but Leaf would put up at least 240 yards, 2 touchdowns, and have a passer rating of at least 80.5.
The Patriots-Bills rivalry somehow has a Wikipedia page, and somehow that page doesn’t lead to the page for “domination”. Over the past 9 meetings, the Patriots are 8-1, and if you want to December 2000…aka just before the start of the Tom Brady era…the Patriots are 28-3 against the Bills. Naturally, you’d think Rex Ryan would be pouring over game film, particularly of the Pats’ recent 27-0 domination of the Texans with something called a Jacoby Brissett at quarterback, looking for any weakness…but instead, Rex is posing as a reporter at Patriot press conferences.
The NFL will always have a place for Rex Ryan. Teams, for whatever reason, love having egotistical blowhards manning their franchises, even if it sells one extra season ticket package. But one place Rex doesn’t have is beating Bill Belichick. So be it Brissett, Jimmy Garroppolo, Shane Falco or Zoidberg, the Patriots will be just fine against their…”rival”.
3) Two Undefeateds Will Fall At Home
We’re only three weeks into the NFL season, yet it appears the 1972 Miami Dolphins will able to host their champagne toast early, as we’re already down to 5 loss-free teams. The toast certainly won’t come this week, as the Philadelphia Eagles are taking an early bye, but the ranks of perfection will decrease by two this week.
Perhaps the most quiet of the undefeateds have been the Baltimore Ravens. None of their wins have been easy…their trio of wins have come by a combined 13 point margin…but they nonetheless have accomplished the feat, already two wins away from last year’s win total of five. However, they’ll be facing off against an Oakland Raiders team that needs a good win. The Raiders, currently at 2-1, visit Baltimore this week, looking to instill some of the confidence back in their fans, which has wavered a bit following a loss to Atlanta and a narrow victory over Tennessee. In what will be one of the more entertaining games of Week 4, Oakland will pull this one out to end the bid of perfection.
Another team eyeing perfection is the Minnesota Vikings, who looked incredibly imperfect at the start of the season, with numerous injuries, including franchise QB Teddy Bridgewater, threatening to derail their season before it even began. However, the Vikes picked up three big victories in the early going, including wins over Green Bay, which opened their brand new state-of-the-art US Bank Stadium and last week’s win over Super Bowl runner-up Carolina. However, their luck has to run out at some point, and it’ll come this week against a plucky New York Giants team that’s seething from a loss to Washington. The Vikings are, undeniably, a solid team, but they fall to the Giants this week.
4) Seattle Will Lose Russell Wilson…and Again, Be Just Fine
Sensing a theme here?
The Seahawks are being very secretive, to the point of sheer shadiness, when it comes to Russell Wilson. Reported to have an MCL sprain in his left knee…which is kind of important if you’re a mobile quarterback…Wilson has stated he will undoubtedly the Seahawks’ rare trip to the East Coast to play the Jets, though head coach Pete Carroll has expressed caution about Wilson’s injury. Seattle’s backup quarterback situation isn’t pretty…undrafted rookie Trevone Boykin made his debut in garbage time last week…so keeping Wilson healthy is a huge concern. The Seahawks are playing a Jets team that, let’s face it, is not very good, so expect this to be a good old fashioned Seattle defensive slugfest, a 13-10 or 14-9 type game. Ryan Fitzpatrick threw six interceptions against the Kansas City defense last week…a stat that must have the Legion of Boom drooling in glee.
5) The Saints Are Bad, But They Won’t Go Winless
Other than the the defense not going after certain players in hopes of injuring them in exchange for some sort of reward, not too much has changed for the New Orleans Saints since their glory days of winning Super Bowl XLIV. The offense continues to be the bread and butter of the team, except this time the lone staple tying the New Orleans generations together, QB Drew Brees, is older and reaching the end of his time. He’s still good, but he can’t help it if his defense goes five consecutive possessions allowing points. Fear not though, Saints fans. You may be 0-3, but temporary relief is on the way in the form of the San Diego Chargers. The lame-duck Chargers will be playing in front of a city and in front of fans they spent an entire calendar year trashing and slandering because they thought their BFF the Raiders would whisk them away to Los Angeles. When the Raiders “broke up” with them, it set up a verrrrrry awkward situation. So this week, Drew Brees will show the Chargers what they lost when they dumped him, giving a vintage Brees performance in a New Orleans win.
What predictions do you have for Week 4? Tweet @GeoffMags5490 and keep the conversation going.