Its Halloween Weekend and for some teams it will be a nightmare, as any tenuous hopes of post season football will effectively end with a loss. Chargers, Vikings Cowboys & New England (are we really saying The Patriots) we are looking at you!
The Falcons just about kept themselves alive on Thursday with a surprise win at the Panthers, however, they remain pretty much on life support and wins for the Saints & Buccs will pretty much flick the switch on them too. The weekend also sees the Steelers put their unbeaten run on the line, in what looks like their toughest task to date, a trip to fellow NFC North contenders Baltimore. Expect that one to be close.
But the game we are most looking forward to is the Rams at the Dolphins. Why we hear you ask? Well, it will be the first NFL start for Tua Tagovailoa who comes with a big reputation following his success at Alabama as well as a bit of a question mark re hid durability. With Aaron Donald coming after him we may see this tested.
Anyway here are a few of our thoughts on the games along with the full schedule…
AFC North Steelers to go 7-0
Pittsburgh is the only unbeaten team left this season and although it should be close we expect them to sneak it thanks to the experience of Big Ben and their solid defense. It will be turnovers which decide this one and we think Rothelsberger is the safer of the two QBs at this stage.
NFC North Can The Packers Stop The Run?
Green Bay are favourites against their struggling divisional rivals, but if they can’t stop Dalvin Cook then an upset is on the cards. We still expect the Pack to win but it could be close. The other big game is the Bears taking on the Saints. Chicago has been a tad lucky in most of their games and we think they are slightly worse than their record suggests. We expect New Orleans to win this one.
AFC East – Is The Patriots season really over with a loss?
We would never write the Patriots off until its mathematically impossible, however, a loss could leave them 4 games back on the Bills and in a hole as far as a wild card is concerned. If they lose as we expect, look for the to tear it down and start the rebuild.
Anyway here are the week’s remaining games with our predicted winners in bold.
Sunday & Monday Schedule
Sunday 1st November
New England @ Buffalo
Tennessee @ Cincinnati
LV Raiders @ Cleveland
Indianapolis @ Detroit
Minnesota @ Green Bay
New York Jets @ Kansas City
LA Rams @ Miami
Pittsburgh @ Baltimore
LA Chargers @ Denver
New Orleans @ Chicago
San Francisco @ Seattle
Dallas @ Philadelphia
Monday 2nd November
Tampa Bay @ New York
Bye Week
Arizona, Washington, Jacksonville & Houston