I wound up week six with a mediocre record, picking 8 winners out of 14 games, pushing the overall mark for the season to 38 correct and 24 wrong. Here are my week 7 choices:
Seattle at San Francisco – this week’s Thursday night game is a big divisional clash, between 2 teams that have built stingy defenses over the last couple years. Coming off a stinging loss at home to the Giants, I have to go with the 49ers to rebound and win at home.
Tennessee at Buffalo – the Bills win in Arizona was ugly and probably lucky, but it’s just the sort of desperation win that can lift a team to bigger and better things. The Bills’ defense takes another small step forward, shuts down Matt Hasselbeck and the Titans’ offense and pulls out a home win.
Arizona at Minnesota – battle between 2 surprise teams of the 2012 season. Arizona has QB issues, Minnesota does not. Add RB Adrian Peterson to the mix, and the Vikings will win here to keep their “contender” instead of “pretender” status for another week.
Dallas at Carolina – both Tony Romo and Cam Newton can be inconsistent at quarterback, and my hunch is to take the Panthers at home. However, I’m going to go with Dallas grinding out a hard-fought road win.
New Orleans at Tampa Bay – Tampa normally gives the Saints a hard time, but New Orleans is starting to put it together, and I’ll pick them to keep their season’s hopes alive by winning a big NFC South game on the road.
Green Bay at St. Louis – the Rams are much improved, but are facing a buzzsaw this week against a motivated Packer team that righted its’ ship. Green Bay wins.
Washington at New York Giants – these NFC East matchups are never easy to pick. The Giants should be an easy pick here, but their Jeckyl and Hyde performances make that tough to do. Still, I’ll pick the Giants to win, but not without a tough fight.
Baltimore at Houston – the Ravens are reeling after losing Ray Lewis and Lardarius Webb to season-ending injuries. Their defense will need some time to adjust to life without 2 of their playmakers, so I’ll pick the Texans, motivated after suffering their first loss, to win at home.
Cleveland at Indianapolis – two rookie first round draft pick QBs do battle in this one. Andrew Luck has been impressive, and Brandon Weeden is coming on for the Browns. I’ll give Luck the advantage at home, and pick the Colts to win.
New York Jets at New England – the Patriots suffered a bitter defeat in Seattle, and their track record shows they’ll play well in the next game following a tough loss. Meanwhile, the Jets were impressive in beating the Colts last week, but their track record shows they’ll get full of themselves after a big win. New England wins at home.
Jacksonville at Oakland – this isn’t exactly the marquee matchup on the league schedule this week. Oakland gave the Falcons all they could handle last week, so I’ll take them to beat the Jaguars at home.
Pittsburgh at Cincinnati – on paper, the Bengals should win this game. The Steelers are struggling on defense this year, which is usually their strength. I still have to go with Ben Roethlisberger and the Steeler running game, however, to find a way to win here.
Detroit at Chicago – big NFC North game on Monday night. It should be a great game, and I’ll take the Bears based on the Soldier Field home crowd advantage.