NFL Week 7 Predictions
With the NFL Football spreads getting tougher and tougher, both writers had trouble predicting the outcomes again last week and both enter this weekend with a 7-11-2 record.
Here is how they break down Week 7.
Kansas City @ Oakland Raiders
Mike: This is a spirited battle between AFC West rivals, who hate each other all the way back from their AFL days. The first thing that stands out about this game is the Over/Under is just 37.5 points. That makes sense as the Oakland offense is ranked 20th in the NFL 2007 season, while Kansas City’s is 26th. Both teams want to establish the run, and the Chiefs are hoping to get a second good game in a row from Larry Johnson. However, it is the Raiders who have the better rushing attack overall, and that will carry them to a home win on Sunday.
Prediction: Raiders -3
Cras: The Chiefs have erased the dismal start to the season with three wins in the last four outings. Despite fumbling at the one yard line last week, Larry Johnson had a breakout game with 119 rushing yards and a touchdown. More importantly, he looked like the Larry Johnson everyone expected to see this year. The Raiders have a good defense but will they be able to slow Johnson? They couldn’t slow L.T. last week as he racked up 198 yards and four touchdowns.
Prediction: Chiefs +3
Atlanta Falcons @ New Orleans Saints
Mike: A dark cloud has lifted over the city of New Orleans as the Saints finally won their first game of the year last week, 28-17 at Seattle. Now, they must continue to stay hot if they hope to climb back into the playoff hunt. For Atlanta, the big news is that former Jaguar, Byron Leftwich will get his first start of the season. Leftwich is still learning the Bobby Petrino offense, but this gutsy player will provide a spark for the awful Falcons’ offense, and help keep this game within double digits.
Prediction: Falcons +8
Cras: Where the heck were the New Orleans Saints in the first quarter of the season? Finally, after four terrible efforts they showed up last weekend in Seattle and that has a lot of bettors, 57 percent, backing the Saints this weekend. I got burned by New Orleans too many times over the first four weeks and it’ll take more than one game to prove to me they are the same team they were last year.
Prediction: Falcons +8
Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Detroit Lions
Mike: Tampa Bay is 4-2 and Coach Jon Gruden is back to his tricks of “coaching up†his team. It certainly helps having a veteran quarterback like Jeff Garcia, but the Bucs are playing solid on both sides of the ball. Detroit is 3-2, but they have gotten blown out in two of their last three. The good news is that they are 2-0 at home and coming off a bye week. Still, there is no way they should be giving points to this Tampa team, even in the Motor City.
Prediction: Buccaneers +2
Cras: The Detroit Lions enter Week 7, seven wins short of Jon Kitna’s bold prediction that they’d win 10 games this season. Washington picked apart the Lions two weeks ago, holding the offense to just 144 yards. Detroit has had the bye week to fix their issues and get ready for a tough Tampa Bay defense. The Lions are perfect at home so far this season and I will take them at home this weekend.
Prediction: Lions -2
Pittsburgh Steelers @ Denver Broncos
Mike: This Sunday night game at Mile High is one of the best on the schedule this week. Denver finds themselves almost in a must-win situation at 2-3, while Pittsburgh has surprised many of the pundits with a 4-1 mark. A lot of that credit has to go to first year coach, Mike Tomlin. Broncos’ coach, Mike Shanahan knows his team must do a lot better job stopping the run if they hope to win this game. I believe they will slow down the Steelers just enough to make this a field goal contest at the end.
Prediction: Denver +3 ½
Cras: Denver has had a bye week to try and get the offense going. The play of quarterback Jay Cutler has been sketchy thus far and the loss of wide receiver Javon Walker the last few weeks has definitely hurt. Pittsburgh gets back a bunch of key players this weekend as receiver Hines Ward is set to return while Santonio Holmes and safety Troy Polamalu will also play this weekend. That’s bad news for Denver, who hasn’t been as dominant at home as they have in the past.
Prediction: Steelers-3 ½
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