Week 4 in the NFL

San Francisco 49ers at New Orleans Saints, 1 PM

The 49ers may just be the most surprising 2-1 team in football. Well, either them or the Falcons. J.T. O'Sullivan has provided stability to a position that hasn't been able to say that since Jeff Garcia's pro bowl days in the bay area. The 49ers don't look that far behind their NFC West rivals, Seattle and Arizona. New Orleans has suffered back-to-back losses thanks to their vulnerability to the big play on defense. The Saints have the 4th worst passing defense in the entire league. On offense, the Saints are without two of their biggest play-makers: Marques Colston and Jeremy Shockey. Still, I don't think San Francisco has the weapons to take advantage of New Orleans' holes, especially on the road.

Prediction: New Orleans (9)

Arizona Cardinals at New York Jets, 1 PM

Arizona is on top of their division, and has a golden opportunity to make a statement on the road against a potential playoff team. Cardinals QB Kurt Warner and the Jets' Brett Favre are a long way from their MVP days a decade or so ago, but are still capable of putting on an aerial show. I think the Jets have the better defense, and will make one or two plays to hold the Cardinals enough to win.

Prediction: New York (3)

Green Bay Packers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1 PM

QB Aaron Rodgers and his Packers hit their first bump in the post-Favre road last Sunday night against Dallas. I think it was a simple case of a good team just getting beaten by a very good team. Tampa Bay stole a game last week in Chicago when Brian Griese of all people threw 67 passes in an overtime win. Green Bay will miss cornerback Al Harris eventually, but not this week. There is no way Tampa Bay duplicates their passing success in consecutive weeks.

Prediction: Green Bay (7)

Atlanta Falcons at Carolina Panthers, 1 PM

Atlanta has beaten two of the absolute worst teams in football: the Lions and Chiefs. But 2-1 is 2-1. The offense of the Falcons is well ahead of the defense, as Atlanta is yielding an average of nearly 20 points a game, which isn't terrible. The problem is Atlanta's run defense, which has looked suspect. Carolina was far from impressive last week in Minnesota, and rank in the middle of the pack in nearly every category. Still, I think they're the better team, and this could be the week when everything clicks for them.

Prediction: Carolina (8)

Cleveland Browns at Cincinnati Bengals, 1 PM

Could the Ohio State football team beat either one of these teams to claim the title as best team in the state? Well, no, but the Browns and Bengals haven't matched the success of the Buckeyes in ages. That's certainly continuing this year, as both squads are off to embarrassing 0-3 starts. The Bengals were supposed to continue in mediocrity, while the Browns were everyone's favorite sleeper. When two awful teams meet up, I go with the one playing at home. Plus, the Bengals at least showed signs of life last week in an overtime loss to the Giants.

Prediction: Cincinnati (2)

Houston Texans at Jacksonville Jaguars, 1 PM

Houston has been blown out twice to start their season, and Hurricane Ike was sandwiched between those losses. The Lone Star State team is just looking for win. Texans QB Matt Schaub has looked really rough in two games, getting sacked 8 times, throwing 5 interceptions, and playing a big part in Houston's sputtering start. Maybe the Houston front office fell in love with Schaub during his brief flashes with Atlanta, well before he proved he could do it on a consistent basis. Jacksonville avoided falling into a deep hole last week by knocking off the Colts in the final seconds. Jacksonville got back to what it does best: pound the ball constantly with Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor, even behind a beat up offensive line. I see no reason to believe Houston wins this game.

Prediction: Jacksonville (12)

Minnesota Vikings at Tennessee Titans, 1 PM

Minnesota won with new QB Gus Frerotte in last week, but he didn't look that much better than Tavaris Jackson, the guy he replaced. Everyone knows that passing the ball isn't going to get the Vikings anywhere; it just needs to keep the defense honest enough so they don't have 8 or 9 guys stacked close to the line of scrimmage to stuff the run. The Vikings defense is also going to have to carry the team. Tennessee has really been an AFC mirror image of Minnesota. They also have a stout defense, a promising young running back (Chris Johnson), and have made the switch from a struggling young QB (Vince Young) to a veteran (Kerry Collins). I don't expect there to be more than 35 combined points in this slugfest, with the Titans winning a close one.

Prediction: Tennessee (4)

Denver Broncos at Kansas City Chiefs, 1 PM

The Broncos defense has been giving up points only a little bit slower than their offense can register them. Thankfully for them, they're 3-0. To be fair, Denver has faced two of the more potent offenses in football: San Diego and New Orleans. They go from facing some of the best to one of the worst in week 4. Kansas City looks punch-less, and can't decide what bad QB they want to lead their bad offense. The Chiefs have no direction at this point. This one may be ugly, even at Arrowhead Stadium.

Prediction: Denver (11)

San Diego Chargers at Oakland Raiders, 4:05 PM

San Diego moved the ball at will against the Jets, and forced Brett Favre into some Favre-like throws on Monday night. The Chargers were a team that could afford to fall to 0-2, since they get to play the Raiders and Chiefs a combined 4 times every year. That's 4 wins right there. If they go 6-6 in the other 12, they're in the playoffs. Pretty easy formula, right? Oakland's Darren McFadden is questionable for this game, and there's not much else for Oakland fans to get excited about if he's not playing.

Prediction: San Diego (10)

Buffalo Bills at St. Louis Rams, 4:05 PM

Buffalo is definitely the feel-good team of 2008. They're balanced on offense, and have a pretty feisty defense. When you start playing as well as the Bills, you become potential victims for every coach's nightmare: "The Trap Game". This is a game against a crappy team that a good team might look past, and assume they can show up and win. The Rams are unquestionably the second biggest mess in football, behind only the Oakland Raiders. Rumor has it that St. Louis coach Scott Linehan is going to get fired if his team loses this game. Want to hear something crazy? If that's the case, I think he will KEEP his job, because his team is going to win this game. Any given Sunday, anything can happen. I just think the Rams will get lucky, Steven Jackson will have a big day on the ground, and the coach will be saved.

Prediction: St. Louis (1)

Washington Redskins at Dallas Cowboys, 4:15 PM

Washington has looked strong since the opening night of the season, and they stand at 2-1. Unfortunately, they are running into the best team in their division and conference. Dallas have already beaten two of their chief NFC contenders in the Eagles and Packers. Washington doesn't have defensive end Jason Taylor for this game, and they sorely need a pass rush if they want to have any hope of disrupting Dallas QB Tony Romo and winning this game. Dallas should overwhelm Washington, especially in Texas Stadium.

Prediction: Dallas (13)

Philadelphia Eagles at Chicago Bears, 8:15 PM

The Eagles made a statement last weekend against the Pittsburgh Steelers, their Keystone State rivals. The Steelers always pride themselves on being the most physical team on a field, but the Eagles defense harassed QB Ben Roethlisberger all day, and thrashed Willie Parker and the running game. Philly faces a much less formidable offense this week. The only problem is that they may be without all-purpose running back Brian Westbrook. With or without Westbrook, I like the Eagles in this one, in part because the Bears' Devin Hester is questionable too.

Prediction: Philadelphia (5)

Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers, 8:30 PM on Monday Night

For the first time in a few years, the two teams seem to be evenly matched. Baltimore's defense has played as well as anyone's, and Pittsburgh presents a formidable offense for them. The Steelers will be without Parker, but the Ravens will be without starting corner Samari Rolle. I think the Steelers will hit a few deep balls downfield, and win a low-scoring, pyhsical game.

Prediction: Pittsburgh (6)

*Bye Weeks* New England, Miami, Indianapolis, New York Giants, Detroit, Seattle