MHR's NFL Week Four Picks

Wow, what a terrible week of picks for me last week, but thankfully it wasn't just me. Will the real NFC please stand up? San Francisco, Green Bay and Atlanta all lost. Baltimore beat Houston, Cleveland won! What a week...

Here are my picks for Week Four.

Thursday, September 26th 8:25 PM ET
49ers at Rams
Anyone have the 49ers at 1-2 at this point in the season? Vegas didn't that's for sure. The Rams did not lose to a team in the NFC West last season, they went 1-0-1 against the 49ers in 2012. This early in the season, it looks like this is a must-win for San Francisco. St. Louis's defense may just have the 49ers offense figured out by now though. Last season Colin Kaepernick didn't have a touchdown against them.
Winner: 49ers

Sunday, September 29th 1:00 PM ET
Ravens at Bills
Anyone watch the Baltimore/Houston game last week and think that Baltimore may be back finally? I don't know, but they are definitely good enough to beat Buffalo in this game. CJ Spiller was essentially zeroed as the annual debate of whether Spiller or Fred Jackson should be handling the rock reemerge. I don't think that they will figure it out in this game.

Winner: Ravens

Cardinals at Buccaneers
Arizona should have this game, despite a recently un-injured Larry Fitzgerald being stuck on Revis Island all day. Carson Palmer's not a bad quarterback and I think that there is maybe more to Aaron Ellington than we know just yet. Also, Tampa is starting 2012 third round draft pick Mike Glennon over the healthy Josh Freeman, the Cardinals defense is going to be breathing rocket fuel.

Winner: Cardinals

Steelers at Vikings
Wow, Pittsburgh seems really bad this year and Minnesota's not that far in front of them. I think that the Vikings still won't be able to get it together for this game though and the Steelers get their first victory on the season.

Winner: Steelers

Giants at Chiefs
This couldn't be more of a trap game to me for Kansas City, they are due at this point. New York is nowhere near as bad as they have come off, but I don't know if they get it together in time to beat the Chiefs.

Winner: Chiefs

Colts at Jaguars
Chad Henne is out, because Blaine Gabbert is back. Jacksonville is absolutely not interested in Tampa's Josh Freeman. I get it, I just don't know why. That being said, Indianapolis is absolutely going to going to win this game.

Winner: Colts

Seahawks at Texans
I really believe that Houston can get back together for this game and beat Seattle, but after my atrocious showing last week, I am going to bet on the Seahawks this week. I am no longer predicting as much as taking the sure bet.

Winner: Seahawks

Bengals at Browns
How great would it be for Brian Hoyer to come out and do what Aaron Rodgers couldn't-- beat the Bengals. I don't think that Cleveland has it in them though. That defense is good, Cincinnati wouldn't have beaten Green Bay without out. For that, I have to take the Bengals in this one.

Winner: Bengals

Bears at Lions
With a win last week against Pittsburgh, Chicago became the second best team in the NFC by default. How fun would it be to watch the Bears vs. Seahawks at this point in the season, unfortunately it won't be until the playoffs possibly. Matt Stafford is going to have to throw for a ton of yardage and if any team in the NFL has an answer for Calvin Johnson, it is probably the Bears. I take the Bears in this one.

Winner: Bears

4:05 PM ET
Jets at Titans
The fact that both of these teams are 2-1 is not something that I could have predicted before the season. I think that Tennessee looks a little stronger at this point, but neither of these teams seems to be very good. With a win and a loss by Houston and Indianapolis, the Titans would have sole possession of first place in the AFC South.

Winner: Titans

4:25 PM ET
Redskins at Raiders
Mike Shanahan versus the Raiders, Broncos fans know how this story ends. What is interesting to me is that Matt Flynn may finally get his opportunity to start. He's made a ton of money the last two seasons for sitting, so he might actually be good. Still, I'll take Shanahan's team and if he burns me this time I am picking against him for the rest of the season.

Winner: Redskins

Eagles at Broncos
I think that Denver will be electric, Tom Nalen getting inducted at halftime and the Broncos actually run the blink offense better and more efficiently than Philadelphia. Plus the Denver defense is probably the most prepared and capable of defensing against the Eagles offense than any other team in the NFL-- given that they have been defending against Peyton Manning's offense for about two months now in practice.

Winner: Broncos

Cowboys at Chargers
Dallas, they have a great defense and San Diego just doesn't have the offense right now. Shut down Antonio Gates and take Eddie Royal out a la what the Titans did and the Chargers are in trouble. I'll take Dallas and give them false hope as Denver heads into town in Week Five.

Winner: Cowboys

8:30 PM ET
Patriots at Falcons
Either this game of the Houston/Seattle game is my game of the week. If New England and Houston can both come away with wins somehow it will be impossible to make an argument for the strength of the NFC. I think that New England can win against a very injury ridden Atlanta here, especially given that Rob Gronkowski is likely to be back for this game.

Winner: New England

Monday, September 30th 8:40 PM ET
Dolphins at Saints
Finally some competitive games in prime time for the NFL. Here is another one that I think will be very fun to watch. I really didn't believe in Miami until after Week Three. They did beat Atlanta when the Falcons were nearly at full strength, but they had trouble against Tampa Bay before clobbering the Cardinals. I like the Dolphins though and like their chances of being an actual good team this season.

Winner: Dolphins

Through Week Three birddog took lone possession of first place this week with a record of 36-12, while Broncs Cheer and MrFNSunshine split second place currently with a 35-13 record. . That is pretty incredible, on the staffers side Big Pete is 31-7 record. If you're interested, here are the full rankings thus far.