"Seriously, f-ck you Bill."Sigh. I’ve really had trouble writing out this week’s predictions. After my wild care weekend’s flawless predictions, my fall off last week, aka the Dallas game, has left me contemplating my analyses of these games.
Packers vs Giants
In any event, with vengeance and complete utter malcontent do I predict the Packers beating the Giants 28-13. The Packers, playing in Green Bay, are en fuego right now. Favre is in sync with his receivers, the running game is performing very well, and the secondary, with Charles Woodson back, is looking incomparable. The Giants robbed Dallas by playing a clean game. They got lucky on Toomers first touchdown due to several unacceptable mistackles. They got lucky that Romo couldn’t throw because the ball took an extra second to get to him everytime he was in shotgun. And Eli picked apart a Dallas defense lead my the most mediocre and overrated safety in the NFL, Roy Williams. No, I’m not bitter, not even a little bit. Ha.
But all slander aside, the Giants don’t have enough threats on the offense to pose a threat to the Packers. Sure Plaxico is huge, and Toomer had a great game last week, but Charles Woodson has been the KING since his blue and gold days. The Green Bay front line is no joke either; not like it is going to matter much since the weather is going to be barely above freezing and the running game will be slower then normal.
The Giants have the front 8 to make Green Bay cringe. But Favre with time will prove to be deadly for the Giants. Give him even a little bit of time to pick apart the secondary and this game will be over quick.
Again, Green Bay 28 New York 13; Eli go home.
Patriots vs Chargers
Now for the game that we are all excited about; another David trying to defeat Goliath. I said earlier that the only team with a legitimate chance to beat the Patriots was the Jaguars. Well, I stand by that, but I was in San Diego for a couple years and its going to be awfully hard for me to go against them. So, screw it, Go BOLTS! Bolts win 24-23. And here is why…
San Diego showed something last week that hopefully the Patriots didn’t catch. When LT and Rivers went out with injuries, they produced a fantastic drive and scored on a qb sneak. On the surface, it seems like it was a big achievement and that San Diego is the new miracle city in America. What went unnoticed (I hope) was the performance of the line. The Colts thought they could pressure the quarterback and shut down the running game, but neither of which happened. Sproles and Turner can be starters on any other team in the NFL, but they won’t succeed. LT probably won’t be the superstar he is on other teams either. The San Diego offensive line is amazing. And what is more amazing is the chemistry they have with all 3 of their running backs. LT in the lineup but not starting would be the best way to approach this game against the Patriots; they have very little material on Turner and Sproles and Turner hits the hole so quickly its scary. Any fans of the Patriots I am sorry but I can’t name a linebacker that can keep up with Sproles. If Sproles runs a streak from out of the backfield he will be awfully hard to cover unless a safety clouds from atop.
To sum it up, San Diego wins this game if the offensive line is truly as talented as I am hyping them up to be. Turner Sproles and Tomlinson all have ~4+ yards per carry and a couple screens and running back passes result in big gains. Rivers or Volek with time will be able to to find Chambers in the end zone, but only if the Chargers running game gets them into the red zone.
Now as for the Patriots on offense, the Chargers will win this one if Brady has a Manning like performance. He doesn’t need to throw 6 interceptions but it would help out a lot if Merriman got in for a few early sacks. Confusing Brady won’t help because he has too many weapons. I’ve analyzed and scoped out the entire San Diego defense attempting to find a scheme that will prevent Welker from being free but I still cannot find one.
Wes Welker, as I have said all year, is the best white wide receiver in the NFL, hands down. If the Chargers cover Moss and Stallworth, there is no one left that can match up against Welker. And Welker is a tough kid, quick slants followed by a pounding by the San Diego linebacking core won’t bug him at all. And those middle of the field gains will open up the running game which will open up the flood gates for the Patriots. The only foreseeable way of preventing this slaughtering from occurring would be to supply Brady with enough zone blitzes that when he decides to fire down the middle to Welker, a lineman has dropped back into coverage just enough to swat or tip the ball. If Brady is under pressure he won’t be able to fire the long ball to Moss and the running game will not be an issue. But there is the 5-15 yard pass that Brady throws all too well to Moss and Welker that could be the demise of the Chargers.
Condensing my statements into a single line; the Chargers will win if their lines outduel the Patriots lines and they stop the short and middle passes; while the Patriots will win if ANYTHING clicks for them haha.
If the Chargers’ D prevails: SD 24 NE 23
If Welker is the man : NE 38 SD 13
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