The Redskins, (3-3), will play against the Bears, (4-2) on Sunday. The Bears play a punishing defense shown by their ranking of 3rd in points allowed and 8th in yards against.
Their problem is their offense. The offensive line has allowed a league leading 27 sacks this season and their total offense is ranked 22nd in passing and 26th in rushing. The Redskins, led by Donovan McNabb, are ranked 9th in passing. If this game comes down to a quarterback battle, I can see McNabb out playing Cutler.
Winner: Redskins
The Steelers, (4-1), will take on Miami (3-2), in what will be Ben Roethlisberger’s second game of the season. Ben will face the 4th ranked Dolphin passing defense. In his first game back, he threw for 257 yards and 3 touchdowns, leading the Steelers to victory.
The Dolphins are ranked 24th in points scored and Chad Henne may struggle against the Steelers Defense. Miami has surprised many this year with only two losses and will try not to fall farther behind the Jets atop the AFC East.
Winner: Steelers
The Randy Moss-less Patriots, (4-1), will travel to San Diego, (2-4). In their first game without Moss, the Pats had a huge come-from-behind win. Newly acquired, Deion Branch was a major reason they won the game and the Patriots looked like the team that won three Superbowls.
The Chargers have struggled the last two weeks, losing to both the Raiders and the Rams.. Even with the struggles, Philip Rivers has thrown over 240 yards in every game and had over 400 yards in two, both losses. Ryan Mathews has not been able to fill LaDainian Tomlinson’s shoes thus far, leaving the team completely one dimensional.
Winner: Patriots
Brett Farve will travel to his old stomping grounds of Lambeau Field. The 2-3 Vikings are looking to pass the 3-3 Packers for second place in the NFC North. Farve is 2-0 against his former team, but the only thing that he has only proven this season is that training camp actually matters.
Green Bay will be coming off of back-to-back overtime losses and will try to live up to their preseason expectations. The Packers have allowed 14 sacks and 27 QB hits while the Vikings have allowed 13 sacks and 29 QB hits this season. The team that protects their QB the best will win this game.
Winner: Packers
The Titians, (3-3), will play the Eagles, (4-2) this week. Both teams have two quarterbacks that could start for them. As of Tuesday, it looks like Kevin Kolb will start for the Eagles and Kerry Collins will start for the Titians. I think that Kolb can play a better game than Collins because he has more weapons to throw to, especially if DeSean Jackson plays.
Winner: Eagles
Joe Beaurdoin can be reached at jbeaurdoin@spartans.ut.edu.