On to the Sunday games…

At Cincinnati

-7.5

Oakland

49

All things being equal, the Bengals should blow Oakland off the field. But the Bengals can turn into Bungles in the blink of an eye and have a disturbing tendency to play to the level of their competition. Oakland’s defense is really, really bad and put Carson Palmer and the offense into seemingly intractable holes each week. Last week was no different as the defense allowed Drew Brees to have a field day while Palmer tried all day to play catch up. It’s a no-win situation for the Raiders. Carson Palmer’s return to the Queen City proves to be simply more frustration.

Projected Final Score: Cincinnati 27, Oakland 14

Pittsburgh

1.5

At Cleveland   34.5

We were able to see how poorly Pittsburgh’s offense functioned without Roethlisberger on Sunday night. Leftwich and his whip-style throwing motion just can’t cut it. But he’s out too and the Steelers are down to Charlie Batch. The Steelers turned the ball over twice last week and those miscues directly led to the Ravens winning the game. Oh yes, Pittsburgh’s defense remains the rock of the team but without Big Ben, they will have trouble moving the ball. The Browns hung tough in Dallas last week losing in overtime. They will feel sufficiently emboldened to repeat the performance before the home crowd. This ought to be a highly competitive matchup with one team trying to move forward in the playoff chase and the other playing for pride.

Projected Final Score: Pittsburgh 17, Cleveland 13

At Indianapolis

-3

Buffalo

52.5

Young Andrew Luck was taken to school last week by the Patriots as two of his errant passes turned into pick sixes and Indy was routed 59-24. This week, Luck and his mates return to the comforts of home to face a Buffalo team that’s coming off of a big home win against Miami on Thursday night. The Bills’ defense had a particularly effective evening dealing with Ryan Tannehill and will be looking to present a confusing series of looks to Luck. Now, whether they’re able to have some success on the road is another matter entirely.

Projected Final Score: Indianapolis 24, Buffalo 20

Denver

-10

At Kansas City

44.5

Peyton Manning and the Broncos now turn their attention to the woeful 1-9 Chiefs. The Chiefs are trying to recover from a 28-6 drubbing at the hands of Cincinnati. It looks to all appearances if KC has packed it in for the year on Coach Crennel. Meanwhile, we picked the Broncos to run the table and last week they took another step in that direction with a seven-point win over San Diego. Don’t look for the Chiefs to rise up like they did against Pittsburgh a couple of weeks ago, That was probably their last gasp at a fight.

Projected Final Score: Denver 31, Kansas City 13

Tennessee

-3

At Jacksonville

43.5

Unlike KC, there appears to be a spark of fight left in the Jaguars based on their hard-fought loss to the Texans last week. Whether they still have some fight at home against Tennessee is another story. Chad Henne had some success moving the ball against Houston and with Gabbert out for the season, it’s Henne’s offense now. While it’s too soon to write off Gabbert as a bust, the Jags need to go with the hot hand. The Titans were off last week, so they come into this game hopefully refreshed and renewed to kick some ass.

Projected Final Score: Tennessee 24, Jacksonville 17

At Chicago

-6.5

Minnesota     39

The Vikes took advantage of last week’s bye to refocus and to rest AP’s legs for the stretch run. The Bears traveled to Frisco for a Monday night date in which both starting quarterbacks were out of the lineup with concussion symptoms. In that game, Jason Campbell spent most of the night on his backside as the ‘Niners put a first class whuppin’ on the Bears, playing great two-way football en route to a big win. Needless to say, the Bears will be in a rather foul mood when Minnesota comes to town. If the Vikes studied the film from the San Francisco game, they’ll discover that there are holes in the Bears’ defense that can be exploited.

Projected Final Score: Chicago 24, Minnesota 17

At Tampa Bay

+1

Atlanta

48

The Falcons rebounded from their only loss with an efficient 23-19 win over the Cardinals last week. This week, they hit the road to Mabry Blvd. for a date with the surging Buckaroos. Tampa Bay is trying mightily to squeeze into the playoffs. A win over the Falcons would put them only two games back with five weeks left to play. The Falcons know that the Bucs will give them a terrific tussle, so Matt Ryan and the offense need to have a dominant outing on Sunday and forget about just trying to get by as they have in recent weeks. The Bucs had another impressive road win over Carolina last week and seem to be growing by leaps and bounds every week. We’ll discover just how far they’ve come along in this matchup.

Projected Final Score: Tampa Bay 27, Atlanta 24

Seattle

-2.5

At Miami

38

The Dolphins will be trying to rebound from a miserable outing in Buffalo last Thursday night but have the misfortune of facing a Seahawks team that’s coming off of a bye and has played very well in recent weeks. As is the case with every team that makes a cross-country trip, there should be a few red flags that go flying regarding Seattle. Are they good enough to make the long journey and play well? And what about Miami: are they capable of putting forth a winning effort at home? Hmm…’

Projected Final Score: Seattle 23, Miami 20

Ravens

-2

At San Diego

47

Following a hard-fought, hard-hitting close win in Pittsburgh, the Ravens travel to Paradise and a date with the enigmatic Chargers. Last week, San Diego lost at Mile High by only a touchdown to Peyton Manning. Joe Flacco is no Manning but he does have Ray Rice to pound the rock and the Ravens defense (notwithstanding the losses of Webb and Lewis) showed that they remain a bone-jarring group. Even if their intensity slightly dims after an emotional victory, they can still whip the Chargers, who have been (rightly) accused of playing without any emotion at all.

Projected Final Score: San Diego 24, Ravens 21

San Francisco

-1

At New Orleans 49

The Saints have slowly dug themselves out of an 0-4 hole and now find themselves 5-5 and back in the conversation for a Wild Card shot. It’s largely credit to Drew Brees and the offense that they’ve pulled back to .500 as the defense continues to be a sore spot. The ‘Niners played Chicago on Monday night without Alex Smith at the controls and Colin Kaepernick was absolutely on fire in Smith’s absence, leading the ‘Niners to a blowout victory. Even though the Bears are theoretically a tougher opponent, the Saints are probably feeling good about their chances this week. The game will be played in the Superdome, where the Saints are darn near impossible to beat.

Projected Final Score: San Francisco 27, New Orleans 24

At Arizona

-2

St. Louis

37.5

In the final 4:00 game of the afternoon, the Rams travel to the Valley of the Sun for an NFC West showdown with the Cardinals. Both teams are coming off losses but the Cards’ defeat came in a much closer and competitive game. The Rams were simply putrid at home against the Jets, they were never really in the game at all which was quite surprising for a Fisher-coached team. The question is who will start at quarterback this week for Arizona?

Projected Final Score: St. Louis 24, Arizona 21

At NY Giants

-2.5

Green Bay

49

Sunday wraps up with a trip by the Pack to the Meadowlands. The G-Men were off last week and have cooled off some from their fast start. Maybe this break from the action did them some good as they’ll need to be at their best to face Aaron Rodgers and Co. The Packers needed a little magic from Rodgers to post the comeback win over Detroit last week. This should be a great opportunity for the Giants’ front seven to get after Rodgers and show the rest of the League that they’re rarin’ to go for the stretch run.

Projected Final Score: NY Giants 27, Green Bay 24

Monday Night Football

At Philadelphia

-2.5

Carolina  40.5

Seriously, is this the best the NFL can do for a Monday night? This matchup should’ve been shuffled off to a Thursday night when hardly anyone cares. The Eagles are 3-7 and the Panthers are 2-8, for cryin’ out loud. Both of these teams stink, yet get rewarded by having a coveted Monday night viewing. Unless you’re a fan of one of these teams, it certainly won’t be “appointment television”.  It’s not known as of yet whether Vick or Nick Foles will be the quarterback on Monday night. Does it really matter? Ideally, Vick would be at full strength and this could be billed as a old gun vs. young gun showdown that would make the game a semi-attractive alternative to re-runs.

Projected Final Score: Philadelphia 24, Carolina 21