San Francisco 49ers at Buffalo Bills (- 7): There is not much to say about this contest except this – West Coast teams are 0-15 when traveling to the East Coast to play this season. That is pretty astounding. Buffalo is riding high after scoring 54 points against Kansas City last weekend, and playing at home with their playoff chances alive and well should give Trent Edwards and his gang much motivation. Plus, snow showers are in the forecast for Sunday in Buffalo, and San Fran’s Mike Martz-created aerial attack should not fare well in the white stuff. Prediction: Buffalo 27, San Francisco 14.
Baltimore Ravens at Cincinnati Bengals ( + 7): This game comes down to one simple question. With Ryan Fitzpatrick still at quarterback, with Cedric Benson still starting at tailback and with Chad "Ocho Cinco" Johnson barely registering a blip on the radar screen, how are the Bengals going to score? Seriously, how are they going to score? This is not like past Baltimore teams where a Kyle Boller-led offense might hand an opposing team a touchdown or two. This Baltimore team actually scores points and does not turn the ball over nearly as much.
Here is another reason to like Baltimore – in their seven wins this season they won each game by at least seven points. The only game they won by ONLY seven points? The first game of the year versus, you guessed it, Cincinnati, and that was when Joe Flacco had no idea what he was doing and Carson Palmer’s elbow wasn’t sore. Things have changed. Prediction: Baltimore 21, Cincinnati 9.
Indianapolis Colts at Cleveland Browns ( + 4.5): The Brady Quinn experiment lasted three weeks and has been officially shelved for the season because Quinn’s broken finger has him throwing as inaccurately as Derek Anderson. Now Anderson is back at the helm of Cleveland’s underachieving offense. Cleveland’s 27th ranked defense should help Indy QB Peyton Manning in his quest to win another MVP award. The only thing going in Cleveland’s favor is the Browns win games they should lose (they defeated the New York Giants after all) and lose games they should win (Houston at home just last week). Prediction: Indianapolis 27, Cleveland 17.
Atlanta Falcons at San Diego Chargers (- 5): When will the oddsmakers realize San Diego is a 4-7 team for a reason? It is pretty ballsy to favor the Chargers by a solid amount when they are hosting a 7-4 team. Granted, the bolted-helmet ones played tough in a one-point loss at Pittsburgh and in a last-second field goal defeat at home against Indianapolis the past two weeks. Couple that with Atlanta’s less than stellar 2-3 road record and there is some optimism in Chargerland. The key here is if Atlanta’s Michael Turner can outgain the man he used to back up for, LaDainian Tomlinson. Turner has done it regularly all season, though, and San Diego’s defense is much weaker and softer than Atlanta’s. Prediction: San Diego 20, Atlanta 17.
