At the quarter mark, Houston is at the head of the class with a 3-1 record. While you wonder how much Ryan Fitzpatrick limits them, they seem to be playing really good football now. Watt is dominance incarnate, pressuring QBs and scoring TDs on both sides of the ball. Indy is in second, having rebounded nicely from two tough losses to start the season. After a surprising win in KC to start week 1, Tennessee has come back to earth, even prompting coach Whisenhunt to declare he may have overestimated the team. The Jaguars are in D.A.L. The good news for the Jaguars is they have decided to start Bortles and he has shown flashes of brilliance alongside the typical rookie mistakes. The bad news is that the defense, which is supposed to be the team's calling card, has been absolutely terrible, especially in the secondary.
Now for the picks...
Baltimore
(3-1) at
Indy
(2-2)-the Ravens seem to have handled the Ray Rice controversy well under the circumstances. Baltimore is 6th in offense and is going against a suspect Indy defense. However, Baltimore has lots of injuries, including to LT Eugene Monroe and stud pass rusher Terrell Suggs. Andrew Luck is on fire. Indy wins 28-20.
Pittsburgh (2-2) at
Jacksonville
(0-4)-the popular stat this week is that Steelers Def. Coordinator Dick LeBeau is 17-2 against rookie QBs as defensive coordinator with the Steelers, and his defense faces rookie QB Blake Bortles in his second start for the Jaguars. However, this current edition of the Steelers' defense isn't the same quality group that has led the Steelers to top ten caliber defenses over the years. Guys like Polamalu and Harrison have had great careers but are currently past their prime. Harrison, 36, just returned from retirement. They have injuries on that side of the ball, with speedy rookie linebacker Ryan Shazier and veteran CB Ike Taylor out. The Steelers rank 16th in yards, 20th in points, 17th against the pass, 15th against the rush and 19th in sacks. While the Jaguars are anything but a juggernaut, they have shown signs of offensive improvement over the last game and a half. They went toe to toe with the Chargers for a half, and showed signs of being able to run the football. If nothing else defensively, this team can get after the QB, while the Steelers have always had problems protecting Roethlisberger. I have been predicting the Jaguars will win in the next two weeks. At a roughly similar stage in the team's inaugural season, the expansion Jaguars beat the AFC Super Bowl representative Pittsburgh Steelers 20-16 for the team's first ever home win. The past is prologue. In a pick borne of cold scientific analysis, complete objectivity, and 100% homerism free thought :woot: , in an October surprise,
Jaguars 20
-
Pittsburgh 16.
Cleveland
(1-2) at
Tennessee
(1-3)-Both the Browns and tacks come into this game healthy. Jake Locker appears to be healthy enough to return to the lineup this week. Whether that helps much against a good Browns defense (3rd overall) is another matter. Though I have growing contempt for the Browns, I think Hoyer and company escape the hole known as Nashville to get the win, only to return to their own hole in Cleveland.
Browns
win 23-16.
Last week: 2-1
Overall: 9-5
Worst to 1st. Curse Reversed!
