NFL Week 4 Predictions
September 26, 2006, 8:49 PM | 12 Comments
Note: Predictions for week 4 of the 2008 NFL season can be found here: NFL Week 4 Predictions.
Last week I had a pretty good week, going 11-3 with my picks. It was another great week of action that was exciting to watch and offered a lot of extremely impressive plays.
The Atlanta Falcons completely bombed against the Saints and Michael Vick just looked bad. Impressive is that the New Orleans Saints, not the Atlanta Falcons or Carolina Panthers are leading the NFC South division with a perfect 3-0 record. The Falcons and Panthers have not lived up to expectations at all so far, but I think eventually one of those teams will turn it around. It could make for a pretty good competition for the division title come December. Judging by week 3’s action, the Panthers may be that team that turns around their season.
Obviously I’m pretty happy that the Packers got their first win against the Lions and that Brett Favre got his 400th touchdown pass. It’s a step in the right direction for Green Bay, but they’ve got a tough Monday night match up coming against Philadelphia.
Week 4 is the first week where we’ll see teams coming back from their bye week and it will be interesting to see whether their week off will result in renewed enthusiasm for their season, or if their early season bye week will just hinder whatever momentum they had been building.
Here are this week’s ESPN Expert Picks and my predictions for week 4!
| Away | Home | Comments | Pick | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Cardinals(1-3) |  Falcons(3-1) | So, apparently Kurt Warner | | |
 Cowboys(2-1) |  Titans(0-4) | Vince Young | | |
 Colts(4-0) |  Jets(2-2) | Firstly, condolences go out to Colts WR Reggie Wayne who lost his brother in a traffic accident on Sunday. The Jets have impressed me so far this year, but really haven’t played any elite teams and are going to have their hands full with the Colts. | | |
 Dolphins(1-3) |  Texans(1-3) | This game really could go either way. The Dolphins have not lived up to expectations so far, and the Texans need some offense… and defense. | | |
 Vikings(2-2) |  Bills(2-2) | The Vikings are another team that has impressed me with their play so far and last week their defense kept them in the game right until the end. If the Vikings can continue to play as well as they have and limit costly mistakes, they could challenge for the NFC North title. | | |
 Saints(3-1) |  Panthers(2-2) | Finally the Panthers got a win and their offense got going last week against the Bucs. The Saints did look very good against the Falcons… but the Falcons looked really, really bad. | | |
 Chargers(2-1) |  Ravens(4-0) | For so many years the Ravens defense has been their strength… and it still is. They had better show up in a big way, because I don’t believe that the Ravens have the offense to keep up with the Chargers. | | |
 49ers(1-3) |  Chiefs(1-2) | Even with Trent Green still out because of that massive concussion, the Chiefs should still have enough offense to get their first win of the season over the Niners after their week 3 bye. | | |
 Lions(0-4) |  Rams(3-1) | Neither of these offenses has looked very good this year, but the Lions actually had a decent outing against the Packers last week. It could go either way, but I still think the Rams have the edge at home. | | |
 Browns(1-3) |  Raiders(0-3) | The Browns need a win in a bad way and the Raiders are just the team to give them a win. | | |
 Jaguars(2-2) |  Redskins(2-2) | The Redskins got a win against the lowly Texans last week, but the Jaguars are not the Texans and are probably going to bounce back from last week’s tough loss agianst the Colts. | | |
 Patriots(3-1) |  Bengals(3-1) | The Patriots are not the team they once were and Tom Brady looked pretty darn ordinary against the Broncos last week. The Bengals got a huge win against the Steelers, and should be able to continue their momentum and fight off the Patriots this week. | | |
 Seahawks(3-1) |  Bears(4-0) | Losing Shaun Alexander for any length of time is a huge blow to the Seahawks and it will be interesting to see how they react. If they can have the success in their aerial attack that they had last week though, they should be able to hand the Bears their first loss. | | |
 Packers(1-3) |  Eagles(3-1) | As with any time I pick against the Packers, I really hope I’m wrong. The Eagles have looked pretty strong so far and the Packers have struggled against them in recent history, especially in Philadelphia. Congratulations to Brett Favre for getting his 400th (and 401st… and 402nd) TD pass in an exciting win last week against Detroit. | | |
| Note: the Broncos, Giants, Steelers and Buccaneers have a bye week this week. | ||||
I’m hoping to continue in the same success I’ve had over the past 2 week’s of predictions. Check back after the games for updates and some additional thoughts on week 4.
Update: That sound you just heard was any shred of ego I may have gained over the past 2 weeks getting decimated by a 7-7 week. That brings my total for this year up to 38-22. Better luck next week I hope! It was interesting to see both prime time games (Sunday night and Monday night) go into “garbage time.” For those of you who aren’t familiar with the term, garbage time is when teams throw in their backups to finish off the game because one team is getting blown away. Now you know.
Posted in: Sports
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Comments
1. Rockwell - September 29, 2006, 11:56 PM
You are 31-15 for the season! Now, I know there’s a reason I stumbled across this blog and kept reading. Last week was disaster for me… so I’m going to have stay here for some suggestions.
I’m glad to see I have many of these the same… but then there are the ominous differences… like my pick of the Bears over the Seahawks… or the Falcons over the Cardinals.
My full list is at: http://ivorytowerz.blogspot.com/2006/09/office-pool-week-four.html
However, until I notch a few more victories, I think I’m paying more attention to what you write here.
2. Jonathan Eckmier - September 30, 2006, 12:28 PM
Rockwell: I completely understand your reasons for picking both Atlanta and Chicago as those were 2 of my riskiest picks this week. To me, those are both games that could go either way though.
Actually, this week wasn’t really that easy for me to decide on my picks for quite a few games. As we all know, in the NFL (and sports in general) there are no ‘sure things,’ so sometimes it’s good to take some risks.
The Cardinals have a good offense and, as I said in my summary, could eek out the win over the Falcons. Last week the Falcons looked absolutely horrible against the Saints and if the Cardinals can learn anything from those game tapes, they could have some success.
As for the Bears, their defense is going to need to play a lot better than they did last week if they want to stop the Seahawks offense.
So there you have it… the reasoning behind my madness! Thanks for posting your thoughts!
3. Rockwell - September 30, 2006, 8:24 PM
Oh… I do not think you spout madness. Perhaps Canadians really do know football better!
I’m taking notes on your reasoning. Until I get my winning percentage back up near where it was last year (.689) I’m listening to more of your advice.
4. Jonathan Eckmier - October 1, 2006, 10:59 PM
Rockwell:
Perhaps Canadians really do know football better!
I wouldn’t say that this is a Canadian trait. If we were talking about hockey, that might be the case though. ;)
5. web - October 2, 2006, 1:01 PM
What a weird week, a lot of good games and weird outcomes – thats what I like most about football – a surprise every week.
The Jets/Colts game was a great game to watch – I hope tonight is as entertaining.
I too think the Jets are a vasty underrated team. Don’t get me wrong – I don’t think they are a playoff contender in the AFC but they are on the road to becoming a force again.
How bout them Dolphins?? What a bust. An SI writer (forgot who) picked them to go to the Superbowl over the Bengals, Steelers, Pats and Broncos!
6. Jonathan Eckmier - October 2, 2006, 1:21 PM
web: You’re completely right. Week 4 has definitely been the oddest week of the season so far. Who would’ve thought those Jets would keep it close against the Colts? Perhaps they are ‘vastly’ underrated! Also, I was expecting the Cowboys to beat the Titans, but I wasn’t expecting them to stomp all over them.
How bout them Dolphins?? What a bust. An SI writer (forgot who) picked them to go to the Superbowl over the Bengals, Steelers, Pats and Broncos!
It was probably Peter King. Sports Illustrated is notorious for making these types of picks though… they always look stupid in the end. The Dolphins have been a complete disappointment this year and it doesn’t look like it’s going to get much better. They obviously got the version of Daunte Culpepper without Randy Moss and last year’s knee injury is just an excuse in my opinion. Just look at Carson Palmer.
7. web - October 2, 2006, 1:26 PM
Yeah - Culpepper was looking pretty bad right before he was injured. It’s sad because he was a very good quarterback at one point.
8. Jonathan Eckmier - October 2, 2006, 1:35 PM
It is sad. I feel the same way about Kurt Warner and all the struggles he’s gone through since he went down because of injury and Marc Bulger took his job in St. Louis. He’s never been the same since then. He’s shown flashes of his old self from time to time, but that’s about it.
9. web - October 2, 2006, 9:47 PM
Is it just me or do you hate Joe Theismann on MNF?
Whenever Tony says anything somewhat interesting (or relating to an actual football fact), you’ll notice he will chime in with ANYTHING he can come up with.
I’m pretty sure he used the term “Plethora” tonight for the first time in his life tonight on national TV.
It was awkward for the both of us.
10. Jonathan Eckmier - October 2, 2006, 10:42 PM
You know what? With every week that goes by and I watch Monday Night Football, I lose more and more respect for Joe Theismann. He just says some of the stupidest things on air.
If you watched the game last Monday night, you would have heard Joe go on and on about how the new FieldTurf in New Orleans was causing a lot of problems because FieldTurf apparently needs to be worked in for a year before it feels right.
First of all, not only have I never, ever heard this “analysis” from any other source, but secondly, this is coming from a guy who never once in his career played on FieldTurf! Theismann was knocked out of football in 1985 when LT broke his leg. FieldTurf wasn’t introduced until the late 90’s at the earliest.