DTTWSB Week 4 NFL Picks

With only 30 minutes left until kickoff there is no better time for me to make my picks. Today I think we'll be able to seperate the contenders from the pretenders. A lot of the morning matchups have potential playoff teams going at it. Last week I went 10-6 with my picks which brings me to an overall record of 30-18. That has me near the bottom compared to the ESPN experts. I need this week to make up the ground. Let me not waste anymore time. Here are my picks!

49ers at Eagles: Eagles

It's do or die today in Philly for the hometown Eagles. If they don't win they will drop to 1-3 which is a tough hole to climb out of. All attention will be on Michael Vick as he's been banged up the past couple weeks. The Niners don't have an awesome defense so Vick should be able to get his legs back underneath him. The main reason why I don't like the 49ers in this game is because of Alex Smith. In my opinion he's a pretender so I just don't see him being able to take on an angry Eagles team. Give me Philly in this one.

Steelers at Texans: Steelers

I believe this game will tell us a lot about the AFC so far this season. The Steelers are usually a main stay, while the Texans are trying to be an upstart team. This is a huge game for the Texans organization. If they can pull out a win today it will say a lot about where they are now. I don't believe they'll be able to pull it off though. Some teams in this league just have the know how and some don't. Matt Schaub will have you thinking he's turned the corner and then all of a sudden he won't be able to make THE throw to win THE game. I Roethlisberger will make enough plays to win the game.

Patriots at Raiders: Patriots

Last week the Raiders had a huge win against the New York Jets. This week I think they will be brought back down to earth when they face an angry Patriots team. I do believe this game will be close because the Pats statistically have the worst defense in the league. The Patriots should be able to exploit the Raiders defense though. One thing that Oakland cannot do if they want to win is make stupid errors like personal foul penalties. With the emotion of last week still riding high, I think the Raiders may have a hangover game. I'm going with Brady and Belichick.

Jets at Ravens: Jets

In somewhat of an upset I'm taking the Jets over the Ravens on Sunday night. As a purist, I love seeing hard-hitting football and that's exactly what this game will provide. The Jets and Ravens don't like each other so don't be surprised if you see some scuffles tonight. I think the Jets will get back to their ground and pound strategy tonight especially with center Nick Mangold coming back from injury. The defense will also be playing angry which should help. The biggest reason I believe the Jets will win is because they cannot afford to drop to .500 if they want to keep pace with the Patriots. That alone will bring them together in a tough victory tonight.

***Upset Special***
Lions at Cowboys: Cowboys

My upset special this week is the Cowboys over the Lions. It may look like I'm not a believer in the Lions but that's far from the truth. Last week they should have lost, but they showed great resilience by coming back down 20. This week I don't think Dallas will let them off the hook. With everyone on the Lions bandwagon this week, I think Romo and the 'Boys will try to make a statement by beating this upstart team. One thing Dallas must watch out for is that Lions defensive line. Those boys are coming hard and fast. If they don't block up front they won't win. I do believe the Cowboy offensive line will have a good game and allow Romo to find his weapons out wide. Give me Dallas.

The rest of the week's picks:

Panthers at Bears: Bears
Bills at Bengals: Bills
Titans at Browns: Browns
Vikings at Chiefs: Chiefs
Redskins at Rams: Rams
Saints at Jaguars: Saints
Giants at Cardinals: Giants
Falcons at Seahawks: Falcons
Broncos at Packers: Packers
Dolphins at Chargers: Chargers
Colts at Buccaneers: Buccaneers