NFL Week 4 open thread

Jazz: The report from week 3 was not a significant improvement from the first two. The bad news is that both Ed and I barely broke even, each going 4-3, bringing me exactly to the .500 mark at 10-10, but still trailing Ed. The good news is that a little known codicile in the NFL thread agreement dictates that Jazz Wins All Ties, so I get to do the post this week. (Wait… that was the good news?) In our fantasy league, I did even worse, suffering my first loss and dropping to 2-1 on the season. I’m sensing a pattern here…

Ed: The “Jazz Wins All Ties” move was so good that I was surprised Jazz fell for it. Unfortunately, I wasn’t quite as clever with my picks last week. I’m now 14-6 for the season, and I even won my first fantasy-football league game — but it wasn’t against Jazz. I may just rest on my laurel, seeing as how I now have one more win than I figured I’d get all season long anyway.

Jazz: The Jets dropped a tough game to the Bears on Monday night, playing quite well after the first four and a half minutes. Sadly, they were down 14 points by then and never got back on top. This week they host the Lions, who are listed as a two point favorite, but their offense has continued to improve. I expect they’ll have a lot of trouble with Megatron and Matthew Stafford has been hot, but they’ll find a way to win at home, 24-14. The Vikings are playing the Falcons, who are fresh off a staggering 56 point day against the Bucs. Their offense may still be tired from racking up all those yards, but I’m pretty sure they’ve got gas in the tank for Minnesota. I’ll take Atlanta 34-17. In our final standard pick, the Steelers play the Tampa Bay. As much as I like upsets and know that Tampa Bay is still smarting from last week, they won’t have enough for the Steelers. Pittsburgh takes it 27-10.

Ed: A friend asked me whether I was surprised that the Pittsburgh Steelers dominated the Panthers last week. Of course I replied, “No,” but … yeah, I was pleasantly surprised by that game. Today the Steelers play at home against the recently-embarrassed Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and they should have no problem taking on the Bucs at home. James Harrison returns to shore up a depleted linebacker corps, and the emotional lift should give the Steelers a 31-14 win. The Jets are playing better football this year but maybe still not quite good enough; I’ll pick Detroit here in a close 24-21 game. As far as the Vikings go, it’s not far enough against Atlanta. It might be a little closer than Jazz thinks, but not that close, 27-19.

Jazz: Here are my other four games for this week.

• Panthers at Ravens (1:00, CBS) – The Ravens are a three point favorite today and that’s probably because they have picked up their ground game, logging 150 yards in back-to-back games. That’s going to be too much for Carolina. I’ll take Baltimore in a lower scoring ground war, 17-13.
• Eagles at 49ers (4:25, Fox) – Everyone has San Fran to win this one, but the Eagles have been getting more and more impressive by the week. Their 3-0 record doesn’t look like a fluke and I’m starting to believe that San Fran may just be as weak as their 1-2 record looks. I’ll go with the upset and take the Eagles in a shootout, 31-27.
• Saints at Cowboys (8:30, NBC) – The Saints may be 1-2 like the 49ers, but their offense looks strong. The Cowboys are still… the Cowboys. I’ll take New Orleans in this one 30-23.
• Patriots at Chiefs (Monday 8:30, ESPN) – The Chiefs haven’t exactly been doing well at home lately, but the much ballyhooed Patriots have been stinking the joint up this season with a record as bad as, er… the Jets. I think they go down swinging yet again and the Chiefs win 24-17.

Ed:

• Panthers at Ravens (1:00, CBS) – The Panthers got surprised by Pittsburgh last week, but this one won’t be a surprise; they’re 29th against the rush, in no small part because of their performance last week. I hate to pick the Ravens, but Baltimore 21-17 over Carolina.
• Eagles at 49ers (4:25, Fox) – I’m not sure why San Francisco is favored in this game. Maybe they’re just overdue. The Eagles are 30th against the pass, though, and that may be enough to get the 49ers over the hump. I’ll go against Jazz and pick San Francisco 38-34.
• Saints at Cowboys (8:30, NBC) – I’m not playing Drew Brees this week, so I feel better about picking against New Orleans. Dallas seems to be doing a bit better, but it’s been against weak competition. This may end up being a really good game against fairly evenly matched opponents, but I’m going with a Cowboys upset, 31-26.
• Patriots at Chiefs (Monday 8:30, ESPN) – C’mon, man — picking against the Pats in a prime-time game? For the Chiefs? Patriots 33-21.