NFC Week 3 Preview & Predictions

NFC Week 3 Preview & Predictions

A couple of teams set themselves apart in the NFC last week as the early front runners. Drew Brees and the Saints’ offense look almost unstoppable and the New Orleans’ defense is helping the cause providing turnovers and a short field for them to work. The Giants went into Big D and came away with a big win. Eli Manning is settling in with his new core of receivers and the defense is making plays when they need to. The Vikings, Falcons, and 49ers round out the five teams that are still undefeated. San Francisco so far is the biggest surprise as head coach Mike Singletary has instilled a new attitude with this team. All five of these teams covered the spread last week and three teams, the Saints, Giants, and Vikings all won on the road. At the opposite end of the conference, there are four teams that have gotten off to a 0-2 start; Tampa Bay, Carolina, Detroit, and St. Louis. The big surprise is easily the Panthers who tied for the best record in the NFC last year at 12-4, but look like a completely different team so far this season.

Moving onto week three in the NFC the key match ups we will be reviewing are; San Francisco @ Minnesota, Chicago @ Seattle, and the N.Y Giants @ Tampa Bay.

San Francisco 49ers @ Minnesota Vikings (-6.5)     Current Over/Under 40

In the only match up of unbeaten teams, this game will most likely come down which team’s defense has the ability to stop the other team’s marquee running back. The Vikings’ Adrian Peterson has run for 272 yards on 40 carries and has scored 4 touchdowns. The 49ers’ Frank Gore has run for 237 yards on 38 carries and has 3 rushing touchdowns including runs of 79 and 80 yards against Seattle last week. Both teams will look to grind it out on the ground and protect the ball in an effort to win the battle of field position as well as keep the other team’s offense off the field. The difference in this one could be the play of veteran QB Brett Favre. So far he has not been asked to go out and win the game, but that may change this week. I give the slight edge to the Vikings in this one, but I like the 49ers to cover. Neither team will score a ton of points so stay with the under as well.

Chicago Bears (-2) @ Seattle Seahawks Current Over/Under 37

Bear’s QB Jay Cutler shook of the rust from game one and played like everyone expected him to, beating the Steelers last week. The big test will be can he play with some level of consistency that will be needed for this team to win on a regular basis. Seattle QB Matt Hasselbeck got knocked out of last week’s game in the second quarter with a bruised rib. The Seahawks chances in this game rest squarely on his ability to play this week as their offense was unable to do anything with him on the sidelines. If he cannot go, Seneca Wallace would get the start. Right now it appears this will be a game time decision which could alter this line at the last minute. I’m picking Seattle and the over in this one on the assumption that Hasselbeck is ready to go by game day. If he is out of the line-up, all bets are off.

New York Giants (-7) @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers Current Over/Under 44

The Giants will have to be wary of a letdown after Sunday night’s big win over Dallas. Eli Manning should be able to move the ball against a Tampa defense that is giving up over 450 yards of total offense per game. New York has been averaging close to 400 yards of total offense per game so it looks to be another long day for the Buc’s defense. What New York needs to be concerned with is Tampa’s offense, which has played well their first two games. The Buccaneers, behind veteran QB Byron Leftwich are averaging 400 yards a game in total offense and have been able to put points on the board, just not enough to win. Given the fact that New York will most likely not have defensive linemen Chris Canty and Justin Tuck in the line-up due to injuries will only help Tampa’s cause. I look for a high scoring affair that easily goes over, with the Giants covering the 7 points on the road.