I thought I’d put up my predictions for this weekend’s games in a brief post before the games start.

 

Arizona over Atlanta

I know Atlanta is favored and over the past few weeks has played much better football than Arizona. The Falcons have a better running game with Michael Turner and their defense has been playing quite well. Still, I have a gut feeling that the Cardinals' offense will match up well against Atlanta and their defense will do just enough for Arizona to come out of the game with a win.

The key for Arizona will be to control the pass rush and for Warner to avoid turnovers and establish enough of a running game to keep the Atlanta defense honest.

 

Indianapolis over San Diego

This is always and interesting matchup and a close game when these two teams collide. I kind of leaned toward a San Diego upset because the Chargers have a tendency to play very well against the Colts and they are at home. But with the news that LaDainian Tomlinson and Antonio Gates are both injured and questionable, that’s too much to overcome.

 

Baltimore over Miami

I think Baltimore’s defense is going to steamroll the Dolphins—squish the fish, if you will. The Ravens’ defense has been dominant this year and has really come on the past quarter of the season.

Now that the Ravens have a real quarterback and three solid running backs to control the ball on offense, I think they have the potential to get to the Super Bowl.

 

Minnesota over Philadelphia

This is going to be another unpopular pick but, like the Arizona-Atlanta game, my gut feeling is that the Eagles and Donovan McNabb choke, surprisingly at the hands of Tarvaris Jackson, who I don’t like as a starting quarterback in the NFL. If Adrian Peterson isn’t too banged up and the running game gets established the Vikings should be able to pull out at win at home.