Vikings-Steelers and Other NFL Week 7 Predictions

After a two-week hiatus, I’m back on the case.

These past few weeks have been very tumultuous in the NFL. The Ravens lost three straight after looking to be sure-fire Super Bowl contenders.

The Titans, after going 13-3 in last year’s regular season, are now looking worse than ever at a miserable 0-6. 

Mark Sanchez is looking more and more like a USC quarterback than ever. 

And the supposedly shattered, oft-criticized Broncos are undefeated after beating the Chargers in a glorious Monday Night Football victory.

Week Seven looks to be just as hard to predict with the 49ers in Houston, the terrible Bills visiting the terrible Panthers, and an interesting matchup between the 3-2 Bears and the 4-2 Bengals.

The Game of the Week, however, should be the Minnesota Vikings against the Pittsburgh Steelers, with a “healthy” Troy Polamalu (he looked a little ragged by the end of the last game) against rocket-armed Brett Favre, and Jared Allen against the hard-to-sack Ben Roethlisberger.

Week Seven is also another bye week with six teams missing out on the action. Those teams are as follows: Baltimore Ravens, Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars, Seattle Seahawks, and Tennessee Titans.

Sunday, October 25, 1:00 PM EST

Indianapolis Colts at St. Louis Rams

Peyton Manning has been looking better than ever and he’s been able to use receivers that no one’s heard of before. The Colts defense has also been playing top-notch football, despite missing Bob Sanders.

The Rams are in need of some serious tuning-up. I feel sorry for Steve Spagnuolo, who deserves to be coaching a better team, and both Marc Bulger and Kyle Boller, who deserve better front lines.

This is a team that could really use a bye week. Something has to give here, but this is a bad game to start hoping. They almost beat the Jags last week. Maybe they can beat the Lions next week or the Titans in Week 14.

Winner: Indianapolis

New England Patriots at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

There’s no doubt about it … Tom Brady is back. The man broke the record for most touchdown passes in a quarter, and his team broke the record for largest spread while demolishing the Titans. Don’t look for them to slow down at all against the second worst team in the league.

The Bucs are in sad shape. Still reeling from their firing of John Gruden and Jeff Garcia, I suppose. This team needs a quarterback, a better coach, and some counseling, especially when they have to compete against one of the best offenses in the league.

Winner: New England

Green Bay Packers at Cleveland Browns

Green Bay is starting to worry me. Yes, they beat the Lions, but that’s not saying much. Aaron Rodgers has been sacked 25 times, and a quarterback like that needs protecting.

I’m not about to say that the Browns can win this game. They can’t. But if they had the D-Line that Denver has, or even a quarterback of mediocre caliber, they could.

If the Pack gets another big game out of Driver, however, this should be an easy win.

Winner: Green Bay

Minnesota Vikings at Pittsburgh Steelers

Minnesota looks better and better each week. The only reason they Ravens almost won in Week Six was because of a fourth quarter defensive breakdown. But not to worry.  All season, the Steelers have been suffering fourth quarter offensive breakdowns regularly.

If Jared Allen can actually catch the always-mobile Ben Roethlisberger while galloping through Pittsburgh’s porous O-Line, his big day will turn into a Viking rout.

The Steelers love to play at home, and they love having Troy Polamalu in the secondary. Brett won’t be able to gun-sling as much as he did last week or he’ll run into big problems.

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