NFL Predictions Week 7: Guaranteed Picks, Top Matchups and Odds Guide

The New Orleans Saints turned back the clock in Week 6 and attacked with full force, coming up with a 31-21 victory over previously undefeated Atlanta.

The biggest mistake often made by handicappers is often overreacting to one win and deciding that it means a team has turned it around and all problems have been erased.

More than likely, that team has played one good game under ideal circumstances, and problems will revert quite quickly.

That's what we see happening when the Saints go to Indianapolis to take on the Colts. Fans may look at Drew Brees and his 30-of-39 showing and think that he is going to repeat it and break through the 300-yard mark once again.

But it's not quite that simple. The Falcons are a very good team that had put together five excellent efforts in a row, and they were playing a desperate team that was trying to save itself from humiliation. The Saints were playing at home, and their fans were revved up in front of a national television audience and playing one of their greatest rivals.

This week the Saints go on the road, and they are facing a desperate team. The Colts are 3-4 and are coming off a disappointing 34-27 loss to the New England Patriots.

The Colts played quite competitively against the Pats for most of the game, but the game turned on a horrible special teams call that saw Indianapolis run a fourth-down play from the swinging gate formation when the defense had the offense completely outmanned at the point of attack.

Chuck Pagano's team has heard the cackling and the criticism, and it will likely continue until kickoff. At that point, the Colts will be wound up and ready to play their best football.

The oddsmakers favor the Colts in this game by 4.5 points, according to Odds Shark. However, Andrew Luck is starting to throw the ball well again, and Frank Gore is giving them a solid ground attack. The Colts should be able to move the ball with ease against the Saints' 31st-ranked defense.

Two weeks ago, the Saints went into Philadelphia and were pummeled 39-10. We expect a similar result for the home team in this game.

Game	Line	Over/Under	Selection
Seattle at San Francisco	Seattle (-6.5)	42	San Francisco; Over
Buffalo at Jacksonville	Buffalo (-7)	42	Buffalo; Over
Minnesota at Detroit	Minnesota (-2.5)	44.5	Minnesota; Under
New Orleans at Indianapolis	Indianapolis (-4.5)	52	New Orleans; Over
Pittsburgh at Kansas City	No Line	-	Kansas City
Houston at Miami	Miami (-4)	44.5	Miami; Over
NY Jets at New England	New England (-10)	48	NY Jets; Under
Cleveland at St. Louis	St. Louis (-5.5)	41.5	Cleveland; Over
Atlanta at Tennessee	Atlanta (-4)	48	Atlanta; Under
Tampa Bay at Washington	Washington (-3)	43	Tampa Bay; Over
Oakland at San Diego	San Diego (-4)	46.5	Oakland; Under
Dallas at NY Giants	New York (-3)	45	NY Giants; Over
Philadelphia at Carolina	Carolina -3	46.5	Carolina; Under
Baltimore at Arizona	Arizona (-10)	48	Arizona; Over

Campbell should have Dolphins ready for big game at home versus Texans

The Dolphins were 1-3 under mild-mannered head coach Joe Philbin, and they were playing uninspired football. When owner Stephen Ross saw his team get taken apart in London by the Jets, he said goodbye to his nice-guy coach and promoted Dan Campbell to take over the team.

Campbell is more aggressive and demanding than Philbin, and while there is no reason to believe that he has the ability to turn the Dolphins around for the long term, his players seem to be responding to him. 

Miami had little trouble disposing of Tennessee 38-10 in his first game, and that was easily the best game the Dolphins have played this year. Running back Lamar Miller finally got untracked with a 113-yard game, and the offense looked to be a lot more free flowing.

Perhaps even more important than that was the play of the defense. After the pass rush had been stalled for the first quarter of the season, defensive end Cameron Wake finally turned it loose with a monster 4.0-sack effort.

The pass rush should be the strength of the Dolphins. Wake, Olivier Vernon and Ndamukong Suh have the ability to dominate games.

Miami should have its pass rush ready to churn out another big game as the Dolphins return home to face the underachieving Houston Texans. Head coach Bill O'Brien has already flip-flopped between quarterbacks Brian Hoyer and Ryan Mallett, and it seems like he has a hard time making a decision and sticking with it.

The Texans have excellent talent, but they rarely play up to it. The Dolphins are four-point home favorites, and they should be able to cover that with little trouble.

Stephen Brashear/Associated Press

Disrespected Panthers will keep rolling versus Eagles

The Carolina Panthers are not getting a lot of love from handicappers.

A week ago, Ron Rivera took his undefeated team out to play the defending NFC champion Seahawks and found his team getting eight points from a team that had lost twice. The Panthers played with full effort for 60 minutes and scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to register their fifth consecutive win.

That win apparently did very little in the minds of the linemakers. The Panthers return home this week as three-point favorites over the Philadelphia Eagles.

Most home teams get the benefit of three points for every game. So the linemakers are saying that the Eagles and Panthers are basically dead even.

The Eagles have three losses this season, but they are coming off a 27-7 home Monday Night win over the Giants. The Eagles were also preseason favorites to win the NFC East, and that may be why Chip Kelly's team is getting some support.

It shouldn't be. Even though the Eagles won big over the Giants, quarterback Sam Bradford threw three interceptions, and the Eagles offense was quite inconsistent.

Cam Newton returns home after a big road win, and he should be quite prepared to have one of his best games of the year. Look for the Panthers to cruise at home over a Philadelphia team that still has quite a bit of work to do.