Chris J. Nelson's 2009 Week 3 NFL Game Predictions

It seems like there are weeks where all the games on at the time are going my way, then I end up losing half of them. Oh well, on to this week.

Last week's record: 10-6
Season record: 21-11

Redskins over Lions—I'm never picking the Lions. Not going to happen for a very long time. Jason Campbell should have a field day against this horrendous secondary.

Packers over Rams—Green Bay lost a tough one to Cincinnati last week, but I still like the team overall and I expect them to beat a St. Louis team that really only features one quality player on offense in Steven Jackson.

Vikings over 49ers—San Francisco has jumped out to an early division lead, but Adrian Peterson should lead the Vikings to victory and hand the 49ers their first loss of 2009.

Patriots over Falcons—New England has gotten off to a slow start in 2009, and the mounting injuries aren't helping. Still, I think Tom Brady overcomes the adversity and beats a tough Falcons team this week.

Titans over Jets—Not the logical pick, but in my experience, teams that aren't bottom-feeders or among the elite never win or lose too many in a row. I think the Titans get their first win of 2009, while handing the Jets their first loss.

Eagles over Chiefs—I'm not big fan of Kevin Kolb and he definitely hurts the Eagles' chances of winning compared to Donovan McNabb, but I still like Philadelphia as a team much better than Kansas City.

Giants over Buccaneers—The Giants' offense isn't missing a beat with a very young receiving corps, and I think they'll continue to roll this week against the Bucs.

Ravens over Browns—There just isn't much to like about Cleveland right now, and Baltimore should handle them easily.

Texans over Jaguars—If Houston's offense plays like it did last week, they can beat anyone. Jacksonville has struggled to get going this season, and I expect those struggles to continue at least one more week.

Saints over Bills—The Bills just don't impress me at all, and I don't think you can pick against New Orleans' explosive passing offense right now.

Bears over Seahawks—It's hard to pick a Seneca Wallace-led Seahawks team to a victory, and I'm not going to this week. The Bears should be able to put this one away fairly easily.

Steelers over Bengals—Cincinnati is certainly better than they were last year, but I still like Pittsburgh better and predict they'll rebound from that close loss against Chicago last week.

Broncos over Raiders—JaMarcus Russell just isn't progressing, and I can't justify picking a team led by him until I see quite a bit more.

Dolphins over Chargers—An upset pick, San Diego is just so banged up right now, and I think the Dolphins take advantage by continuing their strong running game led by Ronnie Brown. Maybe this time they'll actually be able to finish.

Colts over Cardinals—When you have two high-powered offense that have been underachieving, you always go with the one led by Peyton Manning.

Cowboys over Panthers—It's hard to envision the Panthers starting off 0-3, but there's just something about the Cowboys (Tony Romo's smile?) that I like. I think they'll get the first win in their new stadium this week.

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Chris J. Nelson is a journalism major at Georgia State University.  He operates his own Miami Dolphins web site, The Miami Dolphins Spotlight, and can be followed on Twitter here.