NFL Picks Week 3: Breaking Down This Weekend's NFC Rivalry Games

It's Rivalry Week in the NFL.

Well, not for every team, but for quite a few. Bad blood is about to boil over across the NFC, with these grudge matches generating the most interest in Week 3 of the 2011 season.

New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles

Half the injured list in the NFC is populated by New York Giants players.

Okay, so maybe not half, but a plurality at least. Big Blue is as banged up as any team in the NFL, with a big chunk of their defense done before the regular season even began and several more still crawling back to health. What counts, though, is that New York still has its most important players healthy, most notably Eli Manning. As the lone member of his family who's currently active in the NFL, Manning has been a steady steward of the aerial attack while the thunder-and-lightning combination of Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs has taken care of business on the ground.

The same can't exactly be said for the Eagles, who could very well be without the concussed Michael Vick. Philly's offense wasn't awful without him, but it did lack a certain spark when Mike Kafka under center. The defense will have to take care of business in the meantime, which should be too difficult given that the Giants' wide receivers are a bit banged up, and those that can go will be covered by two of the top corners in the league.

Both teams love to bring pressure on the quarterback, with the winner of the game also claiming victory in the trenches. With the way the Eagles' offensive line protected Vick (or didn't) on Sunday, you can be you'll be hearing Justin Tuck's name called more than a few times as the Giants pull out a big divisional win in Philadelphia.

Green Bay Packers at Chicago Bears

Is there anything negative to say about the Packers? Well, their defense hasn't exactly been stellar, surrendering 57 points in two games and allowing the opposing quarterback to top 400 yards passing in each one. 

But can you really hate on Aaron Rodgers? Can you? Really? The guy's a stud under center and has a steady ground game, led by James Starks and Ryan Grant, to spell him if his arm ever stops being anything less than laser-accurate.

Have I mentioned that Green Bay has more offensive weapons than you can shake a stick at? Rookie Randall Cobb may be the best athlete on the team but he's only Rodgers' fourth-best option!

Meanwhile, the Bears are the Bears, winning a game despite all the evidence pointing to the opposite and then losing horribly just as everyone expected in the first place. It's the same old song-and-dance for Chicago—Jay Cutler looks so-so, Matt Forte is productive and the defense is solid but not anywhere near as good as its reputation would suggest. One of these days, sooner than later most likely, aging stars like Brian Urlacher and Julius Peppers are going to wake up and realize they can't quite hang with the youngin's like they used to and leave the Bears with an old, tired group of overpaid has-beens.

For now, though, they still have enough talent and chemistry to put some fear into the Packers. Having the game at Soldier Field helps, particularly with Rodgers having suffered two defeats there in three regular games since becoming the starter in Wisconsin in 2008. His last performance in Chicago—17-of-30 for 244 yards and two picks—wasn't much to write home about either, though the win certainly helped to smooth things over.

This Bears team, for whatever reason, strikes me as the sort that will dominate at home but tank on the road, seeing as how Cutler's confidence is so often contingent on his public support.

Not that I particularly like Cutler, even if he's playing at home. 

Just take the Packers in this one, before I change my mind again.

Washington Redskins at Dallas Cowboys

All signs would suggest the Redskins should not only win this game to go 3-0, but do so by about a mile and a half. Washington has torched some sorry secondaries thus far but none quite compares, in futility and lack of health, to that of the Dallas Cowboys. Rex Grossman will be throwing against the same secondary that gave Mark Sanchez enough to cushion to throw for two touchdowns and 335 yards, the second-highest single-game total of his career.

Need I mention Dallas' dinged-up offense? Tony Romo can hardly breathe, Felix Jones will be playing with his shoulder in a sling and Miles Austin will undoubtedly be out with a hamstring strain and may be joined in the infirmary by the bruised quad of Dez Bryant.

Part of me wants to give Romo the benefit of the doubt after gutting it out against the 49ers, but I can't quite shake the feeling that he'll screw up again on national TV. The pain of his busted rib, combined with the numbing effects of the treatment he'll get, won't make it any easier to focus and keep Bizarro Tony from reappearing on Monday Night Football.

Chalk up the 'Skins to a 3-0 start and give Mike Shanahan a medal of honor for the good fortune of having his team's first four games (possibly five) against squads beset by injury.

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