NFL Predictions Week 7: New York Jets and Teams That Will Prove To Be Pretenders

While there is still plenty of time for teams to right the ship, we are quickly approaching the midway point of the NFL season with Week 7 on the horizon. With that in mind, bubble teams need to start making a move in order to install themselves as possible playoff contenders.

Inevitably, some bubble teams will fall flat, though. While their seasons certainly won't be over with losses, here are three teams that will prove that they are closer to pretender status in Week 7.

Tennessee Titans

Not much was expected of the Tennessee Titans this season, but thanks to the downfall of the Indianapolis Colts, the Titans are very much in the thick of the AFC South race and lead the Houston Texans by a half game.

Tennessee will have a chance to expand that lead as it hosts Houston this weekend. The Titans would seem to have an advantage with the Texans' star receiver Andre Johnson on the shelf, but they were exposed two weeks ago against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Titans have had a bye week to game-plan for the Texans, and that may be helpful, but Houston is better than it has shown in recent weeks. The Texans were able to beat the Steelers without Johnson for much of the game and narrowly lost to the Oakland Raiders without him. I think Houston is the better team and will be able to outlast the Titans on Sunday.

Washington Redskins

It was only a matter of time and it finally happened, as Washington Redskins quarterback Rex Grossman imploded against the Philadelphia Eagles this past weekend by throwing four interceptions. He was replaced by John Beck and the Redskins' quarterback situation is now extremely unsettled.

That certainly isn't the position the 'Skins want to be in this weekend when they travel to take on the deceptively-good Carolina Panthers. Despite a 1-5 record the Panthers have played several solid teams down to the wire and are actually early favorites against Washington.

The Redskins are just a half game out in the NFC East, but their time near the top could be short lived. The defense will be tested heavily by phenomenal rookie quarterback Cam Newton who can beat teams with his arm as well as his legs. If Washington doesn't get things sorted out on offense, though, it will continue to drop in the standings.

New York Jets

The New York Jets did what they had to do by stopping a three-game losing streak with a 24-6 win over the Miami Dolphins on Monday night, but the score wasn't actually indicative of their performance. The Jets are a far cry from their teams of the past two seasons and a better team likely would have jumped out early on them.

New York was absolutely pathetic on offense in the first half before it finally got things going against Miami's awful pass defense. The running game continued to struggle as well until the game's final moments. The defense was generally good, but Reggie Bush had some big plays against them.

All in all, the Jets are an extremely flawed team, and I expect the San Diego Chargers to take advantage of that. Despite Darelle Revis' two interceptions (one of which was blatant pass interference), Brandon Marshall was pretty successful on Monday.

Not only should the Chargers be able to run on New York, but the combination of quarterback Philip Rivers and wide receiver Vincent Jackson should do some damage as well. The Jets haven't looked like a playoff team to this point and that will only continue.