1. Green Bay Packers (-9.5) vs. Minnesota Vikings – The ONLY thing the Vikings have going for them this week is the game is at home. Not much else.
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Rookie QB Christian Ponder will make his 1st career start and the Packers front seven will be all over him. Minnesota will rely to an even greater extent on RB Adrian Peterson but the Packers will be keyed to stop him.
When the Packers have the ball, look for Aaron Rodgers to be Aaron Rodgers and for the Packers to cover the point spread and win in a rout.
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2. San Diego Chargers (-1.5) vs. New York Jets – The Jets are excellent talkers, but that’s about it in 2011. There’s a lot of talent but the team lacks an identity on offense and Mark Sanchez hasn’t progressed from a year ago.
And that will be their downfall on Sunday.
Expect the well rested San Diego Chargers to win pretty handily and put the Jets to 3-4 on the season.
3. Denver Broncos (+1.5) vs. Miami Dolphins – For as bad as the Broncos are, the Dolphins are worse. A loss here could end Tony Sparano’s tenure in Miami.
It’s also Tebow time this week in South Beach and he’ll be the deciding factor in Sunday’s Broncos victory.
4. Arizona Cardinals (+3.5) vs. Pittsburgh Steelers – See money line bet.
The Rest
Tennessee Titans (-3) vs. Houston Texans – The Titans are rested coming off the bye and the Texans are still without WR Andre Johnson, which has had a demoralizing effect on its offense.
Detroit Lions (-4) vs. Atlanta Falcons – Last week’s loss will be good for the Lions. The hype wasn’t going to do them any favors. Look for a strong bounce back performance against a Falcons team that doesn’t travel well.
St. Louis Rams (+13) vs. Dallas Cowboys – The Cowboys will win this game, but they have a tendency to let teams keep it close. The Rams are demoralized but will keep this within two TDs.
Money Line Bet
Arizona Cardinals (+170) vs. Pittsburgh Steelers – The Steelers have not traveled well in 2011. While they’re 4-0 at home, they’re 1-2 on the road and their only win was a 23-20 victory over the lowly Colts.
The Cardinals are coming off the bye and HC Ken Whisenhunt is still familiar with a lot of the Steelers and Ben Roethlisberger from his time in Pittsburgh.
Look for the Cardinals to come out fresh at home, where they play well, and pull out the late game victory to cover the point spread while winning the money line bet.
