On to Week 7

That was a heck of a game on Monday night. I knew it was going to be a high scoring affair, it's just too bad the wrong team won. At any rate, the score for the week was 9-5 (me) and 8-6 (Mardi). This brings our season totals to 60-30 (me) and 58-32 (Mardi). It's still a close one almost halfway into the season. Let's see how things go.

Presenting - the schedule and my predictions for Week 7

Chicago at Cincinnati (Chicago)
Green Bay at Cleveland (Green Bay)
San Francisco at Houston (Houston)
San Diego at Kansas City (San Diego)
Minnesota at Pittsburgh (Minnesota)
Indianapolis at St. Louis (Indianapolis)
New England at Tampa Bay (New England)
Buffalo at Carolina (Carolina)
New York Jets at Oakland (New York Jets)
Atlanta at Dallas (Atlanta)
New Orleans at Miami (New Orleans)
Arizona at New York Giants (New York Giants)

Monday Night:
Philadelphia at Washington (Philadelphia 28-14)

Bye: Jacksonville, Tennessee, Baltimore, Seattle, Denver, Detroit

Houston is coming off a big win in Cincinnati where the defense put the clamps down on Cedric Benson. This week they are going up against another feature back in Frank Gore. Even though Gore is returning from an injury and may not be 100%, he is still a very potent runner and the interior run defense is going to need to continue their good play. Since the poor showing in Week 1, the Houston air attack has been on a tear, only once since that week has Matt Shaub not reached the 300 yard mark in passing (and that was due to the clock eating strategy against Oakland in the 2nd half). San Francisco is currently ranked 20th in pass defense going up against a Houston team that is ranked 3rd in passing. Shaun Hill has no go-to man at wide receiver, where Houston has also stepped up defensively. Diva rookie Michael Crabtree is making his debut at Houston, but I don't expect him to be much a factor as he is starting from square one. Houston is facing a tough challenge in San Francisco this week, but I expect them to pull out this win and move into 2nd place in the AFC South.

Minnesota is taking their game on the road to Pittsburgh on Sunday. This one is honestly a little tougher to call. Of course home field belongs to Pittsburgh, where they have always been tough to beat. Troy Polamalu is back and will be thorn in Brett Favre's side, but the loss of Aaron Smith is definitely going to be felt in this game. Pittsburgh is sporting the number 2 rushing defense so far this season, only allowing 74.5 yards per game, but they have yet to face a player the likes of Adrian Peterson, who torched Baltimore for 143 yards. Where they suffer is in their pass defense, and this week they're going up against a fast receiving corps with a quarterback who is still on top of his game. This is going to be another close one, but I think Minnesota is once again going to find a way to win this game.

Cincinnati's loss of Antwan Odem will be felt against Chicago this week. Without his presence to provide pressure on Jay Cutler, Chicago will have a good day through the air. Another interesting matchup this week is New Orleans at Miami. After the pounding New Orleans gave the New York Giants, this could be a potential letdown situation. The key, as always, is how New Orleans handles Miami's rushing attack. All told, however, the New Orleans offense should be more than Miami's defense can handle. Dallas has been very subpar this season, thanks in no small part to the talent let go over the summer. Atlanta had an off-day offensively against Chicago, but the defense stepped up. Dallas may be rested, but momentum lies with Atlanta. Carolina has seemed to find a groove and it needs this win against Buffalo to have any sort of shot this season. Kansas City got their first win, but they're going against a San Diego team that scored 23 points against Denver. Look for San Diego to pull this one out. St. Louis, Cleveland, and Tampa Bay all earn 'bad team' honors this week as the reason why they will lose. Mark Sanchez has been looking more rookie like the past few games, but the New York Jets running attack is still potent and they sport a disruptive defense, which is why Oakland will lose this Sunday. If you had told me that Philadelphia and Washington were playing on Monday night last season, I would have been glued to the set as both teams were ascendent. This year, however, it should be a snoozer as Washington seems to have come undone. With Coach Jim Zorn no longer calling the offensive plays the level may pick up on the offensive side of the ball. The key to Washington pulling this out will be to take advantage of Philadelphia's questionable pass protection and hope they don't start showing how good Michael Westbrook is when given the ball.

All in all, this is shaping up to be a good week. The season has taken some interesting turns so far along with the fact that Mardi and I are very close in the prediction competition. As for this Sunday's menu, it will consist of whatever catches my fancy at the stadium as yours truly will be in attendance when San Francisco comes to town.

Now, let's see what Mardi has to say.