My eyes will be paying particularly close attention to Sunday Night Football this Sunday when my hometown Bears head to Atlanta, but there are some other great games on the NFL slate. Undefeated teams facing off, winless teams trying to break slumps, and heated divisional rivalries—take your pick, their is something for everyone this week. I was a horrible 1-3 last week but hey, it’s easy to pick five games a week in the NFL and be certain you are predicting correctly. I wanna start making some bold predictions in addition to picking the most compelling games. I sit at 14-5 for the season and look to get back to my winning ways.

Baltimore at Minnesota

The Ravens may be struggling, but they still have a good defense. They’re loss to Cincinnati makes me question just how good the team is as a whole, but I’m certain they’re still one of the top teams in the AFC. Minnesota has scored a lot of points on their way to an undefeated record, and should give Ray Lewis & Co. all they can handle. Now, Baltimore is excellent against the run and should be able to somewhat contain AP, forcing Brett Favre to put the ball in the air. Ray Rice and Willis McGahee will have big games on the ground and catching passes out of the backfield. The Ravens are gonna challenge the Vikings, but it won’t be enough.

Minnesota Wins 27-24

NY Giants at New Orleans

Two undefeated teams with great offenses go toe to toe in this game. The Saints defense is better than it has been in years, and their passing game is amazing. Eli Manning is getting better every year, and he should be the key to success for the Giants, because I think the Saints are going to shut down the Giants’ running game. Both QBs will have huge days, making for one of the best games of the week.

Saints Win 34-24

Carolina at Tampa Bay & Kansas City at Washington

These games look like total snore fests, not to mention the level of play from these four teams has been sub-professional up to this point. The reason I chose to highlight them though is because I think they will be close games, and I think the winless teams in each game (The Bucs and the Chiefs) will win. Carolina’s only win came against Washington and Washington’s two wins were close games against Tampa Bay and St. Louis. Tampa Bay is gonna get better with Josh Johnson at QB and the Chiefs will finally get their running game going.

Bucs Win 23-13 & Chiefs Win 17-14

Chicago at Atlanta

My love for the Bears is well documented, but they face a tough Falcons team in Atlanta. The key to the Bears success is simple contain the running game and pressure the hell out of Matt Ryan. If they left him get his passes off then he will make them pay. For the Bears’ offense, get Matt Forte involved in the offense and spread the ball around to all of your wide receivers. Both teams have Top 10 defenses, but I think both offenses will be moving the ball well.

Falcons Win 33-31

Denver at San Diego

We learned last week that the Denver defense is the real deal, and they’ll need to continue to be if they want to beat the Chargers. The Chargers are 2-2, but their losses came against Baltimore and Pittsburgh; two teams whose records don’t indicate just how good they are. Denver is going to need to score more on offense in order to keep their unbeaten streak going. Phillip Rivers is playing great for San Diego, but LT and Darren Sproles need to get going or this team is going to suffer. I don’t think Kyle Orton can handle a Monday Night Football game in front of the Chargers’ fans.

San Diego Wins 21-13

I’m back with NFL picks after taking a week off due to an impromptu drunken camping trip. I was 5-0 with my week one picks, although sometimes the most interesting games aren’t so tough to call.

Atlanta at New England I was guilty of predicting that the Patriots would return to pre-Brady Rule form this season, but Tom, The Hoody, and the rest of the boys aren’t looking so super-human after all. Making matters worse for an offense that has failed to meet expectations, Wes Welker and Randy Moss are listed as Questionable. Let us also not forget that the Pats have no real running back. Pick a guy and go with him!

Atlanta is looking like a serious contender. I see no glaring weakness on offense with Matt Ryan totally living up to expectations, Michael Turner being the beast that he is and Tony Gonzalez complementing two already great receivers. The defense has been great up to this point and the only other team in the division that this team needs to worry about is New Orleans. Falcons get a big win in Foxboro. Falcons Win 27-17

Tennessee at NY Jets Rex Ryan has walked into New York and made the Jets the top defense through the first two games of the season. It’s not a big surprise considering his pedigree, but Mark Sanchez has been impressive and Thomas Jones is supposed to be acting much older than he is playing.

Tennessee is a disappointing 0-2 and face another tough matchup in the Jets. Kerry Collins is a fine QB, but Vince Young needs to be in there. The running game is about the only thing that doesn’t need fixing. The Meadowlands was rocking last weekend and it is likely to happen again as fans sense they have a contender on their hands. Jets Win 20-13

Kansas City at Philadelphia The story in this game is obviously the injury to Donovan McNabb and the return of Michael Vick. Vick won’t be backing up Kevin Kolb, but he will play and that is exciting news for Philadelphia fans, with news that Brian Westbrook might not play.

The Chiefs look like they may not be all that better than they were a year ago. They shockingly put up 24 points in a loss to Baltimore in week one, but promptly turned around and lost to the Raiders last week. Matt Cassell and the running game are struggling, and until the offense gets going this team is dead in the water. Eagles Win 35-17

New Orleans at Buffalo The Saints offense is crazy friggin’ good. Reggie Bush and Lance Moore haven’t even been that involved in the offense up to this point. Dropping 45 on Detroit is no surprise, but when you come out and put up 48 against the Eagles that is impressive. It’s amazing how little people talk about Drew Brees. After his six touchdown performance in week one writers and fans barely batted an eye.

Buffalo regrouped after that tough loss to New England with a win against Tampa. Fred Jackson is playing well in the absence of Marshawn Lynch, but T.O. is still dropping too many passes; taking away opportunities from Lee Evans, who can actually catch the ball. The secondary for the Bills is pretty good, but nothing can stop the Saints passing game. Saints Win 41-24

Chicago at Seattle Jay Cutler settled down in week two and led the Bears to a big win against the defending Super Bowl champs. The wide receivers are still developing and Matt Forte has yet to do anything this season. The offensive line really needs to play better if the running game is ever going to get going. The linebackers are hurting big time, but the Bears defense will be fine as long as they can get decent play from the secondary.

It’s looking more and more like Matt Hasselbeck is not going to play this week and that is great news for the Bears defense. Seneca Wallace is elusive, but is not even half the passer as Hasselbeck. The Seattle defense also has some injury problems, so it’s looking like home field advantage is going to be the ‘Hawks best weapon. They lose to a rejuvenated Bears team. Bears Win 24-13

The NFL kicks off it’s season on Thursday and Fourth and Blog is here to bring you predictions for the Top 5 games of the week. The subtle photo above should give you a hint as to which team has my allegiance.

The offseason has been filled with compelling storylines that will finally play out, from Brett Favre, to the return of Tom Brady, and all of the ‘roid rage going on in San Diego. Each week I’ll give you my picks of the week and a final score.

Tennessee at Pittsburgh The Super Bowl Champs start the season off at home on Thursday night against the bruising defense and running attack of Tennessee.

Something must be very wrong with Vince Young for the Titans to choose the geriatric Kerry Collins at QB. Just give the kid a chance already! Again this year, Chris Johnson and LenDale White will be splitting carries for what will no doubt be one of the top rushing teams in the league. They’ll have some success on the ground, but Collins will struggle against the Steelers’ defense.

Rashard Mendenhall returns from injury to spell Fast Willie Parker at the running back position and Big Ben should be his usual self for the Steelers. Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes, and Nate Washington are all solid wideouts who should give Roethlisberger plenty of options.

The defenses for both teams, however, should keep the game close. Steelers Win 24-17

Minnesota at Cleveland Brett Favre makes the first regular season start of his 87th comeback at Cleveland on Sunday where they have their own Quarterback drama. Just this morning Coach Mangini announced that he has chosen a starter, then promptly stated, “I’m not telling!” Cleveland also has issues at running back with questions as to whether or not Jamal Lewis has anything left in the tank to keep James Davis from taking his job.

The storylines surrounding this game are very intriguing, but the fact of the matter is that Minnesota is very good and Cleveland is not.

In regards to Adrian Peterson, in my opinion, not since Marshall Faulk’s prime has one player been so much better then everyone else on the field. AP’s a flat out beast that will run through you if he can’t run past you. Next to DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin in Philly, the Vikes have two of the fastest players in the League. You don’t want Percy Harvin to have the ball in open space, and god help the defensive back that allows Bernard Berrian to get behind him.

Minnesota’s defense is just too damn good for the Browns to get anything going, and they have way too many weapons on offense. Vikings Win 34-10

Detroit at New Orleans Another tale of Quarterbacks will play out in the Big Easy this weekend. Drew Brees is coming off a video game type of season, and still has Reggie Bush and his bevy of young wide receivers to throw to. Last season, the Saints defense was middle of the road, and this year they’ll be just good enough to keep the Saints in most games.

Detroit just announced Matt Stafford as it’s starting Quarterback. Stafford may have some success this season, but don’t look for him to have a Matt Ryan type rookie season, and don’t count on Detroit winning more than four or five games. Stafford has great weapons in Bryant and Calvin Johnson, along with rookie TE Brandon Pettigrew, but I don’t like Kevin Jones at all, and for that reason Detroit is going to be one dimensional all season long.

Look for the Saints to go ahead big early, and for this game to finish in a blowout. Saints Win 42-13

Chicago at Green Bay I’ve been waiting nine months for this game and I hope I get a nice birthday present from the Bears. Unfortunately for Jay Cutler, and Bears fans, his tenure with the team must start in Green Bay. The Bears’ receivers won’t touch the ball very much in this game (or any game for that matter), but if they can get the running game going, we should see Chicago have success with screens to Forte and Hester, as well as intermediate passes to Desmond Clark and Greg Olsen—the best TE combo in the NFL.

The Bears Defense was looking to get back on track with the addition of Assistant Head Coach and Defensive Line Coach Rod Marinelli, but with Charles Tillman returning from offseason surgery and recent news that starting DT Dusty Dvoracek will be lost for the season with an ACL injury, there are going to be a lot of ups and downs with this group of defenders.

People are predicting Aaron Rodgers to have a huge year, and I agree. I think the kid is great. He has a great receiving corps and a solid running game. Backing all that up for Green Bay is a stellar defense. Couple that with home field advantage and, as much as it pains me to say this, Green Bay should pull out a week one win against Chicago. Packers Win 27-23

Buffalo at New England The NFL is loving this matchup, and ESPN is going to be doing the dance of joy when they see the ratings share this game receives. Trent Edwards and T.O. head in to New England to face a healthy Tom Brady and Randy Moss.

Buffalo comes into the game with an offensive coordinator that has only been on the job for a week, and a starting running back that will miss the game because of a suspension. Owens will improve this team, but he isn’t a miracle worker. It’s going to take some time for this team to develop. I see them struggling for the first half of the season, and then, possibly making a run at the playoffs.

The thing about Tom Brady is: He’s really friggin’ good! Randy Moss? Also pretty damn awesome. The Pats are being ripped for trading Richard Seymour, but there defense will be serviceable, because they are going to put up a hell of a lot of points. Buffalo has a solid defensive back field, but they aren’t enough to stop Brady, Moss, and Welker.

There’s too much turmoil on offense for the Bills right now for them to stay in this game. Patriots Win 45-20