Out on a Limb
Fantasy Football Predictions

Showdown Sunday

The views expressed in this column in each week are not compiled from all of our correspondents. They certainly shouldn't be used for gambling purposes.

Showdown Sunday

"I'll bet you can't pick just one," was the thought running through my mind as I looked at this weekend's games to determine our Game of the Week. With four crucial divisional games in which the top two teams are separated by less than two games on Sunday, we'll be selecting two Games of the Week, one in the AFC and one in the NFC. While the Ravens-Bengals and Patriots-Dolphins games should take a back seat to nobody, we're going with the other two.

Tennessee hosts Indianapolis in a game that should determine the AFC South champ on Sunday. Whoever wins this weekend will essentially take a two game lead with three to play, as the winner will hold the tiebreaker within the division. The Titans blew a huge opportunity when they lost on Monday night in New Jersey, but Steve McNair and Co. should be out to avenge their loss earlier in the season, and they're almost unbeatable at home over the past few seasons.

Bill Parcells will take his Cowboys into the City of Brotherly Love after what he called an embarassing loss last Thursday to the Dolphins. The Eagles, who have a one game lead over Dallas, are on a roll right now and have won six straight. Their last loss? You got it... in Dallas. The winner will have a huge advantage coming down the stretch, as Philly could take a two game lead or Dallas could tie the division and own the tiebreaker.

AFC Game of the Week: Indianapolis at Tennessee

When the Colts have the ball: Pass, pass, and pass again. The Colts proved again last week that they're never out of a game because of just how quickly they can move the ball through the air. Trailing AFC East leading New England by 21 in the second half, the Colts eventually tied the game before falling short 38-34 and getting stuffed on a goal line stand in the final seconds. Peyton Manning is adding Elway-like status to his resume as a fourth quarter comeback specialist this season, and he has a pair of terrific receivers in Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne. Edgerrin James couldn't move the ball that final yard in the last minute last week, but he's as dangerous a weapon out of the backfield as there is in the league. Tennessee plays a bend, but don't break system that is pretty similar to what the Colts faced last week, so it should be interesting to see if Indy can play a little better in the red zone.

When the Titans have the ball: Steve McNair certainly didn't look like he was 100% last Monday night, but we'll have to see how the last six days have treated him. McNair may be the most dangerous passer in the league when he's healthy, as he combines his ability to scramble with one of the top arms in the league. Over the past three seasons, he's matured into one of the smartest field generals in the league as well, and he always seems to make the right read. Derrick Mason is having a breakthrough Pro Bowl season, and is clearly the focal point of the passing game, but Justin McCareins, Tyrone Calico and Frank Wycheck give McNair a couple of other targets. Eddie George has seen a resurgence in his career in the past ten weeks or so, but he's still not a home run threat. George never gains an easy yard, and he'll be asked to wear down the Colts defensive line on Sunday.

Special Teams: McCareins is the only player on either team that seems explosive enough to break one on a return, but the overall edge here definitely has to go to the Colts. Mike Vanderjagt stayed perfect on the year last week, and he's money from short range or long range. Gary Anderson is one of the better place kickers in the history of the game, but he can't make anything beyond his age... 42. Craig Hentrich will try any long range field goals, but he's always been a punter and he's far from automatic on place kicks.

Coaching/Intangibles: Both Fisher and Dungy have led their teams deep into the playoffs before, and both are used to coaching in games as big as this. Dungy has yet to get the Colts' defense to turn the corner, and that could be a big key here. Throw in the fact that the Titans are 5-0 at home this season in the intangibles, and the Titans have a definite edge here.

The Verdict: The strangest thing to think of is that both of these teams are coming off of losses. This game could go either way, but I'll take McNair and the Titans at home. At a neutral site, it might be a different story. Titans 27, Colts 23

NFC Game of the Week: Dallas at Philadelphia

When the Cowboys have the ball: QB Quincy Carter has shown a lot of maturation this season, and it even showed when the 'boys were blown out at home by Miami last week. Carter still completed sixty percent of his passes on Thanksgiving, and only one of the three interceptions appeared to be his fault. The problem, though, is that he's in a system that's built around the running game. Without a halfway decent running back, that simply doesn't work. Troy Hambrick and Richie Anderson don't even combine to put the fear in the hearts that Antowain Smith and Kevin Faulk of the Patriots do, and they're built around the passing game. Until Parcells gets a true feature back behind Carter in the backfield, expect them to continue to struggle when they're playing an upper echelon defense. The Eagles have given up a lot of yardage on the ground, but they're keeping teams off the board. They shouldn't have to worry about a bigtime ground performance this Sunday.

When the Eagles have the ball: Brian Westbrook has really come into his own this season in Philadelphia. The hometown product from Villanova has racked up close to 100 total yards rushing and receiving in each of the past three weeks, and he's also emerging as one of the best return men in the league. The three-headed running back approach, with Duce Staley and Correll Buckhalter spelling Westbrook, keeps everyone in Philadelphia's backfield fresh and keeps the defense on their toes. Donovan McNabb continues to make things happen in the passing game every week, and he doesn't have one primary receiver that the Cowboys vaunted defense can lock on. The Eagles certainly don't have a dominant offense, but they have a lot of balance and should give Dallas trouble.

Special Teams: The Eagles have a clear advantage here, with the better return game and the better kicker. Brian Westbrook is extremely explosive on punt returns and David Akers is one of the better long range kickers in the league. Billy Cundiff hasn't done a whole lot since the second week of the season, and the Cowboys haven't really broken any returns all season.

Coaching/Intangibles: Andy Reid has yet to win the big one, but he's taken his team to the conference championship for the past few seasons. Bill Parcells will have to see how his motivational tactics work after slamming his young team's performance last week. The coaching matchup is pretty even, with a slight edge to Parcells, but the Cowboys will have to play in a pretty hostile environment this week. Philly fans are known for not living up to their city's nickname.

The Verdict: The Eagles are rolling and the Cowboys are reeling. The Cowboys have yet to lose two in a row so far this season, but there's a first time for everything. Look for McNabb to spread the ball and avoid mistakes against an aggressive Cowboy defense while the Cowboys will struggle to move the ball against the Eagles. Eagles 23, Cowboys 10

Lock of the Week: New England over Miami - The Patriots now find themselves in the driver's seat for a first round bye, and they're not going to let it slip away. The two teams played a close knit contest down south, but the Dolphins will now have to head into a pretty cold and brutal environment in Foxboro. Take the Pats and the points, and don't expect another offensive explosion out of the Mammals the rest of the way. Patriots 30, Dolphins 17

Upset Special: Cincinnati at Baltimore - Baltimore has put up 44 points in each of the last two weeks, but it just can't happen again. To beat Jon Kitna, Chad Johnson, and the high flying Bengals, they may have to put up 44. Bengals 34, Ravens 23

And now, as we watch George Steinbrenner continue to ruin baseball for the rest of us, we'll breeze through the rest...

San Diego at Detroit - The Lions looked really good last week, but they always play a lot better on Thanksgiving than they do in the rest of the season. The Bolts find themselves headed for the number one pick for the third time in five seasons. Sounds like they've been here before.... Lions 20, Chargers 17

Chicago at Green Bay - The Packers just about gave up their shot at the playoffs last week, but Minnesota doesn't seem to want to let them go away. Expect the Packers to take advantage of another reprieve this week and smoke a suddenly resurgent Bears squad. Cheeseheads 27, Bears 17

Seattle at Minnesota - I promise I'm going to learn my lesson and admit that the Seahawks can't win on the road at some point this season, but this is yet another matchup that I look at and see them taking. The Vikings don't know the meaning of defense right now, and Matt Hasselbeck has that Seattle offense clicking. The Seahawks' defense is god-awful on the road, but they should be able to do just enough to pull this one out. Seahawks 40, Vikings 37

Tampa Bay at New Orleans - The Saints have won three straight in the series, and Tampa looks like they're ready to just give up on the season. No-brainer, right? Nah. The Bucs will show up one week too late after somehow losing to Jacksonville last weekend. The Saints will start their usual December swoon. Bucs 27, Saints 23

Washington at New York Giants - The season is done for both of these teams, and all that's left for Steve Spurrier is to save his job. Look for Spurrier to be back patrolling the sidelines next season.... at some college. Fassell may be seeing an end to his tenure in New Jersey after the season as well, but they have too much talent to lose this week. Giants 24, Redskins 20

Oakland at Pittsburgh - We're still picking against the Raiders the rest of the way, and this week it looks like a good play. The Raiders have no passing game right now, and the Steelers have one of the toughest run defenses in the league. Steelers 20, Raiders 10

Houston at Jacksonville - Just like the other AFC South game this week, who would have thought that both of these teams would be coming off of victories last week? The Texans continue to show a lot of fight, and won this season's earlier matchup on a quarterback sneak on the last play of the game. Look for another tight-knit contest, but look for Fred Taylor to own the Texans weak rushing defense. Jaguars 20, Texans 17

Arizona at San Francisco - Neither team is a very good football team right now, but the Niners should be ready to beat up on a lesser foe. Arizona looked good a couple of weeks ago when they hosted the Rams, but they only seem to do that once a month. Don't expect for that to be this week. 49ers 27, Cardinals 13

New York Jets at Buffalo - Chad Pennington continues to turn the fortunes of the Jets. The Bills continue to prove that they're incapable of moving the ball against any type of decent defense. Enough said. J-E-T-S 31, Bills 10

Kansas City at Denver - The Chiefs look to clinch the AFC West with a win this weekend, but the Broncos still have plenty of fight left in them as they chase Miami for a wildcard spot. Look for the Broncos, at full strength now, to suprise the league's best team right now and stay on life support in the AFC West. Broncos 31, Chiefs 27

Carolina at Atlanta - The Panthers find themselves losers of two straight, and they can suddenly see New Orleans in their rearview mirror. Mike Vick returned for a quarter last week, but he should be going all game this time. That didn't work too well for Carolina last season, and it won't work too well for them this week. Mike Vick 27, Panthers 20

St. Louis at Cleveland - The Browns proved once again last week that they can't play well when you expect them to. The Rams finally got some offense going at home in the dome against the Vikings. They're built for dome play, though, so take Cleveland and the points if you're going with a spread. Take the Lambs straight up in a tight game, though. Rams 23, Browns 21

(Last Week in Parentheses)

On the Year: 112-64 (9-7)
Game(s) of the Week: 7-7 (1-0)
Lock of the Week: 9-3 (1-0)
Upset Special: 4-8 (0-1)

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