Giants at Eagles

Both the Giants and the Eagles have started to look slightly better as the year has progressed, but both teams are still not great. This should be a good game because the teams are somewhat evenly matched, and more importantly, it’s a divisional matchup that could end up being a very important game in determining who wins the NFC East. The Eagles will likely be without two of their best offensive players in Miles Sanders and Zach Ertz, so this will be tough for them to win. Because of that, the Giants have a slight edge in this game.

Expert Prediction: Giants 27, Eagles 26

Analytics-Based Prediction: Eagles 17, Giants 9

Panthers at Saints

The Saints appear to be back on track after winning two games, but they are still going to be without Michael Thomas and haven't looked as dominant without him on the field. The Panthers have been solid this year, with their only losses coming to the Raiders, Buccaneers, and Bears. Add in the fact that this is a division game, and the Panthers could make it close. At the same time, the Saints have been on the rise even with Thomas out, so they should still win this one.

Expert Prediction: Saints 34, Panthers 28

Analytics-Based Prediction: Saints 27, Panthers 10

Bills at Jets

The Bills have lost two in a row, but they are still a really good team that should be a good contender. The Jets, on the other hand, have been awful this year. At this point, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them go winless and they seem like a near-lock to get the top pick in the draft. The Bills should be able to win this game with ease, taking a big lead early on and then proceeding to run the clock.

Expert Prediction: Bills 35, Jets 10

Analytics-Based Prediction: Bills 37, Jets 27

Browns at Bengals

The Browns have come back down to earth after finally facing a top team and seem to be trending in the wrong direction. The Bengals have continued to lose, but they’ve been relatively close games, so Cincinnati has a chance to get an upset here. The Browns did beat the Bengals earlier this year, however, and still seem to be a better team, assuming Baker Mayfield doesn’t play like he did on Sunday. If Mayfield plays even decent the Browns should win this game, so they seem likely to come out on top.

Expert Prediction: Browns 25, Bengals 21

Analytics-Based Prediction: Browns 35, Bengals 29

Cowboys at Washington

The Cowboys showed on Monday that they are not a good team without Dak Prescott. Zeke wasn’t able to put the team on his back and carry them to a win, or even a close game, and Andy Dalton looked really bad. The Cowboys shouldn’t expect much for the rest of the year with a horrible defense on the other side of the ball. Washington had looked like they could compete with Dallas prior to Dak’s injury, so there doesn’t seem to be a way in which Dallas wins this game unless last week was a fluke. Washington has a good defense that should generate some turnovers and prevent the Cowboys from moving the ball, and everyone can score on that Dallas defense, so this could once again be a rough day for the Cowboys.

Expert Prediction: Washington 31, Cowboys 14

Analytics-Based Prediction: Washington 31, Cowboys 24

Packers at Texans

The Packers will be hoping to come out and show that they just had a bad game last week, because if not, there will be panic in Green Bay. The entire Packers team looked awful last week and there’s no way around it. It doesn’t make sense how they went from playing arguably the best football in the league to some of the worst. The Buccaneers have no doubt proved to be a tough matchup at this point, but if the Packers really are as good as they looked early in the year that game would’ve been at least within two scores. The Texans have shown flashes of potential throughout the year, but they always tend to fizzle before the game ends and come away with a loss. Given how poorly the Texans have played, the Packers should win this game, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll play well.

Expert Prediction: Packers 27, Texans 20

Analytics-Based Prediction: Packers 35, Texans 30

Lions at Falcons

The Falcons were finally able to hold on to a lead and get their first win of the season, and now they get to go against a sub-par Lions team. Atlanta has been very inconsistent, so they could still lose this game, but it seems unlikely. They simply have too much on offense to let this game slip away even with a bad defense. The Lions won’t be able to cover Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley while stopping Todd Gurley, who has looked better than he did last year. Expect the Falcons to win in a somewhat close game in which they get a big lead, look like they might blow it, but then figure out a way to win.

Expert Prediction: Falcons 35, Lions 28

Analytics-Based Prediction: Lions 34, Falcons 28

Steelers at Titans

The Titans looked great against the Bills but struggled against the Texans significantly more than expected. It was a divisional game, so it was bound to be close, but that game was too close for comfort. The Steelers looked great last week against the Browns, but the Titans will really be the first top team Pittsburgh has faced this year. This should be a really good game between the two final undefeated teams in the AFC, but given the fact that the Steelers have an elite front seven that is capable of stopping Derrick Henry, expect them to win in a close game.

Expert Prediction: Steelers 27, Titans 24

Analytics-Based Prediction: Titans 31, Steelers 20

Seahawks at Cardinals

The Seahawks are now looking like the best team in the NFC with the league’s hottest quarterback, but they will need to address their defense at some point. The Cardinals have been dramatically inconsistent and have really only looked good against bad teams (with the possible exception of week 1). Seattle has no doubt looked better than the Cardinals, but for some reason they always lose to the Cardinals once no matter how much better they are. That loss typically occurs in Seattle, strangely enough, so expect the Seahawks to win this game, though an upset is certainly possible based on past trends.

Expert Prediction: Seahawks 38, Cardinals 30

Analytics-Based Prediction: Seahawks 31, Cardinals 23

Chiefs at Broncos

The Chiefs rebounded last week as expected and will now look to build on last week’s performance. The Broncos looked good last week, but that was against a team that had had one full practice in two weeks and they still almost blew a big fourth quarter lead. It doesn’t make sense to read into the Broncos Patriots game from last week because of the Patriots’ lack of practice, so expect the Broncos to look worse in this game. Denver typically plays the Chiefs well, so this game could be closer than many expect, but at the end of the day the Chiefs are a great team and will pull ahead to win the game no matter how close it may get.

Expert Prediction: Chiefs 31, Broncos 27

Analytics-Based Prediction: Chiefs 31, Broncos 24

Jaguars at Chargers

The Chargers have played really well in pretty much all of their games, even against top teams, but they always fail to come away with a win. Justin Herbert has looked like the real deal thus far, however, and once the Chargers start playing easier opponents they should start to win more. That starts this week against the Jaguars. Jacksonville has been surprisingly decent this year, but they are still a bad team and the Chargers should be able to win with ease, especially with Keenan Allen back in the mix.

Expert Prediction: Chargers 30, Jaguars 20

Analytics-Based Prediction: Jaguars 32, Chargers 25

49ers at Patriots

The Patriots looked awful last week, but any team would with one practice in two weeks. Even the Titans held practices outside of facilities when they were exposed to Covid, explaining why they played so well against the Bills. Football is not a game where you typically make excuses, but this is something that is literally unprecedented and no team has had to go through (at least to this extent), so it’s an exception. Assuming the Patriots are able to practice fully this week, which thus far it looks like they will, they should return to form and look like the team we saw in the first three weeks of the year. The 49ers looked like they were also starting to return to form last week after a win over the Rams, so this could be a close game. The thing is, Bill Belichick is the one who developed Jimmy Garoppolo, so he will know all of Garoppolo’s weaknesses and how to expose them. Belichick has always taken away the opposing team’s top player, so George Kittle is probably not going to do much and the 49ers don’t have anyone else to rely on. On the other side of the ball, the Patriots should be able to run the ball well with Cam finally getting a full week of practice, and that should be enough for them to win, assuming this game is played under normal circumstances.

Expert Prediction: Patriots 24, 49ers 14

Analytics-Based Prediction: Patriots 36, 49ers 21

Buccaneers at Raiders

The Buccaneers and the Raiders are both coming off of very impressive wins against very good opponents, so this should be a good game. The Raiders are legitimately one of the better teams in the AFC and the Buccaneers have looked like potentially a top-3 team in the NFC, so this should be a good game. The Raiders have looked great on offense, but they are going up against an elite defense and might struggle. On the other side of the ball, the Buccaneers will try to run it against Vegas’s sub-par run defense, but they aren’t a run-first team. Vegas should play well against the Buccaneers receivers, making it hard for the Buccaneers to move the ball. There is obviously a lot of uncertainty surrounding the Raiders because of their Covid situation, so this game might not even be played. But if it is, Covid will no doubt be a distraction for the Raiders and will lower their chances of coming away with a win. Because of that, the Buccaneers get the edge.

Expert Prediction: Buccaneers 28, Raiders 24

Analytics-Based Prediction: Buccaneers 43, Raiders 17

Bears at Rams

The Bears are now 5-1 and proving that they are a threat to win the NFC North. The Rams looked good when playing the NFC East, but they’re now 0-2 in games outside of that division. The Chicago defense has looked great this year, but the offense has been sub-par and might end up causing big problems if something isn't done. This game should be a low scoring, close game because the Bears will probably struggle to put points on the board but will be able to keep the Rams offense in check. The Bears have looked great in close games this year, so they should end up coming away with a win.

Expert Prediction: Bears 23, Rams 20

Analytics-Based Prediction: Rams 23, Bears 3