 Can the Bengals get back on track at home against the resurgent Panthers? What about the Cardinals after the debacle Monday night? Find out here in our 2006 NFL Week 7 preview article. Check out these lines and more at Sportsbook.com
· Eagles (-5.5) at Buccaneers
Donovan McNabb is white hot this year. The T.O. departure in the offseason looks to be addition by subtraction for the Eagles. While the Buccs have been able to contain opposing passers for the most part this season that was not necessarily the case last week. Carson Palmer lit them up for 261 yards and a score while completing 65% of his passes. McNabb may find it slightly more difficult this week than weeks past, but that will not stop him from continuing to roll. The main weak point for the Buccs defense has been trying to stop the run. They average 141 yards allowed per game and rank near the bottom of the league in that category. Brian Westbrook should be able to work through his knee pain and do some damage on the ground and from catches out of the backfield. Look for Philly to pressure rookie QB Bruce Gradkowski in only his 3rd NFL start. Cadillac Williams has played better over the last 2 games but has only found pay-dirt once so far this year. We think the Eagles get back on track this week on the road and cover against a Buccs team that has been sub-par most of the year
PICK: Eagles
· Panthers (+3) at Bengals
Just how important is Steve Smith to the Carolina offense? In the first two games of the season in which he missed, the Panthers managed 19 total points in dropping both games. Since his return in week 3 they are 4-0 and have reached the 20-point mark in all 4 games. The ball-hawking unit we saw from the Bengals defense early in the season has been absent as of late. They have not put pressure on opposing QB’s and they have been down right bad against opposing RB’s. DeShaun Foster should be able to go off this Sunday. Jake Delhomme had a statement game last week, torching the fierce Ravens for 365 yards and 2 scores for the Panthers. Delhomme and Steve Smith should also be able to do what they do again this week. The Panthers aren't shutting down their opponents right now, so look for Carson Palmer to enjoy some success. While Palmer has not quite returned to last year’s numbers he has all the weapons to do so. With Rudi Johnson struggling as of late and the Panthers rush defense playing well over the last 3 weeks this looks like a tough match-up on that front. Not that the Bengals have been terrible this year, but they have been underachievers to say the least. Because of that and the fact that the Panthers have been resurgent we look for the Panthers to cover and possibly win.
PICK: Panthers
· Broncos (-4.5) at Browns
Tatum Bell is now on track and has a lock on the starting job in Denver. With QB Jake Plummer looking shaky so far this season, look for Denver to get back to their old ways, running the ball. Denver rushed for 144 last week against Oakland with Bell picking up 84 of those yards. Cleveland is simply bad against the run so look for those rushing numbers to increase this week. The Browns are average at best when it comes to pass defense, so this is not going to be the week that Plummer puts it all together. Denvers pass defense on the other hand is on top of their game. They are currently the toughest defense in the league to score against, allowing a miniscule 37 points to date. They have only allowed 1 passing TD all year long so Charlie Frye and his receivers should have a tough go at it. Reuben Droughns has had absoulutly no blocking up front from his offensive line and the Denver rush defense has allowed 0 rush TD’s to date. Things look bad for Cleveland and their offense this week. We see no reason that Denver should not win this game by double digits at least.
PICK: Broncos
· Cardinals (-3) at Raiders
Matt Leinart and the Cardinals shoulda, woulda, coulda, beat the Bears last Monday night, but didn’t. However, it wasn’t because of their offense. One might wonder if Leinart and his crew will take any frustrations out on the Raiders this week? Teams so far have not needed a reason to pass on the Raiders, they have simply been that bad. The Raiders give up nearly 150 rushing yards per game, so if Edgerrin James is ever going to get it going it has to be this week. With Larry Fitzgerald being out last week it didn’t seem to bother Leinart as he connected with Anquan Boldin for 136 yards and a TD. Andrew Walter is still the QB in Oakland and that is not great news. After the way the Arizona rush defense treated Chicago last week, we do not like the chances of LaMont Jordan. He has not been able to get it going all year long and this does not look like the week that that will change. Everybody can now return to their regularly schedule of taking whatever team is playing the Raiders to cover the spread.
PICK: Cardinals
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