A Gander Across the Gridiron: Week 3

An early look at games and my predictions

Sep 25, 2020

San Francisco 49ers/YouTube - Robert Saleh discusses Thursday’s practice at the Greenbriar Hotel in West Virginia.

In last week's Gander, I crushed it. So now I can call myself an expert and have some sort of credibility. Unless you pay attention to the lines, where I was mediocre. But I was above .500 so I’ll take it! For those unfamiliar, I am going over every week’s games, the lines, and my predictions on what will happen. And I will be skipping over the 49ers games to remove bias. My guesses for those will always be on the pre-game articles here at FTN!

Last Week’s Scores: 13-2

Last Week’s Lines: 8-7

Overall Scores: 23-7

Overall Lines: 16-14

Dolphins @ Jaguars

5:20 pm PT (TNF) JAX -3

The Jags look a lot better than I expected. Granted, division games can be weird, and both matchups so far were against the AFC South. In their division games, Miami looked terrible against New England, but put up a good fight against Buffalo. Fitzpatrick is a very frustrating QB to predict, and being on TNF doesn’t help me at all. I usually like to pick teams that are at home for Thursdays, and Gardner Minshew is in a good position to stay hot.

Shana’s prediction: JAX wins 28-24

Bears @ Falcons

10:00 am PT ATL -3

Both teams are surprising me so far. Da Bears have had a soft schedule, and took advantage. Trubisky didn’t have the best stat line against the Giants (18/28 for 190 yds, 2 TD, 2 INT), but he’s spreading the ball around a lot more than I thought he would. The Falcons defense has been horrible, so I’m very interested to see how Trubisky will do. The Bears defense is easily the best Ryan has faced so far as well, so this game will be a nice test to see just how good/bad these teams are. I’m not a Trubisky believer whatsoever, and I have a hard time thinking the Falcons D is THAT bad. The team will be angry after their blown lead, so once again I am stubbornly choosing the Bears to lose an “easy” matchup.

Shana’s prediction: ATL wins 33-27

Rams @ Bills

10:00 am PT BUF -2.5

Josh Allen looks like he really took a step forward in his crucial year 3. The Rams defense is much tougher competition than the Jets or Dolphins, but I’m a believer in Allen. He didn’t even need to scramble much (19 yds) against Miami, but we know he can. Goff looks pretty good so far too, with the Rams possibly bouncing back from their Super Bowl hangover. I’d bet this will be the best game on Sunday, better than Cowboys@Seahawks and Packers@Saints. The early morning start on the East Coast shouldn’t be a factor since they just played in Philly, but I’m predicting the Bills to pull it out in a close game.

Shana’s prediction: BUF wins 34-28

WFT @ Browns

10:00 am PT CLE -7

The strength of the Browns offense comes from the run game, which will be matched up against the strong Washington front 7. Mayfield did look good on Thursday, but I’m hesitant to trust anything from a Thursday game. They can just be so janky. The extra rest will of course be nice for the Browns. But I think this is a bad matchup, even if Washington is not a strong team. The line is too high, as is the hopes for any Cleveland fan. This is just a gut feeling, and I trust those when it comes to the Browns.

Shana’s prediction: WAS wins 19-13

Titans @ Vikings

10:00 am PT TEN -2.5

Wow, the Vikings look terrible. Cousins always has some bad games, but he looked beyond horrible against Indy. I was down on Minnesota this year, but I expected them to look better than that. I think he bounces back against the Titans, but that doesn’t mean they will win. Tennessee’s pass offense looks good, and should continue to play well against the Minnesota secondary. And maybe this will be the game where Derrick Henry shows why he’s a star again. He hasn’t done much so far this season, but has a good opportunity this week.

Shana’s prediction: TEN wins 34-31

Raiders @ Patriots

10:00 am PT NE -5.5

On Monday, the Derek Carr targeted Darren Waller 45% of the time. And it worked against a good New Orleans defense. He is a little banged up (knee), like much of that offense, but they look really good. Even with Henry Ruggs not doing much. Bill Belichick should be worried, but he is also one of the best in slowing down an offense like this. They had a poor showing last week, but everyone does against Russell Wilson. The Raiders are also on a short week, which makes me lean towards the Pats winning.

Shana’s prediction: NE wins 25-22

Bengals @ Eagles

10:00 am PT PHI -5.5

The Eagles are finally playing against a manageable D line, and Carson Wentz may finally have a chance to actually play. He’s looked bad, and I don’t expect much from the Eagles going forward, but I hope Wentz can do something this game. His only support on offense is from Miles Sanders and tight ends, so this is a huge game for him. Meanwhile, Burrow is looking pretty good for a rookie on a terrible team. The Bengals are rested and have a few weapons on offense. If AJ Green can actually haul in receptions, the ball would move a lot better. As long as Burrow keeps improving, he’s capable of beating the Eagles.

Shana’s prediction: CIN wins 32-31

Texans @ Steelers

10:00 am PT PIT -4

I think I’ve mentioned it a few times before, but I really hate Bill O’Brien. Without Hopkins, I don’t see how the Texans can get past the strong Steelers defense. I’m sure the Houston defense is relieved to play against a human QB, aka not Mahomes or Jackson, but Roethlisberger is looking pretty decent so far. The young Steeler receivers are stepping up, and the RBs are running the ball well. Yet again, I think the Texans will have an embarrassing loss.

Shana’s prediction: PIT wins 35-17

Jets @ Colts

1:05 pm PT IND -11.5

Colts good. Jets bad. The end. I’m kidding of course, but the Jets are truly awful. Their offense has no playmakers that are healthy and the defense appears to have lost their gift for stopping the run. Adam Gase is a horrific coach and the players are not buying in, so I’m going to have a difficult time ever picking them. Deforest Buckner and the Colts D really stepped up last week, and will make life miserable for Darnold. If you value your sanity, don’t watch the Jets get blown out next week. Even if it makes you feel better about our injuries.

Shana’s prediction: IND wins 28-12

Panthers @ Chargers

1:05 pm PT LAC -6.5

With Christian McCaffrey hurt, much of Carolina’s offense is dead. I don’t trust Mike “Flaming Hot Cheetos” Davis. Teddy Bridgwater doesn’t look completely horrible, but so much of that team was based around the best running back in the NFL. The Chargers will once again start Justin Herbert after the team doctor punctured Tyrod Taylor’s lung. He looked good against the Chiefs. The Chargers have the much better defense, and should get ahead early. Much of this game will probably be Carolina playing catch-up.

Shana’s prediction: LAC wins 30-17

Buccaneers @ Broncos

1:25 pm PT TB -6.0

Poor Broncos fans. Much like us, their QB is banged up and their star pass rusher is out for the season. As well as multiple other injuries, such as Courtland Sutton’s ACL tear. But their team has a lot less depth than the Niners. They also have a much tougher matchup this week against Tampa. Brady hasn’t proved to be his old self quite yet. But that defense looks really good. Too good for Jeff Driskel or Blaine Gabbert. I can’t see Denver getting the upset.

Shana’s prediction: TB wins 28-13

Lions @ Cardinals

10:00 am PT ARI -5.5

The Lions still stink. Their defense is very leaky and has very little hope against Kyler Murray. They managed to blow two leads already, and I’m questioning if they can even get one against Arizona. The Cards are in the middle of a very easy stretch, and their win streak will continue on Sunday.

Shana’s prediction: ARI wins 38-27

Cowboys @ Seahawks

1:25 pm PT SEA -4.5

Shootout time? This will be the afternoon game shown in the Bay Area, so we get to watch some offense. Both teams have their offenses humming and their defenses being mediocre. Cowboys came back from 29-10, and Wilson has a grand total of 11 incompletions in two games. He does have a pick 6, but the blame should fully fall on Greg Olsen for that play. This just looks like one of those games where either team could win, but Seattle will win just to spite us.

Shana’s prediction: SEA wins 36-31

Packers @ Saints

5:20 pm (SNF) PT NO -3

Brees looked really bad on Monday and is playing on a short week. Age had to hit him eventually, but we still need to see if this is the beginning of a trend or a one-off game. He likely won’t have Michael Thomas, but Aaron Rodgers should also be missing Davante Adams. It really is a shame we don’t get to see these guys on SNF. Before the season began, I would have said the Saints are the much better team. Now, I’m not so sure, and I don’t want to rely on a team that looked so bad on Monday.

Shana’s prediction: GB wins 28-27

Chiefs @ Ravens

5:15 pm (MNF) PT BAL -3.5

The salt match-up. The two teams that beat the Niners in the Super Bowl, and the Chiefs will be broadcasted to me for the third time already. But I can’t be too mad about watching these two talented QBs duel it out. And both teams are relatively healthy. I don’t have too much analysis, but the Ravens defense looks a bit stronger to me, so I will go with them.

Shana’s prediction: BAL wins 35-27

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