SWAMPY SUNDAY - MUCK 5 - WEEK 3

***DETROIT LIONS @ GREEN BAY PACKERS***

First up we got a good 'ol fashioned shootout in the Black & Blue Division between the Lions and the Packers. I was very high on Detroit coming into this year as I thought they could be somewhat of a sleeper team under the radar since the early retirement of future HOF WR Calvin Johnson, and I still am despite an ugly game last weekend at home against the Titans. After a motivating week 1 win on the road against the Colts that featured a game winning drive in the final seconds, last week the Lions did the opposite and gave one up in the final moments. I'm not taking anything away from the Titans but when looking back at this game, the Lions beat themselves. 17 penalties, I repeat 17 penalties last week for Detroit and if I remember correctly, 3 of those penalties erased 3 consecutive touchdowns off the scoreboard on the same drive! Awful, just awful and I think the Lions are embarrassed by this and a better team than this as well. Despite the terrible collapse last week, they sit at 1-1 and the season is still fresh although in the words of my man Yogi, "sometimes it gets late early." They head into Green Bay to face their longtime divisional big brother who are like a wounded animal at the moment. The Packers have also struggled out of the gate nearly dropping a game on the road in Jacksonville in week 1, and getting beat up by the outstanding Viking defense on the Sunday Night Football stage in Minnesota last week. QB Aaron Rodgers seems to be out of sync with his guys a bit and to me just doesn't look like his usual calm, smiling, making everything look easy self. I like the pressure to be on Green Bay here to get a big win in their home opener before their bye week, and I think the struggles will continue as the Lions will come with maximum motivation having won for the first time in Green Bay last season since 1991, yikes. However they have finally gotten off the schneid as far as that goes, and believe they can win. A big factor in this game are the amount of key injuries both teams are enduring at the moment. The Lions will be without top pass rushing DE Ziggy Ansah and LB DeAndre Levy who it feels like has barely played in two seasons now. A few other defensive players will be out and limited but Ziggy being out is a HUGE loss for this Lions team, especially as far as the leadership factor. However, I think the Pack have even bigger problems on their defense without star LB Clay Matthews, Safety Morgan Burnett, and CB Sam Shields to name a few. That being said I think the Lions are better equipped to overcome their injuries and also the way Vikings QB Sam Bradford lit up Green Bay's secondary last weekend, I think Stafford will have a day here with his plethora of targets, enough to stay within the number here and I wouldn't be surprised to see an upset here. LIONS+6

***MINNESOTA VIKINGS @ CAROLINA PANTHERS***

Chaos has struck Charlotte in the form of protests and there are talks of it possibly being a problem and interfering with today's game. I think this has to serve as a bit of a distraction with everything going on outside of football this past week for the Panthers. It is a bad time to sacrifice focus as Coach Mike Zimmer and the surging Purple People Eaters are hungry and on a mission. The Panthers have won 14 straight home games dating back to last season and I feel like that streak is in jeopardy today. The Vikings defense in my opinion is the best in the league and I foolishly went against them last Sunday Night as I thought a QB like Aaron Rodgers would be able to squeak it out in the end and they proved me very wrong. Rodgers was lucky to not have a worse game than he did being fortunate enough for Green Bay to recover a few of his other fumbles. I know the Vikings just lost start RB Adrian Peterson, but I don't think they will skip a beat. I personally even think they might be better in a weird way. The absence of Peterson causes the carries to be split between the shifty youngster Jerick McKinnon and a bulldozer of an RB in Matt Asiata, an little thunder & lightning if you would. Offensive Coordinator Norv Turner can now open up the offense how he pleases without having to feel obligated to feed Adrian Peterson the carries his stature deserves. This means new QB Sam Bradford will also be more comfortable taking more snaps from shotgun and man, did he prove me wrong last week and look good. Was it a fluke? We will see what Sammy Sleeves is packing in this big test here in Carolina today. I think he will do well against these Carolina Rookie CBs. Vikings WR Stefon Diggs was an absolute beast last week and is becoming a star quickly in this league, he looks like the real deal. Bottom line, I think the Vikings defense uses the Denver blueprint and gets after Cam Newton, hitting him early and often & rattling his game. I like the Vikings defense to lead these guys to another win here today, so I'll gladly take the points and bank on them keeping it close. VIKINGS+6

***ARIZONA CARDINALS @ BUFFALO BILLS***

As soon as I saw the spread in this game earlier this week I immediately said to myself "trap game." However I am not overthinking this one and will take the bait. The Cardinals were clearly embarrassed after being upset by the Bradyless Patriots week 1 on Sunday Night Football as they took out their frustrations on a respectable Tampa Bay Bucs team last weekend. The Bucs were flying high off a big win on the road in Atlanta in week 1 and were sent back down to Earth after running into a buzzsaw in Arizona. THAT looked more like the Arizona team everybody anticipated they would be before the season started. This is normally a bad spot for Arizona, traveling across to the East coast for an early game, but because they dropped that first game I think they are pissed and won't be caught sleeping again any time soon. The Bills are in turnmoil, with recent changes on the Coaching Staff after dropping a home game against a rival Jets team last Thursday Night. That being said the Bills have had extra time to prep for this one, but it won't matter as they are simply undermanned and cannot hang with the talent that Arizona will be coming at them with, on both sides of the ball. Now Bills WR Sammy Watkins is sitting this one out as he nurses an injury. I am going to refrain from backing the Bills here, but I do like them next week in New England but that is another conversation for another day, hehehe. As far as today goes, the ugliness continues and I'm rolling with the better coaching staff and better overall team. CARDINALS-4.5

***OAKLAND RAIDERS @ TENNEESEE TITANS***

As I briefly mentioned above, I do like this Titans team and think they are solid and can do some real damage in their wide open division this year. These teams have gone through a very similar first two weeks just opposite. The Raiders went on the road and beat New Orleans in the last seconds on a two point conversion, only to come home and be upset by the Falcons in an ugly one where they fell apart at the end. The Titans played the Vikings strong at home week 1 and gave up two defensive scores to blow their game long lead, and then went on the road and squeaked out an upset vs Detroit in the final minutes. That being said, this one should be a lot of fun here between two young teams on the rise. However, I like the Titans in this particular match up at this particular time. They are home and will be playing against a talented but confused Oakland defense and until the Raiders figure themselves out, they will continue to get beat and give up the big play. I like the Titans to keep it simple and pound the rock with the running attack of Murray & Henry AKA Thunder & Thunderer. Once that lulls the Raiders to sleep I expect Titans WR Tajae Sharpe to have a breakout game here in this one. Oakland QB Derek Carr might be my favorite young QB in the game right now and I think he will go on to become a star in this league sooner than later. However I really feel this Titans defense is under the radar good, and will give him trouble at home today like they did a similar gunslinging Stafford last week. TITANS+1.5

***PITTSBURGH STEELERS @ PHILADELPHIA EAGLES***

Ahhhh great game here as we have the Battle of Pennsylvania featured on the late afternoon slate between the 2-0 Steelers and the 2-0 Eagles. Philly is riding the Wentz Wagon hard right now as they should be since their Rookie QB has looked like the truth thus far. I am going to hop on it one more time today as I believe this Eagles team is really strong this year and riding this contagious high provided by their new toy at QB. They are 2-0 and feeling great and have all the confidence in the world right now despite beating two bottom feeder teams in the Browns and the Bears. However I feel like their first two games couldn't of been more perfect in order for Wentz to gain confidence and really feel like he belongs. Today will be a true test as the big bad Steelers come into town and I think he will rise to the occasion with the help of the weapons around him and this defense. This defense just might be awesome and is led by new Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz who has proved to be a master schemer and I got to believe will take a page out of Cincinatti's gameplan last week when they were able to slow down the Steeler's phenom WR Antonio Brown. I think the Birds match up well and have what it takes to go toe to toe with the Steelers. I believe they will get to Big Ben and limit the run game. Philly's home crowd will be absolutely ROCKING today to get a big win versus a top team in the NFL and I like them to pull it out in a great game and head into their bye week 3-0. The Wentz Wagon rolls on and Philly continues to have a blast for the next two weeks. EAGLES+4

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