Mostly easy road for NFC East in Week 4
Week 4 provides a pack of what should be easy matchups for each team respectively. The Giants who come off a very unexpected win against Philadelphia will head out west to play the Arizona Cardinals. The G-MEN will oppose a familiar face in former Eagle Kevin Kolb. A bright spot for New York is that their stud defensive end Osi Umenyiora returned to practice and could play in this matchup. If he plays I wouldn’t anticipate him being in mid-season form however I do think he can get a sack or two based on his sheer talent. The Cardinals meanwhile are off to an iffy start being just 1-2 but that was to be expected as Kolb is definitely a few notches short of Kurt Warner. If Kolb can get good protection from the raging Giants D-line he can definitely do some damage especially with #11 running routes out there in superstar WR Larry Fitzgerald. Look for the Giants to win this game though as they have played well against Arizona the past few seasons.
America’s team, the Dallas Cowboys will host the roaring Detroit Lions at Jerry Jones megaplex-oh sorry I meant Cowboy Stadium. The Lions are coming off a tremendous come from behind win against the Vikings in which they overcame a 20 point halftime deficit. Many have said that Detroit would be much improved this season especially if Matthew Stafford could stay on the field and the results have been spot on so far.
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The Cowboys in the meantime have not looked impressive at all. Dallas was able to squeak out a win in week 3 against the Redskins in what was an ugly Monday Night game down in the big D. I think Detroit will win this football game seeing as how they are on a good roll and Dallas is still working out the Kinks.
The Redskins will hit the road for the second straight week as they travel to America’s heartland, Saint Louis, Missouri to clash with the Rams. The Rams are off to an 0-3 start despite the fairly decent numbers from QB Sam Bradford even with a completion percentage just a tick over fifty percent. While the Rams certainly weren’t expected to even reach the .500 mark, they appear to be slowed down even more by early injuries to the only other two stars on the offense in Stephen Jackson and Danny Amendola. The Skins meanwhile appeared as though they were going to be a formidable opponent through the first two weeks. However, they stumbled a bit in week 3 against the Cowboys in the back and forth battle that eventually saw Dallas overtake them. The surprise continues to be the solid play of Rex Grossman at the QB position but if Washington wants to keep piling up the wins that has to continue and there is a long way to go. Redskins take this one rather easily on the road as the Rams just don’t have enough battle in them.
Finally, we come to the Eagles who will remain home again this week as they welcome the 49ers. The Eagles are coming off an unforeseen 13 point loss to their arch rival the New York Giants. Vick was hit hard all throughout even leaving the game with a hand injury and replaced with Kafka whose biggest contribution was two INT’s. As I mentioned they will host San Francisco who tote a 2-1 record into Lincoln Financial Field. One of the biggest reasons that the 49ers are 2-1 is that they really didn’t have competition last week by playing the Cincinnati Bengals, although it was ridiculously close. As much as I respect the history of the 49ers I just don’t see them winning this game, or many this season, for two reasons. One is that I think Philly has to bounce back otherwise there is going to be huge backlash from an already ruthless fan base and two is that they will go as far as Alex Smith will take them and I just do not have one ounce of belief in him. Eagles win this game and things get better in Philly-at least for now.
By Ed Murphy
Pro Football Fans Staff Writer