Arizona Cardinals at Detroit Lions

Both squads try to stop a two week losing snide. The Lions’ Jeff Garcia and Joey Harrington are banged up. Coach Mariucci isn’t sure which QB will start on Sunday. The injuries are mounting for the Cardinals as well. Last year’s sac leader, DE Betrand Berry, has a torn pectoral muscle and could be out for the season. Kurt Warner returned under center last week. He was intercepted 3 times and sacked four times.

Houston Texans at Indianapolis Colts

The Colts are coming off a big win over their AFC nemesis New England Patriots. Manning and the Colts appear to finally be over the hump as Manning won for the first time at Foxboro last Monday night. The 1-7 Texans will have their work cut out for them but showed signs of improvement last Sunday in a 7 point loss to Jacksonville in which they held the Jaguars to just 88 yards on the ground.

Minnesota Vikings at New York Giants

Manning, who has made great strides since last season, will try to keep the Giants unbeaten at home where they are currently 4-0. Their defense has only allowed 6 points and a total of 288 yards in their past two games. The Vikings are coming off a big win over the Detroit Lions led by Brad Johnson who is filling in for the injured Culpepper. Brad Johnson always plays well at Giants Stadium where in two starts he has completed 70% of his passes for 520yards with 5 TDs and no INTs.

San Francisco 49ers at Chicago Bears

The Bears are riding a 4-game winning streak and boast one of the top defenses in the league. They have shown glimpses on the ’85 Monsters of the Midway. Rookie QB, Kyle Orton, continues to get better each week and is the current favorite for rookie of the year. The 49ers are on their fourth QB of the season, 2004 second round draft pick Cody Pickett, as Tim Rattay, #1 draft pick Alex Smith, and Ken Dorsey, are all injured.

Baltimore Ravens at Jacksonville Jaguars

Kyle Boller will return under center for the Ravens to try to put to rest a 3-game losing skid. Safety, Ed Reed, and Linebacker Ray Lewis, winners of 3 of the last 5 defensive player of the year awards, will miss another game this week. The Jaguars have won 3 of their last 4. Byron Leftwich continues to play well. He directed two scoring drives of 80+ yards in the fourth quarter last week to beat Houston.

Kansas City Chiefs at Buffalo Bills

With Priest Holmes out for the season Larry Johnson will be getting even more carries as we saw against Oakland last week when he looked like a Pro Bowl back, rushing for 107 yards and two TDs, including the game winner when he jumped over the pile with seconds remaining. Buffalo is coming off of a bye week, and despite being two games under 500, they are sitting at second in the division behind New England.

New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins

The Patriots fell to 4-4 on the season after going down to the Colts last Monday night, and they look to avoid losing consecutive games for the first time since December 2002. Their 4 losses total the number they’ve had in the previous 2 seasons. The Dolphins have lost 3 of their last 5 but with a win Sunday can overtake New England in the AFC East. Miami’s two pronged running attack of Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams is averaging over 5 yards per carry for 133 yards the past three games, compensating for Gus Ferotte’s 29th ranking among NFL QBs.

Denver Broncos at Oakland Raiders

The first place Broncos take on the last place Raiders for the 90th time during the regular season. Despite these teams being at opposite ends of the AFC West, expect a close game. Kerry Collins is having a phenomenal season and Lamont Jordan is finally looking like a feature back as he ran all over the Chiefs in the first half last week. Denver’s running attack of Mike Anderson and Tatum Bell is the second best in the NFL, combining for 1,366 yards on the season, and it has taken some of the pressure off of Jake Plummer who is having an excellent year, limiting the costly INTs which have plagued his career.

New York Jets at Carolina Panthers

Despite a slow, 1-2 start the Panthers have turned it around and are now one of the NFC favorites for the Super Bowl. Despite one of the best back fields in the NFC with Jake Delhomme and Stephen Davis, the Panthers Defense has made them a Super Bowl contender. They have 15 sacks in their last three games and 17 during their winning streak. Brooks Bollinger will be making his 2nd career NFL start for the Jets for injured vet Vinny Testaverde. Bollinger came in last week in the third quarter, throwing for 2 TDs in a comeback attempt that just fell short against the Chargers.

Green Bay Packers at Atlanta Falcons

Atlanta is coming off a 17-10 victory over Miami in which Michael Vick put up his best passing numbers of the year. The Falcons also boast the league’s top ground game led by Warrick Dunn. The Green Bay Packers are having a dismal season at just 1-7—too bad for Favre who strongly contemplated retirement after last season. Favre has never lost more than 8 games in his previous 13 seasons at Green Bay, but it looks as if that mark will be surpasses this year.

Washington Redskins at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington is coming off a big win against last year’s NFC Champion Eagles which moved them into 2nd place in the division along side idle Dallas. Mark Brunell looks like the QB he was in Jacksonville, scrambling outside the pocket and making throws on the run, while Clinton Portis mounts a solid ground attack. After starting the season 4-0, the Bucs have been sliding. They suffered a 34-14 defeat to Carolina last Sunday, and Brian Griese’s replacement Chris Sims continues to struggle, throwing 2 INTs and losing a fumble while being sacked five times last week.

St. Louis Rams at Seattle Seahawks

The Seahawks are 17-3 in their last 20 regular season games at home under Holmgren. Shaun Alexander is the NFL’s leading rusher with 949 yards on the season. He rushed for over 170 yards last week with two TDs. The Rams’ skill players have been out hurt but are expected back this Sunday. With Bulger, Holt, and Bruce back the Rams will bring a much improved offense to the table.

Cleveland Browns at Pittsburgh Steelers

A rusty Charlie Batch took over the quarterbacking duties for Ben Roethlisberger last week as Roethlisberger endured knee surgery. It was Batch’s first start in four years. The Steelers’ leading rushers Jerome Bettis and Willie Parker are also banged up and listed as questionable. The Browns are coming off of a victory against Tennessee last week after losing their three previous games. Reuben Droughns is coming off a stellar performance in which he had a season best 116 yards on the ground and added another 73 yards receiving.

Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles

Owens will not be in uniform again this week as the Eagles take on the Cowboys Monday night. It seems as though Owens’ apology was too little too late. Philadelphia, at 4-4, is just a glimpse of the NFC powerhouse they were a season ago. They are the leagues worst rushing team, but Westbrook figures to get more carries in TO’s absence. Dallas is coming off of a bye week which will allow running back Julius Jones to return to the lineup. Drew Bledsoe has risen from the dead and is having a very solid season throwing the football.