Detroit Lions at Philadelphia Eagles
Make no mistake about it. This is a must win game for the Lions. They simply cannot afford to come off their bye and fall to 1-4 in a conference that it will take 10-plus wins to make the postseason. Simply put, a loss here by Detroit will pretty much end their playoff aspirations.
Meanwhile, Philadelphia sits atop the NFC East, even after a late-game loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers last week. If they can actually play some mistake free football, this team will be in a good situation.
It will be interesting to see how the Matthew Stafford-to-Calvin Johnson connection, which has been muted in 2012, works against what is a stellar group of Eagles’ cornerbacks. If Philadelphia is able to make the Lions one-dimensional on offense, I can easily see them forcing a couple Stafford interceptions.
Philadelphia, on the other hand, really needs to get LeSean McCoy going and rely on him on the offensive side of the ball. Putting it up 40-plus times with Michael Vick isn’t going to get them anywhere. Check out Kwame Fisher-Jones’ analysis of this game in his NFC East Preview.
Fantasy Outlook
Minnesota Vikings at Washington Redskins
Robert Griffin III appears to be a go for this game after suffering a concussion last week against the Atlanta Falcons. That is absolutely huge for a Redskins’ team looking to hit the .,500 mark. Minnesota, who has already won one more game than last season, will be looking to improve to 5-1 on the season.
This is a matchup between two vastly improves teams and two really good young quarterbacks. Christian Ponder and the aforementioned RGIII are among the league leaders in completion percentage and have thrown a total of three interceptions thus far this season.
I am going to be excited to see how Minnesota performs away from the friendly confines of The Metrodome. They are 1-1 on the road, losing to the Indianapolis Colts in Week 2.
Check out Fisher-Jones once more as he previews this game in his AFC East article.
Fantasy Outlook
Green Bay Packers at Houston Texans
Many “experts” concluded that this would end up being a preview of the Super Bowl when the schedule game out during the summer. While Houston has lived up to its end of the bargain, Green Bay comes into Reliant Stadium with a 2-3 record, a full two games behind the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears in the NFC North.
To say that this is a must win for Green Bay would be an understatement. Like with Detroit before, the Packers just cannot afford to fall too far behind in the NFC Playoff race.
I am expecting Houston to go with the ground-and-pound early in this game before opening it up against a Packers’ defense that will stack the box. If the Texans are able to find this happy medium, they will be in a good situation.
It remains to be seen how the season-ending injury to Brian Cushing is going to impact Houston’s defense. One thing is for sure, they are simply not the same unit without their lead on the field. Look for the Packers to attack the middle of Houston’s defense fully understanding the situation at hand.
In somewhat of an upset, I am going to pick the roadtripping Packers to come into Houston and hand the Texans their first loss of the season.
Fantasy Outlook