The big showdown in the NFC last week between the N.Y. Giants and Saints turned into an ambush as New Orleans scored five touchdowns in the first half on route to a 48 -27 drubbing in the Big Easy. The vaunted New York defense was torched for almost 500 yards of total offense including 360 yards in the air led by Drew Brees. Brees ended the day completing 23 of 30 attempts for 4 TD’s. The Giant’s offense found themselves down 14 points early in the 1st quarter and were never able to close the gap as every time they scored, the Saints answered with another touchdown of their own. New Orleans proved they are clearly the best team in the NFC if not the league at this point of the season. The only other undefeated team in the conference, Minnesota survived a wild one against the Baltimore Ravens, coming from behind to win 33-31 on a Ryan Longwell 31 yard field goal with two minutes left. Baltimore had a chance to win the game at the end, but Steven Hauschka missed on a 44 yard attempt. In other games, the Arizona Cardinals shocked the Seattle Seahawks 27-3 as they have quietly worked their way to the top of the NFC West and the Atlanta Falcons held off a late charge by the Bears to win 21-14 on Sunday night.
Moving onto week seven, the key match ups we will be reviewing are; Atlanta @ Dallas, Arizona @ New York Giants, and Philadelphia @ Washington.
Atlanta Falcons @ Dallas Cowboys (-3.5) Current Over/Under 47
The 4-1 Falcons are coming off an impressive win at home over the Bears while the Cowboys are coming off their bye week. This will be a crucial game for Dallas as despite the fact they are 3-2, they have been less than impressive in most of their performances so far. Offensively, they have been able to move the ball especially on the ground where they rank 2nd overall and 3rd in rushing yards per game, but this has not always translated into points as the rank 11th in scoring. The pressure has been on Tony Romo all season long as even though his stats are not that bad throwing for over 1300 yards and six touchdowns, he still has made some costly mistakes in crucial times of the game. Atlanta, on the other hand appears to be picking up some steam as they have looked impressive in their last two games with a balanced attack on the ground and in the air led by QB Matt Ryan and RB Michael Turner. Look for Atlanta to control the tempo of this game and win the battle of field possession coming out on top in a close low scoring game.
Arizona Cardinals @ New York Giants (-7) Current Over/Under 46.5
I expect the Giants to be in a foul mood after the beat down they suffered last week at the hands of the Saints. Despite how bad they looked on defense, they will not let Kurt Warner sit back in the pocket and pick their secondary apart like Drew Brees did. While the Saints may have exposed some weaknesses in New York’s defensive backfield, look for them to come out with an attack style game plan that will put pressure on Warner, forcing him to throw some balls up for grabs leading to a couple of turnovers. One thing the Cardinals will not be able to do is run the ball against the Giants as they are ranked last in the league in rushing yards per game. Offensively, the Giants match up well against Arizona, as QB Eli Manning should be able to exploit a Cardinals pass defense that is ranked 31st in the league in yards allowed. The Giants get back on track this week with a big win over the Cardinals. Both teams will still get their points so the over looks like a solid play.
Philadelphia Eagles (-6.5) @ Washington Redskins Current Over/Under 38
The Eagles are still scratching their heads to try and figure out what went wrong in a dismal 13-9 loss to the Raiders week. Their offense, which was averaging close to 30 points a game had to settle for 3 field goals against an Oakland defense that was ranked last in the league. The Redskins are still scratching their heads to find out how they let three teams; Detroit, Carolina, and Kansas City get their first win of the season against them. With head coach Jim Zorn relieved from the play calling duties and the starting QB position up in the air there is more than just a bit of turmoil in Washington this week. Just like the Giants, I expect the Eagles to get back to the basics of what has made them successful in the past and come up with a big win over the Redskins on Monday night. Given the sad state of affairs with the Washington offense, I would stay with the under in this game.
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