This weekends games should be very competitive, as four high powered teams go at it. There are so many story lines this weekend to include, Patrick Mahomes ankle. Will Joe Burrow continue his dominant QB play? How will Mr Irrelevant (Brock Purdy) perform in Philly where the crowd will be hostile? Can San Francisco’s defense stop the Eagles electric offense? One thing I’ve learned analyzing the NFL, is that whatever happened last week doesn’t really dictate what will happen this week. Let’s breakdown each game, and see who I believe will win.
Cincinnati Bengals at Kansas City Chiefs
After last Sunday’s game it looked like Mahomes’s ankle was not good at all. He was limping and even dropping back to hand off the ball was difficult. To many people’s surprise he practiced yesterday and appears fine to play on Sunday. We shall see though as one weird hit and he could be limping again. On the Bengals side of the ball, they are healthy and clicking on all cylinders. Surprisingly, their defense has stepped up and has made the Bengals a tough team to beat. If I’m the Bengals, I make Mahomes scramble as much as he can through blitzes and other stunts. Also, I would jam Travis Kelce at the line and try to be as physical as I can. The problem is I still believe he balls out, so the Bengals might have to chalk it up on having a big impact. In addition to stopping Kelce they will have to contain Isiah Pacheco, the Chiefs speedy running back. Basically, they have to make Mahomes’s life miserable by knocking him down and forcing him into bad throws. I’m not too worried about the Bengals offense as they have been dominant for much of the season. The Chiefs need to rattle Burrow and force him into bad throws. Also, try to contain Joe Mixon who can break one for a touchdown at any time. The Chiefs want revenge in this game as they were so close to moving on last year to the Superbowl. There has been reports that there calling Arrowhead, “Burrowhead” which only motivates the Chiefs to prove them wrong. This game will be close and will probably require a last minute field goal to win it. Because of how evenly matched they are, but coaching and playing at home KC has the edge, I like the Chiefs by 3 in this one.
Chiefs 31 Bengals 28
San Francisco 49ers at Philadelphia Eagles
Philly looked unstoppable last weekend as they dominated the New York Football Giants. But as I said in my comment above it’s hard to go off what happened last week as the Eagles could lay an egg this week against the tough 49ers. With that said, I don’t think that will happen, and I have Philly winning by 7 in this game. They have talent all over the field, they’re playing at home, and they have the more dynamic quarterback in Jalen Hurts. SF will have a plan to slow down the Eagles offense by stopping the run game and not allowing Hurts to run the read option. Their best chance is to force Hurts to be a pocket passer. For SF on offense, play smart Football, put Purdy in situations where he will succeed. They need Christian McCaffrey to play well, but the problem is, the Eagles know that. If I’m Philly I force Purdy to beat me with his arm, which will be a very tough challenge. I believe Purdy throws an INT in this game as well as fumbling the ball and giving the ball back to Philly. That crowd will be raucous, Philly has an exceptional pass rush, just too much for San Francisco!
Eagles 28 49ers 21
Last weeks record 2-2
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