The Bengals – eh, can’t say much about them. I wouldn’t expect for it to be all that close by I’m not predicting a blow out either. But If I had to lean towards one I’d say blow out because we should be healthy. Palmer has looked very bad actually, its shocking. Hes been inaccurate and hesitates a lot. Chris Perry……..he doesn’t worry me at all. Harrison should make him fumble it 2 or 3 times. The only danger is T.J. Imadouchemenzadah, though McFadden should give him a battle (I expect Ike will still match up against C.J. simply because of the speed factor). I look forward the our sack duo going against their o-line.

The Giants – I expect all “experts” to pick the Giants in this one and rightfully so, but for some unexplainable reason…..like you guys, am not all that worried about it. I’m still not sold on Eli, he isn’t bad but he hasn’t faced and dangerous secondaries really. The Redskins have a good secondary but thats about it, I wouldn’t label them as elite which is how our secondary is looking. Jacobs scares, as he does to everyone, but we got some big d-lineman and their lineman he has faced so far typically tend to be more pass rush oriented (meaning they are smaller). I do expect our sack attack to struggle but our offense should flourish (assuming Bruce doesn’t screw it up, and thats a big if). Their D-line is good but it lost its two top players from last year, their linebackers are good but if make pierce a non factor then there’s no one else to worry about, and their secondary isn’t all that physical or overly talented. Its a decent secondary but has many weaknesses. I think we match up well against them.

Redskins – this one does scare me……they are hot and are playing like a team. As already mentioned though, if we can take out their running game (something we do every game) then Campbell will have to beat us, and I am comfortable with that.

Chargers – here is an example of a talented team that just can’t put it together. We typically do well against the Chargers so I am not all that worried. Tomlinson usually struggles against us. Gates is the x-factor as he tends to be and I’m not sure how we can stop him as TE’s do well against us. The fact of the matter with this game though is that we don’t know what is gonna happen………this is a very talented team but tends to always play down to their opponent (probably Norv’s fault, I have little faith in him). Theres no telling what will happen.

- The Bengals “have been playing better” while going 0-5. It sounds like people are content if they are close enough to blow the game at the end. Even if they do play tough, you know they’ll fold.

- If we can avoid a Philly-type game against the Giants, we should win it. A couple draws and quick slants early and they’ll have to back off the dogs and play coverage. Since they can’t cover anyone, we’ll destroy them if they back off. I’m just glad we don’t have to see Colon try to block Strahan.

- The Redskins could be interesting. I can’t see them running on us, but they ran all over Philly. I can see their short passing game devastating us, though. ARE, Moss, and Cooley are hard to cover because they’re good short but can still beat you deep. Their defense is good, but they get no pressure on anyone, so we’ll be able to move the ball. This one should be a really good game.

- Good call BFV. The Colts. Who knows? They look really out of sync, and more and more they look like our 2006 year. They could be 0-4 or 4-0. We know the talent is there, and they’ve shown that they can put up points in a hurry, but they’ve also shown what they look like when they press. If we can get up early and do our best to deflate them, they’ll self-destruct.

- SD scares me in a similar way to the Colts. We know the talent is there with this bad team, so we could play them right as they start to hit their stride. Sproles is my big concern in this one. We’ve shut down LT before, but we rarely game-plan for backup RB’s. Sproles and Gates could beat our LB’s pretty bad if we’re not careful.

I think that the Redskins game will be the most difficult as someone stated they are playing like a “team”, and they have made VERY few mistakes this year. The offense has yet to turn the ball over,

Also I think it scares my because like a few of you I will be at the game, biting my nails in fear of a loss.

Great comments by all.
My only addition is that neither the Giants nor the Redskins play a tough opponent before playing us – unless you count the Browns, which have thus far not shown themselves worthy.

Giants play:
@Cleveland
San Francisco

Skins play:
St. Louis
Cleveland
@Detroit.

I think both of these teams will be looking forward to Steelers as a way of testing their mettle outside the division.

First of all, let me say that this is one of, if not the best site on SB that I’ve frequented so far.

With that said, I honestly, believe that with the defenses that you will face from the NFC East will cause you much more problems than is admitted. This team was beat by the Eagles, and that was without Brian Westbrook most of the game. With the way Dallas, Wash., and NY on the horizon, and the Colts and Bolts I see you guys coming away 3-3 at best and 2-4 at worst.

Now, that doesn’t mean I don’t want you to win. Because frankly we are going to need you to win the divison having lost the tie breaker to you.

BTW, great win great game, and BIG BEN is CLASS ACT and BIG TIME player.