Worth the electricity
New Orleans at Carolina
11 a.m., Panthers by 7
Last regular-season meeting: Saints won 21-18 at Carolina on Jan. 2, 2005.
Is there anybody outside of North Carolina who won’t be pulling for the Saints in this one? … N’Awlins coming off a thoroughly average season – 8-8 straight up, 8-8 vs. the spread. … Panthers, meanwhile, were 9-6-1 vs. the number. … Saints won final four in ’04, but lost out on playoff tiebreakers. … NFL coach on the hottest seat? Before the events of the past two weeks, it was Saints’ Jim Haslett, who was rumored to be gone when team was 4-8 last season. … Did you know? Saints’ Joe Horn finished third in the Not For Long in catches (94) and ranked second in receiving yardage (1,399). … Panthers averaged 28.9 points in final eight games of ’04, winning six. … The best defensive player in the league? What, you mean other than Julius Peppers? Dude had 11 sacks, 4 forced fumbles and 2 INTs last season.
Prediction: Panthers 31, Saints 24
Tennessee at Pittsburgh
11 a.m., Steelers by 7
Last regular-season meeting: Titans won 30-13 at Pittsburgh on Sept. 28, 2003.
If you think the Steelers are going to win 15 again, Mike Tice has some Super Bowl tickets he could let you have for cheap. … Note on series between teams: Winning team has scored 30-plus points in each of the past five meetings. … Pitt TB Jerome Bettis will sit out this one with a bum calf. That leaves bulk of ball carrying duties for Willie Parker. … Most underrated player in the league? Stillers LB James Farrior has to be on the list. He had 118 tackles, five forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries in ’04. … Titans have won nine of past 11 in the series. … Tenn WR Drew Bennett coming off career year: 80 catches, 1,247 yards, 11 TDs. … Ex-Buffs TB Chris Brown averaged 4.9 yards per for Titans last season, best among NFL RBs with 200-plus carries.
Prediction: Titans 20, Steelers 16
Arizona at New York Giants
2:15 p.m., Giants by 3
Last regular-season meeting: Cardinals won 17-14 at Tempe, Ariz., on Nov. 14, 2004.
Don’t look now, but Dead Birds could be for real. … Kurt Warner returns to the Meadowlands, where he won’t have to run for his life behind the Giants’ lousy oh line. … Ex-Bronco Bertrand Berry, now with Cards, finished second in the NFL with 14 1/2 sacks in ’04. … Rookie J.J. Arrington expected to start at TB for ‘Zona. … Giants’ Eli Manning, who started final seven games in ’04, looking to take quantum leap from rookie year. … WR Plaxico Burress makes debut with G-Men after finishing second in the loop – to Ashley Lelie – at 19.9 yards a catch. … Just wondering: Is there a better set of young wideouts than Cards’ Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald?
Prediction: Cardinals 24, Giants 20
Dallas at San Diego
2:15 p.m., KDVR-31, Chargers by 4 1/2
Last regular-season meeting: Chargers won 32-21 at Dallas on Sept. 23, 2001.
Cowboys outscored by an average of a TD – 25.3-18.3 – last season. … Look for Dallas D to be improved with rookies DeMarcus Ware and Marcus Spears. … Chargers aiming for first back-to-back AFC West titles since 1980-81. … Dallas minus-15 in turnovers last season, San Diego plus-15. … Chahguhs need to clean up at home because they have the nastiest road schedule in the league – at New England, Philly and Indy, among other dead ends. … All-world TB LaDainian Tomlinson has at least one rushing TD in 12 straight, one away from NFL record held by John Riggins and George Rogers. … San Diego LB Donnie Edwards last season: 151 tackles, five INTs. … Chargers TE Antonio Gates won’t play in this one after being suspended amid contract spat. … Drew Bledsoe makes his Cowboys debut. But then you knew that.
Prediction: Chargers 15, Cowboys 13
Beats cleaining the garage
Houston at Buffalo
11 a.m., Bills by 4 1/2
Last regular-season meeting: Texans won 12-10 at Buffalo on Nov. 16, 2003.
Texans’ offense stunk it up during the Meaningless Exhibition Season, scoring 56 points in four games, fewest in the AFC. … Bills have several righteous dudes on D, especially LBs London Fletcher and Takeo Spikes. Spikes in ’04: 99 tackles, four forced fumbles, three sacks, 6 1/2 tackles for losses and five INTs. … How tough was Buffalo D? Opponents ran for, count ’em, six TDs. … Friendly wagerers, take note: Bills were 11-5 against the spread last season, Texans 8-7-1. … Hugheston’s Domanick Davis ran for 13 TDs in ’04, including an active streak – second-longest in the bid’ness – of nine games with at least one. … Texans CB Phillip Buchanon has seven return TDs – four INTs, three punts – since ’02.
Prediction: Bills 26, Texans 17
Seattle at Jacksonville
11 a.m., Jaguars by 3
Last regular-season meeting: Seahawks won 24-15 at Seattle on Oct. 7, 2001.
Seahawks were plus-8 in turnovers, second-best in NFC in ’04, and were penalized a league-low 79 times. So why didn’t they finish better than 9-7? The pass rush was non-existent at times, and their LB corps was shaky at best. Seattle will have all new starters at LB, including former Texan Jamie Sharper. … Jags have won seven of their past nine openers. … Seahawks jumped to 3-0 start in ’04, only to finish 6-7. … Jags’ oh could use some work. To wit: They were the only AFC team not to score 30 points in a game last season. … Mike Holmgren 3-0 in his career vs. Jags coach Jack Del Rio. … Jags looking at trouble if they don’t win this one. Their next two are at Indy and the Jets. … Bettor’s edge: Jags were 10-6 vs. the point spread last season, Seattle 5-11.
Prediction: Seahawks 24, Jaguars 23
Tampa Bay at Minnesota
11 a.m., KDVR-31, Vikings by 6
Last regular-season meeting: Bucs won 38-24 at Tampa on Nov. 3, 2002.
Trivia time: Which QB led the NFL in completion percentage last season? Answer in tomorrow’s paper. OK, OK, we’ll tell you now. It was none other than Brian Griese at 69.3 percent. … Michael Clayton, the WR the Broncos had hoped to draft in ’04, emerged as a star as a rookie, catching 80 balls for 1,193 yards. He also hit pay dirt seven times, now that we’re talking in cliches. … Best nickname in the NFL? Bucs rookie Cadillac Williams has to be on the short list. Not only that, dude can play a little. … Minnie D-line improved, not that that’s saying much. Vikes allowed 4.6 yards a carry in ’04. … Just so you know: Daunte Culpepper averaged 322 passing yards last season with Randy Moss in the lineup. Without Moss, now with the Raiders, he averaged 236.
Prediction: Vikings 30, Bucs 23
Green Bay at Detroit
2:15 p.m., Lions by 3
Last regular-season meeting: Packers won 16-13 at Green Bay on Dec. 12, 2004.
Points spread opened at 1 1/2 and immediately shot up to 3. Moral to the story: Vegas wiseguys looking for Lions to roll. … Packers making up their D-line as they go along. They finally bit the bullet and dumped underachieving DT Cletidus Hunt late in the preseason. … Lions coach Steve Mariucci is 2-9 in his career against Packers. … Pack minus-14 in turnovers last season, Lions plus-4. … Brett Favre needs 266 passing yards to join Dan Marino (61,361) and John Elway (51,475) as the only NFL QBs with 50,000 plus. … Lions’ Kevin Jones led NFL rookies with 1,133 rushing yards in ’04. Sophomore jinx? Don’t count on it. … Lions hoping their talented young WRs open the field for new TE Marcus Pollard, who has posted 40-plus catches, six-plus TDs in three of past four seasons.
Prediction: Lions 27, Packers 23
Get a life, Bubba
Cincinnati at Cleveland
11 a.m., Bengals by 3 1/2
Last regular-season meeting: Bengals won 58-48 at Cincinnati on Nov. 28, 2004.
Check out the score of teams’ last game, when they had the over covered midway through the national anthem. … Browns won teams’ meeting at Cleveland 34-17. … Game marks head coaching debut for Brownies’ Romeo Crennel, whose players tend to play like Juliet. … Bengals 16-16 under Marvin Lewis. If that doesn’t seem all that impressive, consider this: They were 8-24 in the two seasons before his arrival. … Browns’ problem in ’04 was … oh, never mind, we don’t have enough room on the page to go there. This much is certain: Their minus-12 turnover ranking certainly didn’t help the cause.
Prediction: Bengals 22, Browns 16
Chicago at Washington
11 a.m., Redskins by 6
Last regular-season meeting: Redskins won 13-10 at Chicago on Oct. 17, 2004.
Washington trying to resurrect an offense that went first 11 games of ’04 without scoring 20 points. … OK, so the Bears finished 5-11 last season. Their boss still holds the league record for most victories by a coach named Lovie. … Fourth-rounder Kyle Orton gets the QB job by default for Bears, who lost starter Rex Grossman to a broken ankle. Orton in the preseason: 29-of-46, 469 yards, two TDs, three INTs. … Bears hoping for lift from healthy LB Brian Urlacher (seven missed starts in ’04) and S Mike Brown (14). LB LaVar Arrington, meanwhile, returns to ‘Skins after missing most of last season.
Prediction: Redskins 16, Bears 9
St. Louis at San Francisco
2:15 p.m., Rams by 5 1/2
Last regular-season meeting: Rams won 16-6 at St. Louis on Dec. 5, 2004.
Game marks NFL head coaching debut for Niners’ Mike Nolan. Which reminds us. Mike, you sure you want to do this? … Niners are gawdawful, having been outscored by an average of 12 points per in ’04. … San Fran allowed a league-worst 28.3 points a game last season. Now for the unbelievable part: Niners didn’t address D until the fifth round of the draft. By the end of the two days, they had used three of their 11 picks on defensive players.
Prediction: Rams 34, Niners 20
