SUNDAY (1PM): All Games - PART I

GAME CHART
5-6-1 (1-3-1 away)	stl		@		BUF		5-7 (3-2 home)
avg DEF ppg		22.2		23.1		avg OFF ppg
avg OFF ppg		18.4		28.1		avg DEF ppg
pass DEF rank		12th		26th		pass OFF rank
rush DEF rank		13th		4th		rush OFF rank
pass OFF rank		22nd		13th		pass DEF rank
rush OFF rank		14th		30th		rush DEF rank
defensive formation		4-3		4-3		defensive formation
TE McNeill (OUT)		key injuries				T Hairston (OUT) DE Kelsay (OUT) C Wood (OUT) DE Anderson (OUT)
FORECAST
Cloudy
STAT ALERT
-          STL has only 4 wins in their last 20 road games -          BUF DE Williams has 5 sacks in his last 3 games -          STL only road win this season was vs division opponent ARI -          STL WR Givens is averaging 100+ REC yds per game his last 2 outings
ANALYST INSIGHT
I think BUF DE Williams will bring the pressure to STL QB Sam Bradford, and the Bills will win – M.D. SMITH Former STL Rams QB Ryan Fitzpatrick will quarterback Buffalo to a narrow victory – V. IYER
FINAL PREDICTION
BUF		SU		vs SPR		BUF (-3.0)
Over the course of their last three outings, the Bills defence has shored itself up quite a bit with the largest NFL off-season free agent signing, DE Mario Williams, leading the way for Buffalo. The Rams, for all their defensive improvements and near .500 record on the season, still struggle mightily when away from Edward Jones Dome. Expect STL to hang around in this contest. However, with both contests in this showdown vying for their respective playoff lives, the homer club with comparable statistics is a much likelier bet to post a marginal win in this spot.

GAME CHART
11-1 (5-1 away)	atl		@		CAR		3-9 (1-5 home)
avg DEF ppg		19.1		19.6		avg OFF ppg
avg OFF ppg		26.4		24.3		avg DEF ppg
pass DEF rank		15th		16th		pass OFF rank
rush DEF rank		20th		16th		rush OFF rank
pass OFF rank		4th		8th		pass DEF rank
rush OFF rank		28th		25th		rush DEF rank
defensive formation		4-3		4-3		defensive formation
none		key injuries				RB Stewart (DOUB)
FORECAST
Cloudy with a chance of showers
STAT ALERT
-          ATL has played only 1 team with a current record above .500 -          ATL has won 5 straight meetings vs CAR and have scored 30+ in all those outings
ANALYST INSIGHT
Carolina loses often but stays close in most – R. THE HANDLE The Falcons are playing for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, and the Panthers are playing for the first overall pick in the draft. Advantage Atlanta – M.D. SMITH Look for Atlanta’s defense and running game to put together another strong effort – V. IYER
FINAL PREDICTION
ATL		SU		vs SPR		CAR (+5.5)
The Panthers hold the edge in this matchup. With comparable statistics, home field advantage and an in depth knowledge of their division foes playbook, CAR most assuredly will keep the final score tally of their Sunday showdown in Charlotte with the Dirty Birds razor thin. That said, when your club has lost 2/3 of its games on the season and is staring down an opponent who is fighting to sew up a first round playoff bye, don’t expect much to change in terms of winners/losers with regards to this head-to-head.

GAME CHART
6-6 (3-3 away)	dal		@		CIN		7-5 (3-3 home)
avg DEF ppg		24.6		25.2		avg OFF ppg
avg OFF ppg		23.3		21.7		avg DEF ppg
pass DEF rank		10th		13th		pass OFF rank
rush DEF rank		17th		13th		rush OFF rank
pass OFF rank		2nd		11th		pass DEF rank
rush OFF rank		30th		11th		rush DEF rank
defensive formation		3-4		4-3		defensive formation
DT Ratliff (OUT) S Peprah (OUT) CB Scandrick (OUT)		key injuries				CB Kirkpatrick (OUT) K Nugent (DOUB) RB Peerman (DOUB)
FORECAST
Cloudy with a chance of showers
STAT ALERT
-          CIN riding four game win streak; three of those wins have come against clubs that are a combined 9-27 for the season -          DAL QB Romo has 10 TD, 2 INT in his past 5 outings -          ¾ of DAL games have been decided by a TD or less this season
ANALYST INSIGHT
With a game under his belt and the Cowboys still in the playoff picture, DAL QB Romo and Co. can steal this one – R. THE HANDLE This is a close, competitive game, and I have a funny feeling the Bengals’ superior special teams could turn out to make the difference – M.D. SMITH The Bengals are moving in the right direction, and it’ll stay that way at least until they have to play the Steelers or Ravens again – M. FLORIO Cincinnati has the better record and better all-around team – V. IYER All it's going to take is a few big plays from the Bengals passing attack to put them over the top in this one – J. REED
FINAL PREDICTION
CIN		SU		vs SPR		DAL (+3.0)
Nasty ‘Nati continues to disprove the assertions of their early season detractors, their current four game win streak and near top-10 ranking in both NFL offensive/defensive standings prime indicators of such. DAL has continuously struggled throughout their 2012-13 campaign and can never be depended upon to show up for any one match. However, underachiever or not, the ‘Boys still have kept ¾ of their final score tallies this season within a TD or less and considering QB Romo is playing some of the football of his career at the moment, expect Big D to bring the big guns this Sunday is Cincy.

GAME CHART
2-10 (1-4 away)	kc		@		CLE		4-8 (3-3 home)
avg DEF ppg		26.8		19.1		avg OFF ppg
avg OFF ppg		15.7		22.1		avg DEF ppg
pass DEF rank		9th		20th		pass OFF rank
rush DEF rank		26th		25th		rush OFF rank
pass OFF rank		29th		24th		pass DEF rank
rush OFF rank		5th		16th		rush DEF rank
defensive formation		3-4		4-3		defensive formation
S Elam (DOUB)		key injuries				none
FORECAST
Cloudy with a chance of showers
STAT ALERT
N/A
ANALYST INSIGHT
The Browns will win an ugly one here – M.D. SMITH The Cleveland Browns have strung together two wins in a row, and there's a lot to like about this young, talented team – J. REED The Browns should never be spotted seven points – D. BILICKI
FINAL PREDICTION
CLE		SU		vs SPR		KC (+7.0)
The Browns have played some inspired football of late. Having strung together two wins in a row, something they haven’t accomplished in over a calendar year, CLE seems primed to extend their win streak to three straight matchups this Sunday when they square off at home against the all-around porous KC Chiefs. CLEs offence is still a work in progress and their defence is prone to allowing big plays to opposition. KCs lone scoring attack this season has been via explosive rushes courtesy RB Jamal Charles, a factor which should no doubt keep the Chiefs within striking distance of the Brownies throughout this matchup. However, with the CLE rush defence steadily improving as the weeks’ progress, expect RB Charles to have to work for his yardage in this spot all afternoon and for the Dog Pound to howl in excitement when KC QB (and former CLE first-round pick) Brady Quinn throws more than one INT to a highly underrated CLE secondary.

GAME CHART
4-8 (2-4 away)	ten		@		IND		8-4 (5-1 home)
avg DEF ppg		29.9		22.1		avg OFF ppg
avg OFF ppg		20.7		25.5		avg DEF ppg
pass DEF rank		26th		5th		pass OFF rank
rush DEF rank		27th		18th		rush OFF rank
pass OFF rank		19th		20th		pass DEF rank
rush OFF rank		19th		22nd		rush DEF rank
defensive formation		4-3		3-4		defensive formation
WR Williams (OUT) LB McCarthy (OUT)		key injuries				S Zbikowski (OUT) G Reitz (OUT) RB Brown (OUT)
FORECAST
N/A
STAT ALERT
-          IND defence allowing only 19.2 ppg to visitors at Lucas Oil Stadium -          IND QB Luck was top-scoring player in NFL for week 13
ANALYST INSIGHT
I have major doubts about the ability of the Colts’ defense to keep them in big games down the stretch. The Titans, however, don’t have much offensive firepower, and so I’ll take the Colts in a close one – M.D. SMITH While IND QB Luck is starting to find his comfort zone on the road, he has been excellent at home all through his fine rookie season – V. IYER I'm expecting the Colts to win by more than one touchdown here – J. REED
FINAL PREDICTION
IND		SU		vs SPR		TEN (+7.0)
The Colts have enjoyed some surprising success this season considering they are coming off a two-win campaign and are currently fielding a rookie QB. That said, their rookie QB just also happens to be Andrew Luck, the #1 pick of this past draft class and the current forerunner for Rookie of the Year honours. TEN QB Jake Locker is no slouch himself, playing in his second NFL season and, despite injury off-time and minimal wideout help, posting some decent numbers for the Titans while at it. INDs defence has been shaky at best this 2012-13 and, considering the inexperience of Colts in crucial positions and the fact this is a division game, don’t be surprised if this matchup comes down to the final moments with a swing win deciding the fate for either squad.

GAME CHART
5-7 (2-3 away)	nyj		@		JAX		2-10 (1-5 home)
avg DEF ppg		24.7		17.2		avg OFF ppg
avg OFF ppg		19.0		28.5		avg DEF ppg
pass DEF rank		4th		24th		pass OFF rank
rush DEF rank		29th		32nd		rush OFF rank
pass OFF rank		28th		28th		pass DEF rank
rush OFF rank		12th		31st		rush DEF rank
defensive formation		4-3		4-3		defensive formation
DT Harrison (DOUB) WR Gates (OUT)		key injuries				CB Ross (OUT) DE Selvie (OUT) RB Jennings (OUT) WR Shorts (OUT) C Brewster (OUT) RB Jones-Drew (OUT)
FORECAST
Cloudy with a chance of showers
STAT ALERT
-          JAX defence ranks 30th in ppg allowed, 31st in 1st downs allowed, 31st in ypg allowed
ANALYST INSIGHT
There's a reason this lousy Jets squad is favoured here – R. THE HANDLE I’m not sold on Sanchez, but I am sold on the Jets’ ability to shut down the Jaguars’ offense – M.D. SMITH The Jets have the defense to shut down the Jacksonville offense – M. FLORIO Injuries will make it tough for the Jags on Sunday – V. IYER The Jacksonville Jaguars struggled mightily to move the ball against the Buffalo Bills on the road last week, they'll be able to run the ball down the throat of the porous defense of the New York Jets this week at home – J. REED
FINAL PREDICTION
JAX		SU		vs SPR		JAX (+3.0)
The Jets have no excuse for not winning this game. Nevertheless, Jacksonville is much likelier the victor in this spot, star WR Shorts in the lineup or not for the Jags, simply due to the fact they will want the win more. NYJ has problems all over the field (save their pass defence which still ranks top-5 in the NFL despite the loss of Pro Bowl CB Darelle Revis) particularly at the QB position where the owner and fans of the struggling ball club would rather a 7th-round backup start this week at QB over a top-5 pick from three seasons prior, Mark Sanchez. If it weren’t for the in-fighting and disenchantment that their playoff hopes for the 2012-13 campaign have been all but dashed, NY would seem the proper pick for the win this weekend at EverBank Field. However, that is not the case and, with the play of veteran QB Chad Henne instilling fluidity in the Jags offence of late, expect the Jungle Cats to crash and burn the J-E-T-S this weekend in Florida.