SprungOnSports’ Week Seven Sunday Matchup Madness ATS

Houston (+3) over San Francisco- The Texans are third in the NFL in passing, and the way the Niners got torched by Atlanta two weeks ago before their bye is certainly a red flag. But San Francisco should get Frank Gore back from injury, the defense is fresh and ready coming off a bye and Mike Singletary will have them amped up and ready to go. Unfortunately for the 49ers, Matt Schaub is on an absolute tear, Steve Slaton is heating up and the Texans offense looks like it will not be stopped this Sunday against the 49ers. I don’t think the Niners can keep up on offense so look for the Texans to win by at least a field goal.
Green Bay (+9) over Cleveland- The Browns are 23^rd against the pass and Aaron Rodgers should have a great day at the Dawg Pound, where it will probably be another dog day afternoon for Derek Anderson, who has completed 11 passes combined in is last two games. The Packers defense stepped up to shut Detroit out last week and should have similar success against the Browns, especially with Jerome Harrison and 10 other players still trying to get over a flu bug that has hit the team. After Green Bay rolls into town, the flu will be the least of their problems.
San Diego (+4.5) over Kansas City- After getting humbled at home by Denver on Monday, the Chargers know that they need to win this game against the Chiefs, still on a high after beating Washington for their first win. If you haven’t noticed, the Bolts offense is just a little more explosive than the Redskins’. Phillip Rivers should have a tremendous effort out there at Arrowhead, and the defensive line should be able to stop Larry Johnson and the running game and get pressure on Matt Cassel. San Diego did allow two TD’s on special teams last week to Eddie Royal, so watch out for a couple of big changing plays in that department, but look for the Chargers to come out and play like a desperate team.
Indianapolis (+13) over St. Louis- The Rams are 27^th against the pass. Meet Peyton Manning, the league’s best player. The same Edward Jones Dome that housed The Greatest Show On Turf will get an encore performance from an aerial attack as good as the Rams from a decade ago. Steven Jackson could have a good game for St. Louis but Indianapolis is quietly a top 10 team against the pass and will get a good deal of pressure on Marc Bulger and cruise to remain undefeated.
Pittsburgh (+4.5) over Minnesota- Minnesota has outscored their opponents 45-13 in the first quarter while Pittsburgh has outscored the opposition 38-6 in the first quarter. Needless to say, the first 15 minutes will be huge. Adrian Peterson really set the tone last week and could do so again if the Steelers aren’t on their game right away. The Vikings went off to a great start against Baltimore last week, but allowed Joe Flacco and company to come back, and there’s no better comeback kid than Ben Roethlisberger. Brett Favre will be playing in a hostile environment with the Terrible Towels and will make mistakes. And with Antoine Winfield out for Minnesota, NFL leading WR Hines Ward will have a big game along with Santonio Holmes and Heath Miller. The Vikings will need to get a tremendous amount of pressure to win this one. 
New England (+14.5) over Tampa Bay –After a 59 point pounding in Foxboro’s winter wonderland last week, Tom Brady and the Patriots will head across the pond to play the Bucs, who will gladly roll over and play the role of the helpless winless team at Wembley Stadium. It’s a shame former Buc Joey Galloway was released before the game, but New England will have a great game in every facet. In the rotating role that is Patriots RB, it’s Laurence Maroney’s time to shine and he should have a tremendous game against Tampa with the help of the law firm of Ben-Jarvus Green-Ellis. Josh Johnson will want his performance to be for British eyes only after a likely bad performance, and Caddy Willams will have to play amazing for the Bucs to have a shot.
NY Jets over Oakland (Raiders cover the six point spread) – There are some things I just can’t explain, like the Jets playing like the Raiders in a terribly embarrassing loss to Buffalo and the Raiders defense played like the Jets in a win over Philadelphia. I can’t imagine a repeat performance from the Raiders offense and Zach Miller and JaMarcus Russell still doesn’t have Darren McFadden, but they’re going to do enough to stay in the game and attack a New York run defense that will be weak until they can find a way to minimize the crippling loss of Kris Jenkins for the season. Mark Sanchez showed that he’s a rookie last week, throwing five picks against the Bills and maybe going back to Cali like Biggie and Tupac said will do him some good, but Oakland’s defense is playing with confidence after holding the Eagles to nine points. What Philadelphia and the Jets both did wrong was abandoning the run late last week and if Gang Green keeps running the ball to protect Sanchez’s lack of experience, the Jets should win a nail biter and avoid the deep, dark trap of the Raiders’ black hole.
Carolina (+7) over Buffalo- The Bills gave up over 300 yards rushing last week in a win over the Jets. For DeAngelo Williams and Johnathan Stewart, October 25 will seem like a similarly numbered day in December as they should run circles around the Buffalo defense. Steve Smith has been bitching and complaining about the lack of targets and should continue to be shunned as the focus should remain on the ground attack, which also limits how many mistakes Jake Delhomme makes against a team that had six picks last week. Even if Trent Edwards plays a week after suffering a concussion, he should be limited in what he can do, and Ryan Fitzpatrick probably can’t win another game especially since the defense behind him forced so many turnovers. Look for TO to continue to not be a factor in the Buffalo offense and for Carolina to get back to .500.
Chicago over Cincinnati- Cedric Benson finally gets to take his revenge out on the team that let him go. He’s third in the NFL in rushing and the Bengals are riding high to begin the season with a healthy Carson Palmer slinging it around. But the Bears are well equipped to deal with Cincy with the fifth ranked rush defense, and with Antwan Odom out, Jay Cutler will have plenty of time to throw the ball around against the 28^th ranked pass defense. As long as Cutler takes care of the ball, which is obviously far from a sure thing, the Bears should get a big road win.
Atlanta over Dallas- In a huge game for the Cowboys to keep up in the division and get a big conference win, many questions loom for Sunday’s game. How will Tony Romo fare against a good pass rush, or will the Cowboys rely on the run? How will Dallas use Miles Austin at WR and can they keep Patrick Crayton quiet? Dallas has nobody to cover Roddy White and Tony Gonzalez, and a solid pass rush is the only way they can throw Matt Ryan off his game. Michael Turner should remain limited but a win will come from the arm of Matt Ryan. Falcons for the upset on the road.
New Orleans (+6) over Miami- Miami will need to the clock in a big way and run it down the throats of the Saints and their fifth ranked defense, and they may be able to do that. But the key for the Dolphins is getting pressure on New Orleans and Drew Brees and they may be able to stop the run. But Miami will not be able to stop the pass, will get down early and force Chad Henne to beat them. And the Saints defense can force some turnovers themselves as they showed against the Jets and Giants. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Miami stays in this until the end, but New Orleans should win by a TD.
NY Giants (+7) over Arizona- New York was unable to get pressure against New Orleans last week and got buried by the Saints’ passing attack and will look to avoid the same fate against Arizona. Kurt Warner should be on his heels for a large part of the game and the Giants should be able to set the tone with the running game despite the Cardinals’ top ranked rush defense, which is likely a product of teams throwing on them so much. Eli Manning should have a good performance and the Giants should be able to get back on track.