NFL Week 7 Preview-Late and Sunday Night

The late Sunday games should create an extension from the excitment from the early games with the Sunday night game potentially providing an aerial show.

Buffalo (2-4) @ Carolina (2-3)

Bills: QB Ryan Fitzpatrick will start instead of Trent Edwards (concussion). The one player that could benefit is WR Lee Evans. Evans never really seemed to be on the same page as Edwards. But Fitzpatrick is not a wizard through the air. All you have to do is look at Fitzpatrick's numbers last year at Cincinnati. The tandem of RBs Marshawn Lynch and Fred Jackson should provide the bulk of the Bills offense as the Panthers offer little resistence against the run (29th). The same is true for the Bills defense as they rank dead last (32nd) against the run and Carolina has a great tandem of their own. Oh, they can stop the pass though I don't expect Buffalo's defense to have to defend the pass that much.

Panthers: QB Jake Delhomme hasn't played well this year, yet the Panthers can be a .500 team with a win this week. RBs DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart (left) are more than willing to pick up the slack for the passing game. Speaking of the passing game, WR Steve Smith says he no longer feels relevant to the Carolina offense. This isn't the game where Smith could again feel relevant as the Bills boast the 4th best passing defense. Carolina is no slouch in defending the pass either as they are 2nd. But can their run defense hold up against Buffalo? Whoever stops the run will win this game.

New York Jets (3-3) @ Oakland (2-4)

Jets: How far can rookie QB Mark Sanchez bounce back from his most disastrous performance as a pro? He can't be slouching on the sidelines and show that negative body language. And now he gets  shot at the Raiders. Oakland may not be the best place to go as east coast teams always have problems in Oakland and the Black Hole. RB Thomas Jones ripped throught the Bills for over 200 yards rushing last week. For the Jets to win, Jones will need a repeat performance. But Sanchez needs toput the last three weeks behind him. The defense has performed well so you cannot look at that side of the ball. The offense will win this game for the Jets.

Raiders: Do you think that DE Richard Seymour want to take his statement about the Raiders making the playoffs back? If Oakland is going to have his back. significant improvement must be made on both sides of the ball. The offense is ranked last (32nd) and the defense is ranked 26th. On the offense, they're last in passing and 28th in rushing. The running attack was supposed to be a strength of the Raiders. Plus, you constantly hear talk of QB JaMarcus Russell not progressing. Sure looks that way. The defense is decent against the pass (16th) but terrible against the run (28th). Look, when you can only manage 10.3 points a game, you're lucky to be 2-4. But last week showed us that the Raiders do have grit. Sometimes, that's enough.

Atlanta (4-1) @ Dallas (3-2)

Falcons: Atlanta survived a late scare and pulled off a win against the Bears last week. Now, they will visit the lavish home of the Cowboys. I sincerely doubt that sight will affect QB Matt Ryan. For only being in his second year, Ryan shows a poise well beyond his years. And look for Ryan to look to his newest weapon, TE Tony Gonzalez (right). Dallas cannot defense the pass, and Ryan is banking on that trend to continue. The pass just may open up enough for RB Michael Turner to rturn o hs '08 form. Turner has struggled this season, but Ryan, Gonzalez, and WR Roddy White have picked him up. The defense, again, exhibited a "bend but don't break" mentality. That's a trend that cannot hold o form this week as the Cowboys will exploit that.

Cowboys: Hey, QB Tony Romo. Here's your shot. Win an important game. The numbers all appear to be in the Cowboys favor (#2 offense v. #24 defense). Romo will most likely be missing WR Roy Williams and RB Felix Jones, but he will get RB Marion Barber back on the field. You can't doubt that the Cowboys have the talent. It's getting all that talent to perform as a unit. Kind of reminds me of the Chargers. What scares me is the Dallas defense. This unit has not come close to performing to the level it did last year. LB DeMarcus Ware returns and that could give the Cowboys more of a pass rush. They need it as Dallas only has 10 sacks so far this season. Get to Matt Ryan, you might just win a game.

New Orleans (5-0) @ Miami (2-3)

Saints: The whole world witnessed last week what a nightmare the Saints offense can give opposing defensive coordinators. They putup 48 points on the #1 ranked defense of the New Yourk Giants. But New Orleans is not only doing it with the pass, they can run and they can defend! QB Drew Brees and his selection of receivers is well publicized. It's the running game with Pierre Thomas, Mike Bell, and Reggie Bush that help make the Saints the best offense in the league. And that defense? 9th ranked. And while the DOlphins can run, the Saints are 5th against the run. Which will break first? Reggie Bush has been in the Wildcat during practice to help out the D. That could prove to be mst valuable.

Dolphins: Will the Wildcat prevail? Maybe the better question to ask is will QB Chad Henne have a breakthrough game? If he can do that this week, the Dolphins will look more like the playoff team from a year ago. We know RBs Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams can produce, but the passing game must step forward and relieve some pressure off the running attack. And the Dolphins defense must find a way to disrupt Saints QB Drew Brees and that vaunted passing game. But even if you slow down that passing game, the rush will get you. It may be too much offense for the Dolphins to stop. A lot of people are picking the Fins in this one. I'm not so sure.

Chicago (3-2) @ Cincinnati (4-2)

Bears: One thing that QB Jay Cutler must do is avoid red zone turnovers. The Bengals eat that stuff up. Maybe having a rushing attack and RB Matt Forte performing like last year would take so much pressure off Cutler. Forte has not been anything close to what he ws in his rookie campaign of last season. Cutler is a rich man due to his contract extension, so now's the time to show he's worth not only the trade, but the bucks. Cutler has found use of his receivers and TE Greg Olsen. The defense was dealt a couple of blows with LB Pisa Tinoisamoa out for the year and DT Tommie Harris doubtful for the game. There's a hole up the middle the Bears must close. Fill the hole and you can stop the Bengals running game. Just don't have a lead with 1:30 on the clock. You're as good as losing if that happens.

Bengals: Just when you want to believe in Marvin Lewis (left) and the Bengals, they lay a stinker. But hardened Bengals fans are accustommed to that feeling. RB Cedric Benson sorely wants a shot at his former team. Benson revealed that the Bears were basically trying to blackball him from playing again, going so far as to say that the Bengals told him (Benson) of such "tactics". Nothing like a good verbal fight. Benson was also slowed by a weak Houston rush defense last week, and the Bears defend the run better. Missing Harris and Tinoisamoa will create a void in the middle of the Bears defense that the Bengals can exploit. Will the defense be able to get pressure on Bears QB Jay Cutler without DE Antwan Odom? They better if they want to win because the Bengals are only 28th against the pass, a fact that you know is in Cutler's mind.

Arizona (3-2) @ New York Giants (5-1)

Sunday Night

Cardinals: Arizona went into Seattle last week and handed the Seahawks a major shock. The Cards stiffled the Seattle offense and left town with a 27-3 victory. Can the #1 ranked run defense do the same to the Giants and the #5 rush offense? What will happen when the Cards D is defending the pass? Major concern. Arizona is next to last (31st) in pass defense and the Giants are #11 in passing. The Cards are not known for their defense, but it's not a bad unit. Getting pressure on QB Eli Manning will be critical if the Cards are to pull off a road win. And the offensive line must keep that explosive front four off QB Kurt Warner. The Cards cannot run, so they must resort to that famed passing attack to win.

Giants: The offense scored 27, but the defense permitted 48. The result was the first loss of the season. The defense will have a chance to redeem itself this week. Arizona cannot build any form of a running game, so the defensive line can pin their ears back and go after QB Kurt Warner. When Warner gets pressure, he's prone to turnovers. Waner will go after a banged up Giants secondary, so pressure is mandatory. The offense should be all right, but the offensive line must create running lanes for RBs Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw (right). If the Giants can get 100+ yards on the ground, this game should be in the bag. They will have created offensive balance and the Cards won't know what hit them now that the Giants have a good pass attack.

Tomorrow, we'll look at the Monday Nighter with the Eagles and Redskins and the soap opera that's become the Washington franchise. We'll also recap Sunday's games.