NFL Week 11 Preview - Early Games, Part II

Here's the second part to the 1:00 previews. If you didn't catch Part I, you can go here and see it. Off to the games!

San Francisco (4-5) @ Green Bay (5-4)

49ers: Run, Frank, Run. Frank Gore (left), that is. It might be the Niners best shot for a road win. I say that not only because we all know Gore can, well, gore a defense, but QB Alex Smith will see a pair of crafty corners (Charles Woodson and Al Harris) on the other side of the ball. When Smith does throw, he usually looks for TE Vernon Davis. Davis leads all TE with 7 TD and he ranks in the top 10 in all other TE receiving categories. He's writing a Pro-Bowl worthy resume', that's for sure. But the 49ers will be without T Joe Staley for yet another week.

The Niners get most of their pub for being a defensive team, due in part because of head coach Mike Singletary. The D will not have the services of CB Nate Clements for another week so that will leave a larger then normal crack in the pass defense. A pass defense that has been expolited many times this season. You can't run on San Francisco (3rd against the run), but if you have a decent passing attack, you can move the ball on the Niners (29th v. the pass).

Packers: QB Aaron Rodgers, RB Ryan Grant, WRs Donald Driver and Greg Jennings. What more could the Packers need? Two things. One is protection for Rodgers. He's been sacked an NFL leading 41 times. The next closest is KC's Matt Cassel, 29 sacks. A healthy Jermichael Finley will also help. It's not that TE Donald Lee isn't doing his job, but Finley can stretch a defense with his raw talent. And Driver is 14th in receiving yards. And there's Grant. He's 10th in rushing.

The one area the Green Bay improved the most during the offseason was the defense as a whole. New DC Dom Capers has these guys, and all their youth, playing inspired football to the tune of 4th overall, 6th against the pass, 4th against the run, and 10th in scoring defense. And the Pack is healthy defensively. They weren't last week against Dallas and managhed to limit the Cowboys to a meaningless late 4th quarte score in a 17-7 win.

Buffalo (3-6) @ Jacksonville (5-4)

Bills: A busy week in Buffalo. New head coach. New starting quarterback. A line of "who's who" among former coahes the owner is considering bringing to Buffalo. First, Dick Jauron was fired as head coach and Perry Fewell, te Bills defensive coordinator, was promoted to interim head coach. Fewell's first move was to insert QB Ryan Fitzpatrick as the starter over Trent Edwards. The Bills offensive woes go even deeper with the struggling RB Marshawn Lynch and his 3.2 yards a carry. One step further. WR Lee Evans leads Buffalo in receptions...with 27 and this is the 10th game of the season.

The trouble in Buffalo isn't limited to just the offense. The defense hasn't been stopping opponents from running the ball (last). DT Marcus Stroud (knee) will be out and LB Keith Ellison (thigh) was placed on IR and is done for this season. What makes these losses appear even worse is the Bills oppnent, Jacksonville and RB Maurice Jones-Drew.

Jaguars: The last time we saw RB Maurice Jones-Drew (right), he was stopping short of the goal line in a Jags win over the Jets. He received a fair amount of criticism for the move even though he was instructed to do so. The critics were mostly fantasy owners (including MJD) who lost due to move. What could be a better sight than the NFL's worst run defense? Nothing if your MJD.

And the defense? They will be tested despite Bufalo's switch at QB. The key for a Jags win is can they contain Bills RB Fred Jackson? Jacksonville is 22nd against the run and Buffalo is 18th in rushing. If the Jags can stuff the run and make Buffalo have to throw, it should be a win.

Seattle (3-6) @ Minnesota (8-1)

Seahawks: QB Matthew Hasselbeck will need to be on his best behavior this week. No turnovers. And a hint of a running game will help, too. Seattle is 27th in rushing while the Vkings are 10th against the rush. RB Julius Jones (chest) will not play. The bulk of the running duties will fall to RB Justin Forsett (left) who filled in for Jones last week. And Forsett looked very good (17 carries for 123 yards and TD) in a 31-20 loss to Arizona. Forsett will be the key for Seattle. No pressure.

A stingier second half defense last week would've helped a bit. Arizona outscored the Seahawks 21-3. Getting pressure on the Vikes QB, you know, Brett Favre, will go a long way. We've not seen it yet this season, but Favre will get his "gunslinger mentality" at give the ball away. Seattle must hope that starts this week or their visit to Minnesota will be very unpleasant.

Vikings: Raise your hand if you thought QB Brett Favre would have the highest QB rating this far into the season. For those tat have their hands n the air, cold you lie a bit more. Tke the top rated QB and the league's best pure runner in RB Adrian Peterson and you have the most complete ffense in the NFL. I didn't say the best, the most complete. The Vikes are still going through a small amount of growing pains. Very small.

The Vikings defense has more sacks than anyone with 34. But did you know that Mnnesota is only 23rd against the pass and opposing QBs have a 90.3 rating against them (26th)? If that front four doesn't get to the QB, they are vulnerable. Getting CB Antoine Winfield back would help, but he is listed as doubtful due to a foot injury that has forced him to miss four straight games. The Vikes D must make Seattle's offense one-dimensional. If the line of Allen, Edwards, Williams and Williams are able to pin their ears back, then all bets are off.

New Orleans (9-0) @ Tampa Bay (1-8)

Saints: New Orleans skipped out of St.Louis with a win. A hard fought win. Now, there's another one-win team on the schedule. But the Saints must be careful of the Bucs. The last time Tampa Bay was at home, they beat Green Bay. Plus, this is a divisional game, so pride is also a motivating factor.

Here are some numbers that will have you awestruck. New Orleans has a total of 43 TD. Their opponent, 22. New Orleans has 3,835 passing yards. Opponents have 3,087. How about 1,380 rushing yards for the Saints while holding opponents to 1,038. Add a +6 turnover ratio and it's easy to see from a statistical standpoint why New Orleans is undefeated. And of those 43 TD, seven have been scored by the defense and one is by a kickoff return. They can score i a variety of ways.

Buccaneeers: QB Josh Freeman's (right) extremely brief NFL career has been good, and he could be 2-0 if not for a last second FG at Miami last week. The one thing that jumps out at you from the Dolphins loss is that Freeman was sacked four times. The Bucs O line is a good, solid unit and they are better than that effort shows. The line (T Jeremy Trueblood, G Devin Joseph, C Jeff Faine, G Jeremy Zuttah, T Donald Penn) must step up as the Saints will get after Freeman. The running game hasn't been exactly what Bucs fans expected. Time for the firm of Williams, Ward and Graham to play a role.

One thing you can say about Tampa Bay's defense, they can be porous against the run. Even with Dolphins RB Ronnie Brown beig injured, Miami managed 199 net rushing yards. Now we know why the Bucs are 31st against the run. Even if the Bucs can stop the run, there's the Saints passing attack.

Atlanta (5-4) @ New York Giants (5-4)

Falcons: Could thing be going any worse for Atlanta? RBs Michael Turner (doubtful-ankle) and Jerious Norwood (questionable-hip) most likell will not play. That leaves third year RB Jason Snelling. Snelling has only 37 carries this season. But the Falcons offense has sputtered due to inconsistent play from QB Matt Ryan. A small sample. Atlanta started out 4-1 and Ryan had 9 TD and 4 INT. The Falcons have dropped three of their last four and Ryan has 5 TD and 8 INT. Now, Ryan will be without his #1 and #2 RB. This game is on his shoulders.

But Ryan is by far the only culprit. The defense has to assume some blame, too. Over the last four games, the Falcons defense has allowed 29.3 points a game. The least number of points they surrendered was 17 to the Redskins. They're now breaking while they're bending.

Giants: A week off might be just the medicine for the Giants. For one thing, WR Steve Smith (left) needs another WR to help. Smith has 61 catches. Next is WR Mario Manningham with 34. I thought TE Kevin Boss would be more of a factor in the Giants passing game, but he only has 19 receptions. Get Boss more involved and the deep throws and the running attack will evolve. RBs Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw are as good as any 1-2 punch in the NFL. Don't forget that. People like to point to the younger Manning, but he needs help.

The defense may get a break this week as the Falcons will be minus RB Michael Turner. The front line will be able to go after QB Matt Ryan. The Giants defense, despite being the top ranked unit in the NFL, has received a bit of bad pub during the team's recent four game skid. The D received some good news this week. CB Aaron Ross should be able to play. That will shore up a depleted Giants secondary. The one place opposing teams were exploiting.

Tomorrow, it's the late games. Enjoy the weekend!