Goldberg says:
This is a comeback week for quarterbacks. Steve McNair comes back every week too injured to practice; he just keeps Tennessee winning. He returned to practice in the team's bye week.
In the Titans' earlier 31-23 win over Pittsburgh, he threw for 257 yards, two scores and was never sacked. The Steelers routinely give up 30 points thanks to a leaky, banged up secondary. Tennessee's safeties will punish Hines Ward, Plaxico Burress and Antwaan Randle El. Titans coach Jeff Fisher is 8-2 over Bill Cowher.
Donovan McNabb is back for the Eagles. But it's their defense I love against Atlanta's Michael Vick. They can cover his wide receivers and when Vick runs, he'll have Brian Dawkins or Shawn Barber tracking him. The Eagle D is similar to Tampa Bay's. It has 56 sacks, and in two meetings with the Bucs, the Falcons were outscored 54-16. The Eagles are 4-0 in prime time this year, straight up and against the number.
I'm not so confident about Sunday's card. Brad Johnson's return for the Bucs was a necessity. He gets a soft secondary to throw against with San Francisco. He won't turn the ball over; he has 15 touchdowns and only one pick in his last six starts (22-6 TD-INT ratio for the year). The Niners are zero for their last nine against the spread.
There should be plenty of scoring in Oakland. The Jets are familiar with the surroundings, making their fourth trip there in the last two years. Last season's playoff visit ended 38-24 against them. This season, the Raiders average 28 points per game at home, and all their home wins were by six or more, including the 26-20 win over the Jets. In that game, the Raiders settled for four field goals in the red zone, but kept the ball away from the Jets. How Chad Pennington does against the Raiders' recovering corners will be a factor.
Early picks: Tennessee minus 4, Philly minus 7?
Hank Goldberg looks at NFL matchups Sunday morning during the 10:30-11 a.m. (ET) block of SportsCenter.
This is a comeback week for quarterbacks. Steve McNair comes back every week too injured to practice; he just keeps Tennessee winning. He returned to practice in the team's bye week.
In the Titans' earlier 31-23 win over Pittsburgh, he threw for 257 yards, two scores and was never sacked. The Steelers routinely give up 30 points thanks to a leaky, banged up secondary. Tennessee's safeties will punish Hines Ward, Plaxico Burress and Antwaan Randle El. Titans coach Jeff Fisher is 8-2 over Bill Cowher.
Donovan McNabb is back for the Eagles. But it's their defense I love against Atlanta's Michael Vick. They can cover his wide receivers and when Vick runs, he'll have Brian Dawkins or Shawn Barber tracking him. The Eagle D is similar to Tampa Bay's. It has 56 sacks, and in two meetings with the Bucs, the Falcons were outscored 54-16. The Eagles are 4-0 in prime time this year, straight up and against the number.
I'm not so confident about Sunday's card. Brad Johnson's return for the Bucs was a necessity. He gets a soft secondary to throw against with San Francisco. He won't turn the ball over; he has 15 touchdowns and only one pick in his last six starts (22-6 TD-INT ratio for the year). The Niners are zero for their last nine against the spread.
There should be plenty of scoring in Oakland. The Jets are familiar with the surroundings, making their fourth trip there in the last two years. Last season's playoff visit ended 38-24 against them. This season, the Raiders average 28 points per game at home, and all their home wins were by six or more, including the 26-20 win over the Jets. In that game, the Raiders settled for four field goals in the red zone, but kept the ball away from the Jets. How Chad Pennington does against the Raiders' recovering corners will be a factor.
Early picks: Tennessee minus 4, Philly minus 7?
Hank Goldberg looks at NFL matchups Sunday morning during the 10:30-11 a.m. (ET) block of SportsCenter.
