Last week: 11-5, pushing the season forecast to a much sunnier 18-14.

The first weekend of autumn brings us a weekend of NFL which includes the first London game of the season.

Thursday Night

- Los Angeles Rams at San Francisco 49ers (+3): Let the complaints about bad football on the short week begin! This NFC West battle brings us Brian Hoyer hosting Jared Goff. That’s about as must-watch TV as the 37th rerun of the Wild Kratts’ cheetah episode. Actually, interjecting a cheetah into this game might be a fun concept. If the fast cat could catch he could probably win player of the game for the 49ers, who still lack offensive claws. The Niners have scored just 12 points in two games. Unless they can somehow find a Kratt power suit and instill some creature powers into their moribund offense, they stand little chance of winning what is sure to be a sparsely attended affair.

Rams 20, 49ers 9

Sunday

- Baltimore Ravens vs. Jacksonville Jaguars (+3): This game is in London, which means folks on the east coast get to wake up to actual NFL football. Jaguars fans might not want to wake up, because the Ravens defense which has suffocated one-dimensional offenses in Cincinnati and Cleveland. If Blake Bortles cannot make them pay early with a balanced attack, being forced to throw is not going to work. The Jacksonville defense is good enough to steal the win as long as Bortles doesn’t give it away. This is a bad week for Baltimore to not have Pro Bowl guard Marshal Yanda, their latest addition to the vast injury list. Baltimore’s underrated Javorius “Buck” Allen out of the backfield is the difference for me.

Ravens 20, Jaguars 17 

- New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles (-3.5): Don’t overcomplicate this one. Jim Schwartz and his aggressive Wide-9 pass rush attacking Giants tackles Ereck Flowers and Bobby Hart might be the biggest matchup advantage in any game this weekend. Pray for Eli Manning. The Giants D could have some success against Carson Wentz, however.

Eagles 22, Giants 13                                      

- Houston Texans at New England Patriots (-13): The Texans stood toe-to-toe with the Patriots in the AFC Divisional Round just nine months ago for most of the game. Yet this sure feels like a blowout in the making. The Texans O-line is struggling, and while tight end Ryan Griffin comes back after all 3 TEs missed the Week 2 game, starting CB Kevin Johnson is out. With a rookie QB at the controls in Houston, Bill Belichick has to be excited for the creative chaos he can concoct with his defense.

Patriots 33, Texans 16

- Atlanta Falcons at Detroit Lions (+3): The Falcons are flying high after plucking the Packers last week, but the Lions are also 2-0 and showed uncharacteristic balance in dominating the Giants on Monday night. Establishing the balance on both sides of the ball is key for Detroit. If Ameer Abdullah and Theo Riddick can run effectively and help the Lions slow the game down, Matthew Stafford absolutely has a chance to lead the Lions to a win. It might take more special teams heroics from Matt Prater and Jamal Agnew to keep up with Matt Ryan, Devonta Freeman and the Atlanta offense. Detroit’s back 7 has played extremely well in coverage so far, but Ryan to Julio Jones, Mohamed Sanu and even Freeman out of the backfield are a different animal entirely.

Falcons 30, Lions 24

- Denver Broncos at Buffalo Bills (+3): This could be a trap game for the Broncos after their emotional and metaphysical destruction of Dallas in primetime last week. Nothing spells a letdown like going to Buffalo to play the Bills, who have a way of turning games into slogfests. Both defenses here are much more advanced than the offenses they will face. I am not a believer in Trevor Siemian for Denver, but he has much better weapons at his disposal than Tyrod Taylor does for the home team. The Broncos have the better kicker too, and that could be quite important in a game where touchdowns look to be at a paucity.

Broncos 19, Bills 15 

- Pittsburgh Steelers at Chicago Bears (+7.5): Chicago’s defense gives them a chance, as Pittsburgh’s big three on offense have not yet all been clicking at the same time. The first week Antonio Brown was the hero while Le’Veon Bell and Ben Roethlisberger struggled. Last week Bell and Big Ben picked it up but Brown was quiet.

This is Chicago’s third game and they’ve faced Atlanta, Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh. That’s arguably three of the five most explosive offenses in the league. Surely the schedule isn’t helping Mike Glennon in his quest to look competent as the Bears QB, especially given their relative pittance of receiving talent. If Pittsburgh’s triumvirate of talent all shows up, this one will be ugly. It might be anyway, though the home team could find some success on the ground and in special teams.

Steelers 28, Bears 17 

- Miami Dolphins at New York Jets (+6): There is a chance here for the Jets to steal a win. Miami played in Los Angeles after being out west to avoid Hurricane Irma, and the extended time away from home makes them vulnerable even with a return interlude for a couple of days at home. The Dolphins should have enough offensive firepower, but they need to guard against both Jermaine Kearse and overconfidence.

Dolphins 29, Jets 24

- Cleveland Browns at Indianapolis Colts (+1): The Browns are favored on the road for the first time since 2014 and just the sixth time in the last 10 years. If they are to win, they’ll need more rapid decision-making from rookie QB DeShone Kizer. The second-rounder has shown a big arm and playmaking flair but a dangerous propensity to freeze up instead of making decisions. He might also want to work on his checkdown options, which would put guys like Duke Johnson and David Njoku in position to make Colts tacklers miss. That’s something Indy struggles with, among the litany of others. Browns win on the back of a defensive score.

Browns 26, Colts 21 

- New Orleans Saints at Carolina Panthers (-6): The Saints defense has been the soft butter for the hot knife that is any opposing offense so far. Cam Newton and the Panthers offense has been more like a soup spoon, but this is their chance to heat up. Even without Greg Olsen at TE—a major loss—the Panthers at home should outscore Drew Brees, Michael Thomas and a Saints offense with not enough footballs to go around for a crowded skill position backfield. This could be the last game we see Adrian Peterson in the fleur de lis.

Panthers 34, Saints 20

- Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Minnesota Vikings (NL): The Vikings’ uncertainty at quarterback keeps this game from getting a line, and it makes forecasting the game difficult. Sam Bradford seems unlikely to play, which means another week of Case Keenum at the helm. If Bradford is a nickel-and-dime type of passer, Keenum is a penny-and-nickel kind of guy. He managed to throw for just 167 yards on 37 attempts against the Steelers, and the Vikings have one of the league’s better downfield WR tandems in Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen. Down the field happens to be where the Bucs D appears vulnerable, too. Chicago couldn’t find much success against Tampa Bay in part because the Bucs pass rush was working well. I don’t see that changing for Minnesota.

Buccaneers 27, Vikings 10 

- Seattle Seahawks at Tennessee Titans (-3): Tennessee has one of the best offensive lines in the NFL. Seattle does not, to be extraordinarily kind to the Seahawks. Travelling across the country won’t help Seattle wake up, either. Here’s the thing though—Tennessee’s vaunted line played poorly in their opener, and they didn’t really have any way to adjust to it. The Seahawks offense has grown accustomed to the line being Grenada to the opposing defense’s US invasion. Seattle’s defense can make great offenses struggle, and I suspect they do a fine job here of making Marcus Mariota one-dimensional. That’s the key to Seattle’s chances, and I think they use said key to open the door to an impressive road win.

Seahawks 20, Titans 17 

- Kansas City Chiefs at Los Angeles Chargers (+3): How fitting that the Chargers are 3-point underdogs! Rookie kicker Younghoe Koo has failed on game-ending field goal attempts in both losses so far. For a team playing home games in a soccer stadium like the Chargers are, there is some sort of cosmological curse. The Kareem Hunt Rookie of the Year train rolls on…

Chiefs 28, Chargers 25 

- Cincinnati Bengals at Green Bay Packers (-9): Aaron Rodgers has never beaten the Cincinnati Bengals. That somewhat fluky oddity ends in Green Bay as the beaten-up Packers should roll. Cincinnati has the worst offensive line in a league where bad OL play is endemic. Odds are they score their first TD in this one, but they’ll need several to pull off the upset.

Packers 32, Bengals 12

- Oakland Raiders at Washington (+3.5): Just a gut hunch with Washington here. Oakland traveling across the country bothers me even though this is a primetime game. I do like Kirk Cousins to have a big day, and the Raiders have no answer for Jordan Reed or Jamison Crowder. Remember, Raider nation—the better team doesn’t always win.

Washington 33, Raiders 30                                                               

Monday Night

- Dallas Cowboys at Arizona Cardinals (+3.5): This forecast is pretty simple. The Cardinals were just 3 points better than the Colts, who might be one of the five worst teams of the last 10 years without Andrew Luck. Dallas figures to be fired up after getting blasted on national TV by Denver. Carson Palmer looks like he should have retired, and Larry Fitzgerald isn’t far behind him over that hill. I smell a rout where everyone goes to bed at halftime. Jason Garrett needs a game like that

Cowboys 31, Cardinals 13

College games

Houston 38, Texas Tech 33

Notre Dame 27, Michigan State 17

Oklahoma State 34, TCU 30

Michigan 24, Purdue 21

Toledo 42, Miami FL 41

Georgia 26, Mississippi State 24

Eastern Michigan 30, Ohio 18. Sorry, fellow Bobcats…