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SALT LAKE CITY -- Here a rundown of this weekend's NFL games assigned a quality score to help determine which games are worth watching and why.
Redskins at Cowboys - 9.1 Rex Grossman guaranteed the Redskins to win the NFC East and so far he's owning up to his promise. Washington is 2-0 and currently leads the division. A win in Dallas on Monday night would give the Redskins a big boost in the division race. All the talk out of Cowboy came has been about Tony Romo's ribs. Washington defensive back DeAngelo Hall said if he gets a chance he's be sure to give Romo a shot in the ribs. Hall should worry more about covering Miles Austin who had 143 yards and three touchdowns against San Francisco last week. NFC East rivalries don't get much better.
Packers at Bears - 9.0
Speaking of rivalries, these two teams have a little bit of history too. These traditional NFC North rivals most recent meeting came in the playoffs last season where Green Bay beat Chicago at home in the NFC Championship game before going on to win the Super Bowl. The Bears Jay Cutler is looking forward to redeeming himself after he received criticism for leaving the game because of injury in the two team's last meeting. The Packers are 2-0 coming in despite having the worst pass defense in the league. They've given up an average of 400 yards a game in the first two weeks of the season. Look for Chicago to try and exploit that.
Patriots at Bills - 8.9
The Bills have been playing like the Bills of the 90's through the first two weeks of the season. Ryan Fitzpatrick has grabbed headlines throwing for seven touchdowns and compiling a quarterback rating of 109.6 so far this season. But, it's been the Bills running game that has been doing a bulk of the work. Buffalo leads the league in rushing offense so far this year averaging 193 yards a game. They will obviously have their work cut out for them. Tom Brady has started the season red hot and leads the league in passing averaging 463 yards a game. This AFC East showdown should live up to it's potential.
Texans at Saints - 8.7
The next four weeks for the Texans will test how good this team really is. Houston heads into Sunday's showdown with the leagues top pass defense, and New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees has proven to be one of the league's top quarterbacks over the years. But, the intricacies of this match up don't end there. The Texans bring one of the leagues top rushing attacks and the Saints tout one of the leagues top defenses against the run. Both teams' strengths prepare to faceoff so look for an unexpected play from the special teams to be the difference.
Jets at Raiders - 8.5
The Jets head cross county to try and keep their record perfect as they face the Raiders. Darren McFadden and Michael Bush lead the Oakland rushing attack against New York's stout defense. Raider quarterback Jason Campbell performed well in last week's loss to Buffalo and gave the Raider nation reason to believe they have the right man under center. The Jets continue to be one of the best teams in the league. Last week they trounced the Jaguars 32-3 as the defense intercepted Jacksonville quarterback Luke McCown four times. The Jets defense isn't afraid to play physical and you can expect this game to be just that.
Giants at Eagles - 8.1
With questions surrounding Michael Vick's health and status for Sunday's game the Giants are still preparing as if he will play. The Eagles better hope that Vick does play otherwise the ball will be in the hands of second year quarterback Mike Kafka. Philadelphia squandered a 10-point fourth quarter lead to Atlanta last week. Meanwhile the Giants used a bend-but-don't-break game plan on defense to secure their first win of the season over the Rams on Monday night. The Eagles have the leagues second best rushing offense, and the Giants have the leagues third best rushing defense. Whether Vick plays will obviously matter, but whoever can control the running game will mostly likely be successful. This is another division rivalry that should be exciting.
Falcons at Buccaneers - 8.0
Both teams stand at 1-1 and the winning team will have a jump start on what will surely be a tight division race. Atlanta came from behind in the fourth quarter to beat Philadelphia last week, while Tampa Bay took care of business in Minnesota mounting a fourth quarter come back as well. LaGarrette Blount ran for two touchdowns and Josh Freeman threw for 243 yards to lead the Buccaneers. The Falcons will looks to use their ground game to their advantage where they are averaging 124 yards and will be facing one of the leagues worst run defenses. This NFC South game will give one of these teams an early edge.
Ravens at Rams - 7.3
The Rams beat themselves on Monday night turning the ball over twice, committing costly penalties, and settling for field goals instead of getting touchdowns. The Titans smacked around the Ravens last week showing the nation the highs and lows that exist within the NFL. Haloti Ngata signed a contract extension this week and hopes to be in Baltimore for the rest of his career. He leads a defense against one of the best young quarterbacks in the league, Sam Bradford. The Rams offense doesn't do anything bad, but the don't do anything great either. The St. Louis defense is last in the league against the run. This is good news for Ray Rice who will surely be called on to carry the ball a lot this weekend.
Steelers at Colts - 7.1
Could things get any worse for the Colts? Yes. They have to play the defending AFC Champions on prime-time national TV Sunday night. The Colts offense hasn't resembled that of recent years and they are ranked close to the bottom in the league in total offense. Meanwhile, the Steelers received the best medicine after an opening week lose to Baltimore. Pittsburgh whooped Seattle as the Steel Curtin defense picked up a shutout. The Steelers confidence will be brimming after another light matchup this. Because this game is the only one on, just watch it.
Cardinals at Seahawks - 6.4
I wonder if Pete Carroll is wishing he was back at USC now? The Seahawks offense is last in the league in total offense and at times it looks as though Seattle should be playing in the Pac-12 instead of the NFC West. The Seahawk offense is averaging 8.5 points a game so far and only 47.5 yard rushing. The Cardinals lost a squeaker last week but should recover against Seattle. Once again Larry Fitzgerald won't disappoint. He hauled in seven catches for 133 yards and a 73-yard touchdown last week.
Chiefs at Chargers - 6.1
Chiefs went from bad to worse last week when they lost leading rusher Jamaal Charles to a torn ACL. They are currently last in the league in passing offense and have a 0-2 record. Which means they're currently leading the Andrew Luck sweepstakes. The Chargers played well last week but weren't able to keep up with the Patriots. Phillips Rivers is having another impressive year and is completing 70 percent of his passes. Tune in to see how much San Diego will win by.
Broncos at Titans - 5.5
The Titans shocked the Ravens last week as Matt Hasselbeck showed the league that he's still capable of putting up big numbers. Hasselbeck threw for 358 yards and a touchdown to lead Tennessee over Baltimore. Chris Johnson hasn't lived up to his big contract yet as the Titans are near the bottom in rushing offense. The Broncos pulled out a victory over the Bengals but nearly blew a 14-point second half lead. Wide receiver Eric Decker has been a pleasant surprise for the Broncos so far this year. He has three total touchdowns in the first two games. There weren't as many calls for Tim Tebow this week, which head coach John Fox appreciates.
Lions at Vikings - 4.9
The Lions light up the scoreboard last week scoring 48 points on the lowly Chiefs. Matt Stafford threw for 294 yards and four touchdowns and Calvin Johnson caught two of those touchdown passes to lead the Lions. Detriot's offense has been very impressive in their two wins. Meanwhile, Adrian Peterson has been carrying much of the offensive load so far this season as the Vikings passing offense has been quite lackluster. Donavan McNabb hasn't been much of a force so far this year. You can bed that Ndamukong Suh will make sure that he won't be on Sunday.
49ers at Bengals - 4.6
San Francisco lost a heartbreaker to Dallas last week as the Cowboys exploited the 49ers secondary weakness. But at least their run defense has been doing well. The 49ers are currently first in the league in run defense, which is good because that will force Andy Dalton to beat them when they take on Cincinnati on Sunday. The Bengals nearly came back against the Broncos last week but weren't able to push past them. Dalton and A.J. Green are quickly becoming a dangerous duo to offset Cedric Benson's running game.
Jaguars at Panthers - 3.8
This game should probably be rated higher just because of Cam Newton. Newton has been sensational in his first two weeks in the league averaging 420 yards passing so far. However, his success hasn't translated in the win for the Panthers yet. But, hey, at least they're getting rating and selling tickets now. Baby steps. Blaine Gabbert will make his first professional start this week after relieving Luke McCown last week. Look for Newton to put up big numbers again, and for Jacksonville to rely on Maurice Jones-Drew to carry them.
Dolphins at Browns - 2.6
The Dolphins are 0-2 with both losses coming at home. Lucky for them they travel to Cleveland this week. Where the Browns lost their home opener opening weekend. Chad Henne hopes to have a performance similar to that in week 1, but will have a tough time going against the league's second best passing defense. Colt McCoy hopes to keep the Browns on the right track after beating Indianapolis last week.
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