By Jason and Rob Thompson

Well, three weeks down and the Patriots are missing Tom Brady even more than any of us thought.  As big Fantasy Football players, we know this season has been tough to predict on a number of levels, but we're still at it.

As you know, each week we will be predicting the outcome of the weekend's NFL schedule with the help of Madden NFL 09 and NFL Head Coach 09 from EA SPORTS. So far this season we are 20-10 overall, including an impressive 11-4 for week two.  Let's see how things look for this week.

In addition to the predictions that you'll find here, we will be providing you with our analysis via podcast. It's great NFL sports radio with us, The Thompson Brothers. Also, if you missed any podcast throughout the NCAA and NFL season, you can find them all here on our archives page.

Lets get to the recap!

Sunday 1pm ET

PREDICTION: Falcons 27, Chiefs 17
ACTUAL:  Falcons 38, Chiefs 14

The Chiefs may officially be on the clock for the 2009 NFL Draft. You hate to see 121 yards from Larry Johnson wasted... unless you are a Falcons' fan. It has been a long time since the league has seen a rookie quarterback as good as Matt Ryan.

PREDICTION: Raiders 34, Bills 13

ACTUAL: Bills 24, Raiders 23

I think that we are all going to have to wake up to the fact that the Bills are a legitimate playoff team this year.  "Hey, Lane.  Al needs to see you in his office, and you need to bring your playbook."

PREDICTION: Bears 21, Buccaneers 17
ACTUAL:  Buccaneers 27, Bears 24

Who predicted Brian Griese would throw for 407 yards on 67 attempts?  No one.  Not even the Bears obviously.  Griese completed passes to nine different players.  None were happier than Antonio Bryant who grabbed 10 for 138 yards. 

PREDICTION: Vikings 27 Panthers 20

ACTUAL:  Vikings 20, Panthers 10
We had Gus Frerotte with 228 passing yards with one TD and one INT.  On Sunday Frerotte had 204, 1-1.  Well done Sim computer.
  

PREDICTION: Patriots 30, Dolphins 15
ACTUAL:  Dolphins 38, Patriots 13

Our Sim, and the rest of the free world, missed this one.  It is very rare in the NFL where one game can completely erase the reputations of both teams.

PREDICTION: Giants 31, Bengals 10

ACTUAL: Giants 26, Bengals 23

This one was much closer than predicted but we will take the win.  We said the Giants would wake up after the first quarter.  Their alarm clock didn't go off until the fourth.  John Carney's field goal in overtime was the game winner.
 

PREDICTION: Titans 20, Texans 10
ACTUAL: Titans 31, Texans 12

Well played Sim computer.  The Texans should maybe consider benching Matt Shaub (188 yards/ 3 INT's) and going with the back-up.  It appears to have worked for the Titans.

PREDICTION: Redskins 37, Cardinals 6

ACTUAL:  Redskins 24, Cardinals 17

Not as impressive as the Sim predicted but the winner was called correctly.  The Redskins had just 10 more total yards (323-313) offensively.  Two Cardinal turnovers proved to be the difference. 

Sunday 4:15pm ET

PREDICTION: Broncos 21, Saints 6

ACTUAL:  Broncos 34, Saints 32

Jay Cutler was good enough here with two passing TD's.  If Drew Brees (421 passing yards) had completed his last pass, this one would have gone to overtime.

PREDICTION: Lions 32, 49ers 13

ACTUAL:  49ers 31, Lions 13

Oops.  New information for our Sim-computer.  JT O'Sullivan > Jon Kitna.  Frank Gore > Anything the Lions might attempt offensively.  Lions Defense = porous.

PREDICTION: Rams 20, Seahawks 13

ACTUAL:  Seahawks 37, Rams 13

Our Sim-system may have a remnant Y2K bug here.  Julius Jones had 140 yards rushing.  TJ Ducket had more yards rushing (79) than Steven Jackson (62).  My Sim-computer predicts the Rams will soon have a new head coach.

PREDICTION: Browns 14, Ravens 13

ACTUAL:  Ravens 28, Browns 10

If Cleveland's season existed solely in our Sim-world, they would have a winning record. Unfortunately, the crushing weight of cold, hard reality has the Browns with ZERO wins. But at least the Browns have not lost to Joe Flacco yet.  

PREDICTION: Colts 23, Jaguars 13

ACTUAL:  Jaguars 23, Colts 21

The winner's score was accurate. It was the wrong team though. Peyton Manning did lead the Colts on a 4th quarter last-minute winning drive... And then David Garrard did the same. Can't really fault the sim for predicting a Manning win at home.

PREDICTION: Eagles 45, Steelers 21

ACTUAL:  Eagles 15, Steelers 6

Our Sim got the winner correct. Our Sim predicted the Eagles would double-up the Steelers and they did. Our Sim predicted 66 total points would be scored which was... not really anywhere close. We blame Byron Leftwich.

Sunday Night Football

PREDICTION: Cowboys 24, Packers 13

ACTUAL:  Cowboys 27, Packers 16

In all honesty, the EA Sim-computer kinda freaked us out on this one. Getting the spread (Cowboys -11) exactly right? That's just weird. T.O. did not score a touchdown and Romo did not throw for three TD's but the score was spooky-accurate... which is what really matters.

Monday Night Football

PREDICTION: Jets 31, Chargers 28

ACTUAL:  Chargers 48, Jets 29

Well, we expected a solid AFC match-up.  We weren't sure whether L.T. was going to play at the start of the weekend.  What we got was a Chargers team that was ready to get their first win and wanted to make sure the officials didn't affect the score and that the game would be well in-hand before the 4th quarter.  They got their wish.


There you have it. Week 3 of the NFL season. For the week we were 8-8 putting us at 28-18 on the season.  Week three wasn't our best performance, but be sure to check back Thursday for our week four predictions to see how we roll in the first of the "real" BYE weeks for the year.

Don't forget to check out the Top 10 Videos of the Week for both Madden NFL 09 and NCAA College Football 09 by visiting the Videos page.

Jason and Rob