Welcome to The Coin Toss, where I make bold predictions about your favorite professional sports.
To quickly recap last week's predictions: I had the Jets beating the Browns,Blake Bortles as a top ten fantasy quarterback again and the Chargers upsetting the Rams. None of those came true! This will happen some weeks; these are bold predictions for a reason. Let's make some new ones and hopefully get some better results in Week 4...
Tom Brady returns to form (300+ yards, 3+ TDs)
Tom Brady has not yet eclipsed 300 yards and three touchdowns in the same game this season. The 41-year-old hasn't looked bad to start this season, but let's just say Patriots haters are already clamoring that he's losing a step. Now I'm a Patriots hater, but I know how great Brady is and I think he'll return to form this week by eclipsing 300 passing yards and throwing at least three touchdowns.
This won't be an easy task against a Miami defense that has looked pretty good so far this year.They've only allowed two total passing touchdowns in their 3–0 start. Tom Brady is a different story, however. He thrives in divisional home games, and he's due for a big game after two straight losses. This isn't a sure thing by any means, but I predict some big numbers from Brady this week.
Browns beat Raiders in Oakland
I made the mistake of picking against the Browns in a winnable game for them last week: no longer! After being favored for the first time in a long time, the Browns are back to being underdogs.The Raiders are favored by three points at home in this matchup.
Maybe Vegas is forgetting just how good Baker Mayfield was last week. The game flipped on its head as soon as he came in for Tyrod Taylor. I can say with some confidence that the Jets did not plan for Mayfield, but do you really trust the Raiders to do any better? They rank 26th in the league in opponent passer rating, and their defense just hasn't looked the same since the Khalil Mack trade.I have no faith in Jon Gruden on either side of the ball, and I think the Browns are a good enough team to pull off the road upset.
Texans get in the win column against Colts
Maybe you don't consider this an upset, but Vegas has the Colts as 1.5-point favorites and ESPN gives them a 60.5 percent chance to win at home. Despite these odds, I think the Texans will get the divisional road win in Indianapolis.
It's not that the Texans don't deserve to be 0–3, but they're a better team than their start indicates. They should have gotten wins against the Giants (lost by five) and the Titans (lost by three). The Colts are 1–2 and have looked average at best on defense this year. Additionally, Andrew Luck has shown signs that his shoulder is still healing, so he may be cautious against Houston's stout defensive line. All in all, I think the Texans will come out on top.
The Coin Toss: NFL Week 4
