Good morning NFL fans! We have ourselves a sunrise to sunset and beyond day of football ahead of us. I hope you all got a good night’s sleep because we need one to get through a day such as this. It is another NFL Sunday with over 15 hours worth of games this week.

We get the early kickoff from London with a potentially high-scoring matchup between Miami and New Orleans. Then we will finish the day with a not-so-even matchup between Indianapolis and Seattle in primetime. However, there are a few intriguing games along the way.

Before we get to today’s action, lets take a quick peek at the power rankings for Week 4.

1) Kansas City (3-0) – Last Week: 1

2) New England (2-1) – Last Week: 2

3) Atlanta (3-0) – Last Week: 4

4) Green Bay (3-1) – Last Week: Watch List *Ranking prior to TNF

5) Tennessee (2-1) – Last Week: Unranked

Watch List: Pittsburgh (2-1), Denver (2-1), Oakland (2-1), Detroit (2-1), Dallas (2-1)

There was no need to make a change at the top of the rankings due to the wins by Kansas City and New England. The Chiefs might be the most complete team in football right now, and as long as Tom Brady is at quarterback the Patriots will be in the upper echelon of the league.

Atlanta gets a bump up after sneaking by Detroit last week and the Pittsburgh overtime loss to Chicago. Green Bay made it up to the fourth spot by way of attrition to the rest of the teams in the rankings last week. The Packers are a good team, but it wasn’t until Thursday where they started to look like a team that is clicking. Rounding out the rankings for this week is Tennessee, who took down Seattle in impressive fashion. The Titans are a young team on the rise and one to keep an eye on moving forward.

Now let’s get to the games today, where many feature some high stakes divisional matchups. Baltimore and Pittsburgh will write another chapter in the best rivalry in the modern-day NFL. Detroit and Minnesota will battle to keep pace with the Packers in the NFC North. Houston and Tennessee square off in a huge matchup within the AFC South.

At this point, we pretty much know that you can throw out the stats and records when Pittsburgh heads to Baltimore. The games are normally tight, and each team are clawing for anything they can get. You know Baltimore will be a pissed off team after getting utterly embarrassed in London last week. That could be a factor that keeps the Ravens in this ball game. Pittsburgh has struggled on the road and also took a pretty bad loss last week as well. Tensions always run high, and both teams need to get back on the right track.

Baltimore’s offense isn’t quite in ruins yet, but the injuries are mounting. Joe Flacco has been relatively ineffective thus far, and losing Marshal Yanda is a massive loss to this offense. Luckily, the Ravens do have a defense capable of keeping them in games. This will be the biggest test of this defense yet, considering the Steelers offense will have to get going at some point.

This game could all come down to the Pittsburgh defense. They have the ability to shift this matchup in Pittsburgh’s favor especially with the struggles of the Ravens offense. All signs are pointing to a Steelers win, but the rivalry factor can’t be ignored here.

Possibly my favorite matchup today is the AFC South battle between Tennessee and Houston. The Texans have reigned supreme in this division, but this is looking like the year that ends. Jacksonville has played well so far, but the Titans have the look of the team that can take this division.

Ultimately, the quarterback matchup will be the key to this game. Marcus Mariota has the Titans rolling with an efficient and effective offensive attack. He isn’t asked to do anything crazy within this offense, which has allowed him to grow as a pro. More importantly, this has allowed Mariota to strike in key areas like the redzone. In his career, Mariota has yet to throw an interception in the redzone and keeps adding to that impressive TD/INT ratio in the most important area in the game.

On the other side you have rookie DeShaun Watson. Unlike Mariota, Watson has to create plays out of nothing due to the below-average play of his offensive line. So far the rookie has been up to the task, especially last week in a razor-thin loss to the Patriots. Watson has showed a great rapport with DeAndre Hopkins, who has carried the injury-riddled receiving corps. Houston gets speedster Will Fuller back this week to help attack a Titans defense that has struggled against the pass so far this season.

We will see if this Houston defense can finally get on track, but this balanced attack from Tennessee will be tough to stop. This game will really come down to which of these young, mobile quarterbacks can step up to the plate. Mariota has the tougher matchup so the pressure will be on Watson to lead his team to a victory. It is a fascinating game on today’s slate.

Finally, let’s get to my picks against the spread for the week. I’m off to a good start with my Green Bay pick on Thursday. However, after last week I’m getting dangerously close to “fade” territory. Let’s see if I can reverse this tough opening stretch. Here are my ATS picks for today (Winners in Bold).

This Week: 1-0        Last Week: 3-13       2017 Season: 16-30-1

9:30 a.m. kickoff (London)

New Orleans (-3) vs. Miami

 

1:00 p.m. kickoffs

Buffalo vs. Atlanta (-8)

Pittsburgh (-3) vs. Baltimore

Cincinnati (-3) vs. Cleveland

LA Rams (+6.5) vs. Dallas

Tennessee vs. Houston (+2.5)

Detroit vs. Minnesota (-2.5)

Carolina (+9) vs. New England

Jacksonville (-3.5) vs. NY Jets

 

4:05/4:25 p.m. kickoffs

San Francisco vs. Arizona (-6.5)

NY Giants (+3) vs. Tampa Bay

Philadelphia (+2.5) vs. LA Chargers

Oakland vs. Denver (-3)

 

Sunday Night Football

Indianapolis vs. Seattle (-13)

 

That’s it for me, enjoy all of the games today. I’ll be back tomorrow to give my reaction to the action today and preview a fantastic matchup on Monday Night Football. Follow me on Twitter @thereal_jmooney and go like the Shooting the Moon page on Facebook.