Week 4: Mark Craig's Super Bowl forecast

Let's just say the Super Bowl possibilities are plentiful. Heading into Week 4, the only teams with a winning streak of two or more games are the Chiefs, Falcons, Patriots, Titans and Redskins.

September 29, 2017 at 10:01PM
(Anna Boone/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

For the Vikings to reach the Super Bowl …

Last week, we said the Vikings needed Sam Bradford healthy more than anything. Turns out they can win without him in certain favorable situations (i.e. at home versus Tampa Bay). This week, we'll add another item to the team's To-Do List for the Road to Minneapolis: Clean play. Last week, the Vikings had four touchdown drives that included 29 snaps, 302 yards and no penalties. The offense had only three penalties. A recipe for success.

Super Bowl Dream Team?

Question: Which NFL coach on a team that you don't normally root for would you most like to see win the Super Bowl? My pick: Andy Reid. One of the league's most overlooked good coaches since 1999, Reid is 3-0 with the Chiefs and has climbed to 10th in career wins (187-126-1, including playoffs). He just hasn't gotten it done in the postseason, going 11-12, including a loss to the Patriots in the Super Bowl.

Did you know?

A 30-second television commercial for the first Super Bowl in 1967 cost $40,000. A 30-second commercial for Super Bowl LI? $5.5 million.

Three up, three down

Almost every team that was up before last week went down, and vice versa. After a tumultuous week, I'll say the three biggest risers were the Vikings, Bears and the wildly up-and-down Jaguars. The three biggest nosedives were the three teams that lost to them: Bucs, Steelers and Ravens.

Destination Minneapolis!

Week 4 HOT FORECAST

Tennessee vs. Washington

Hail to the Redskins!

Let's just say the Super Bowl possibilities are plentiful. Heading into Week 4, the only teams with a winning streak of two or more games are the Chiefs, Falcons, Patriots, Titans and Redskins.

Why Tennessee (2-1)?: The Titans wear defenses down with their No. 2-ranked running game. In their two-game winning streak against Jacksonville and Seattle, the Titans have rushed for 374 yards, including 286 in the second half.

Why Washington (2-1)?: You mean other than the stunning display of defense against high-powered Oakland last week? The Redskins are one of the more balanced teams right now. They're the only team ranked in the top eight offensively and defensively.

My preseason pick: Seattle (1-2) vs. Pittsburgh (2-1). Ouch. Both of my preseason picks got run over last week. Literally. The Steelers gave up 220 yards rushing while being embarrassed in Chicago. Seattle melted in the second half in Tennessee.

MARK CRAIG

about the writer

about the writer

Mark Craig

Sports reporter

Mark Craig has covered the NFL nearly every year since Brett Favre was a rookie back in 1991. A sports writer since 1987, he is covering his 30th NFL season out of 37 years with the Canton (Ohio) Repository (1987-99) and the Star Tribune (1999-present).

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