Week 7 Predictions: Early afternoon games.

San Francisco at New York Giants: Trent Dilfer will start for the 49ers again, as Alex Smith isn’t fully healed. Dilfer has played poorly since he took over for Smith two games ago, and faces the unenviable task of having to deal with one of the league’s best pass rushes. By the end of the day, Smith will counting his lucky stars that Mike Nolan sat him.

As for the Giants offense, San Francisco’s defense has been pretty good, but when you’ve got very little offense, it doesn’t matter what your defense does. I’ll take the Giants to win their fifth straight (you’re one lucky man, Tom Coughlin!).

Score: New York 24, San Francisco 6

New England at Miami: Wouldn’t it be nice for the Dolphins to ruin New England’s unbeaten hopes and preserve their piece of history? As great as the Patriots are playing right now, it’s certainly possible, because New England has struggled at Miami in the last several years, losing four of their last six contests at Miami and not playing overwhelmingly well in the two wins (by six and seven points).

Unfortunately, if the Dolphins defense keeps playing like it has, they’ll just be another victim of the machine. I’ll go with recent history and say Miami gives the Patriots a stiff challenge, but ultimately, Brady and Co. will be 7-0.

Score: New England 27, Miami 17

Tennessee at Houston: Vince Young may not play today, due to a nagging quad injury. Even if he does play, he’ll be much less than 100 percent. The Texans still don’t have Andre Johnson, which hurts their offense, but they’ll find a way to win today, because the Titans offense just isn’t the same with Young out or at half-speed.

Score: Houston 23, Tennessee 14

Baltimore at Buffao: Steve McNair won’t play today, so Kyle Boller will start for the Ravens. Their offense hasn’t been that productive recently, but the defense has gotten back to playing like it’s supposed to. The Bills won’t go down without a fight, but in the end, they will go down.

Score: Baltimore 17, Buffalo 9

Tampa Bay at Detroit: With the Bucs’ ground game a concern, Jeff Garcia has to throw more. But, he’s gone without an interception thus far, and against a bad defense, could have his best day of the season.

As for the Lions, they face a tall task of producing against the tough Bucs defense - which can be penetrated by a good offense. So, there’s hope for Detroit, especially with Kevin Jones returning to full-time starter duty.

But, I’ll take the Bucs to prevail in this one.

Score: Tampa Bay 27, Detroit 24

Atlanta at New Orleans: Will Byron Leftwich recharge the Falcons offense? Will the Saints fall right back into mediocrity after an impressive win last week? Those questions and more will be answered when these two NFC South rivals tangle today. The Saints may finally be turning the corner, but need to show it in a game they should have no problem winning.

It’s been a rough first year for Bobby Petrino, and if he’s wishing he was still at Louisville, well, too bad. The misery continues today, because, until Leftwich actually shows he’s better than Joey Harrington, the Falcons are still very, very bad.

Score: New Orleans 28, Atlanta 13

Arizona at Washington: Tim Rattay is starting for the Cardinals today, in place of Kurt Warner, who still may see some action despite the torn ligament in his non-throwing elbow. It’s better that he stay on the sidelines, because the Washington defense isn’t one that you should be testing an injury against. Washington could very well be 5-0, if not for two close losses, but after today, they’ll just be 4-2, which isn’t too shabby in the least. The maturation of Jason Campbell continues.

Score: Washington 20, Arizona 10