NFL Week 2 Picks!

Yuck.

9-7 wasn't what I had in mind when I set upon week 1 in a fury of inspiration. Granted, there were a couple surprises but the more blatant mistakes were my misappropriated faith in players and teams that performed well last year but did not project well this year. 

Won't be making that mistake again.

Bears @ Packers

I'm going with an unpopular underdog pick right off the bat. And why not? This is the most classic rivalry in all of football and regardless of who's better than who, you know they'll whittle each other down to the bone. At a quick glance, it doesn't seem likely that a contender as explosive as the Packers will find itself at 0-2 to start the year. Only that might very well be the case once the Bears come to town with their renovated offense and always stout defense. The concern for the Bears will be that they gave up a good chunk of yards and points to the dilapidated and rebuilding Colts while this is an entirely different beast altogether offensively in Green Bay. To their advantage, Greg Jennings might not be able to go and Cedric Benson was nonexistent in week 1. A Rod still has plenty of weapons but the fair question now has to be will it be enough to keep up with the Bears who sport the Forte/Bush attack along with big physical receivers in Marshall and Jeffrey who will challenge the physical man to man style of the Packer corners. Couple that with a bland pass rush that won't hit Cutler nearly enough and one can see how the Bears can pull this off. I'm going on a limb here calling the upset on the road but 

Da Bears

***FAIL FAIL FAIL FAIL***

Cards @ Pats
Tha Pats might be the team to beat in the AFC and the Cards barely held on to beat the Seahawks without getting much out of their offense which will be stuck in idle for probably the rest of the season. There’s not much to see here. Patriots should roll at home by two TDs, Cards don’t cover.

Pats

Raiders @ Dolphins

Raider offense should bounce back. WR Denarius Moore is suiting up, young stud center Stefen Wisniewski starts and it looks like long snapper Condo has passed all Concussion Protocol tests meaning the major areas of concern from last week (deep threat, run blocking and special teams) should all improve. The Raider defense will be too tough for the Miami offense to score points (ask the Charger high flying offense what that was like) and in spite of a short week and traveling East, the Raiders should take it.

Raiders

Vikings @ Colts

I expect Andrew Luck to break through against the Vikes at home in Indy. After all, he didn’t look too bad against an above average Bears defense and with limited weapons on the Colts. Donald Brown should be able to do a little more against the Vikes than he was against the Bears and that should open things up a little more for Luck. This is by no means a lock because it’s clear that Adrian Peterson is back and the Colts are nowhere near as stout on run D as the Jags. Still, I expect the rook to get his first big league win and upset in the home opener.

Colts

Texans @ Jags

The Texans are going to continue to roll in the early going with another favorable matchup. They already have the rest of the AFC South looking up at them and that’ll continue as they improve to 2-0 behind stifling defense and a healthy offense. Texans win by two TDs.

Texans

Browns @ Bengals

The Bengals looked so atrocious last week that this game will not only be a welcome sight but an opportunity to test their young leaders Dalton and Green on their resolve and ability to bounce back. The Browns are better on D than most realize but losing Haden to suspension is no insignificant matter and it will show when the Bengals are able to move the ball through the air with regularity in this AFC North matchup. Browns might be able to cover the spread but I wouldn’t count on it.

Bengals

Chiefs @ Bills

Both teams got off to terrible starts and are looking to bounce back. However, I have more faith in KC doing that than Buffalo who got smashed in every facet of the game by the Jets. Spiller is a beast but the Chiefs defense is much better than the Falcons made it look. Expect Cassel to find a groove early and Charles and McCluster to be wild cards that Buffalo’s “revamped” defense will be unable to contain.

Chiefs

Ravens @ Eagles

One thing is for sure; Michael Vick is going to need to look a lot better if he wants to beat the Ravens. Four picks against the Browns (albeit that they’re an underrated defensive unit) can translate into double that total against the Ravens although I’m guessing the Eagles are going to have worked out those problems during the week and we should see less mistakes. Even then, the Ravens pose a serious threat on both sides of the ball as suddenly their offense is explosive enough to not have to piggyback on Ray Lewis and Ed Reed to contend. Eagles will keep it close but Ravens will triumph.

Ravens

Saints @ Panthers

Wrong time, wrong place for the Panthers. Sure they also want to get things back on track after a forgettable afternoon being stifled by a surprising Buccaneer defense that is trying to rebound from being one of last year’s most horrendous units. But now they run into a Saints squad that is coming off of a home opener that saw them give up 40 points to a rookie QB and get almost nothing from their running game. Cam will rebound from a soft start to his sophomore campaign but the Saints should win by more than the spread.

Saints

Bucs @ Giants

The Giants defense does not look good. At least their secondary doesn’t at any rate. The front seven can rush the passer with the best of them and that will be Josh Freeman’s main concern as he tries to find his new weapons quickly but it might not be enough unless they can establish the quick slot stuff the same way that Romo and the Cowboys did leading to Ogletree’s huge day. It’ll be an interesting test for the Bucs’ defense in terms of what they do with Eli. I’m banking on the Giants getting it done.

Giants

Cowboys @ Seahawks

Playing in Seattle against this defense is never easy and it isn’t as though the Cowboys will be seeing that same soft pass coverage that they torched last week. Luckily for them, their defense is going to be able to limit the Seahawks as long as they can contain Russell Wilson in the flats and not let him hurt them with his legs. Still I expect the Cowboys to start the season 2-0 after they eek out a tough road victory. Seahawks might cover.

Cowboys

Redskins @ Rams

The RG3 show continues. The Rams are surprisingly solid on defense but they go from trying to rush a pocket passer like Matt Stafford to chasing the most explosive QB we’ve seen since Vick. And he’s better than Vick in almost every aspect of the position. If Pierre Garcon is good to go, it’ll be a long day for St. Louis. And the toughest complimentary piece you could have given a guy like Griffin is a strong defense.

Redskins

Titans @ Chargers

The Chargers should be able to find the endzone more than once this week as the Titan defense, after hanging tough for a while against the Pats, eventually gave in and were pounded. Their only real saving grace is that the Chargers can’t run the ball worth a damn and will be one dimensional. Lucky for them, that one dimension is pretty good. Chargers should handily win their season opener by a couple scores.

Chargers

Jets @ Steelers

The Jets come back down to Earth this week against the Steelers who controlled the clock and the field for most of the game against the Broncos. Then again Denver only needed Peyton to do Peyton a couple times a game. If Sanchez does Sanchez a couple times Sunday, the Steelers should win by a couple scores as they bounce back and finish the job this time around. The Jets are going to find out that week 1 was a fluke and that offensive lack of chemistry in the preseason did have some value and that the Bills really just stunk it up.

Steelers

Lions @ Niners

As much as I’m feelin the Lions this year as dark horses to challenge for the NFC North in spite of incumbent Green Bay and trendy pick Chicago, they are going to visit what I think is the best team in the NFC and strong contender for the Super Bowl in San Francisco. Granted last year they went the distance and it was one of the best games of the year at a point where both teams were undefeated and rollin’ but the Niners have improved and I’m not sure if the Lions have shown any real maturation since last year in that they waited to really break through against the Rams in the later part of the fourth quarter… a strategy that will not work against San Fran who will already be up by multiple scores by that point.

Niners

Broncos @ Falcons

The Broncos looked pretty scary in week 1 in terms of efficiency. With very limited time they took it to one of the past decade’s premier defenses. The Broncos got it done with tough defense and what appears to be a rejuvenated Peyton Manning. The Falcons absolutely blew up a pretty decent Chiefs team and the score still didn’t even look as bad as it really was. The Falcons are going to have to finish their drives with points unlike the stall-happy Steelers from a week ago in order to win. The Broncos will need more from their running game and are going to have to control the clock more to beat a team of Atlanta’s quality in their house.

Falcons 

DIG IT