NFL Week 2 Picks

Well Week 1 has already come and gone an we are now full steam into the regular season. How did your teams fair in opening week? With the conclusion of Week 1 my record tallied in at 10-6. Not the greatest record, but respectable. Now that we’ve seen the starters take the field in their first real game and the play was for keeps, I hope to be able to improve on that record here in Week 2. Shall we get started?

ALL TIMES ARE EASTERN

Sunday, Sept. 16

Atlanta Falcons at Jacksonville Jaguars 1:00 pm

Last week, Jacksonville gave up a whopping 282 yards rushing to Tennessee. Chris Brown alone ran for 175 yards. This week Warrick Dunn will test his legs against the Jacksonville D. Watch for the Jaguars to fill their holes and work on their run defense. Without Michael Vick as a threat in the pocket, they’ll be able to focus more on Dunn.

Jacksonville pulls off a close win.

Buffalo Bills at Pittsburgh Steelers 1:00 pm

The Bills hosted Denver last week only to find defeat in the final seconds of the game thanks to a Jason Elam field goal. The Steelers on the other hand went to town on Cleveland. Ben Roethlisberger threw a career-high four touchdowns and Willie Parker rushed past the 100 yard mark. I wouldn’t be looking for the Bills to dominate in the Steelers house. Get out your ‘terrible towels.’

Steelers will celebrate a home team victory.

Cincinnati Bengals at Cleveland Browns 1:00 pm

You can’t expect to win games with five turnovers and six allowed sacks and that was obvious as the Browns were devastated in last weeks match up with Pittsburgh. The Browns are a mess right now. Romeo Crennel pulled Charlie Frye from the game in the first half for back up Derek Anderson, who did manage one touchdown pass, successfully avoiding a shutout. Add the fan chant for Brady Quinn,…and the Browns have issues.

Bengals will take this game early.

Green Bay Packers at New York Giants 1:00 pm

What do I say about this game? I didn’t give the Packers a chance against Philadelphia. The Giants lost to Dallas, but didn’t fall apart as I felt they would. Both of these teams outperformed my expectation of them in Week 1. Even though one game doesn’t make a changed season, I should take another look at the possibilities of these teams. However, I think a big deciding factor in the outcome of this game is going to be the absence of Eli Manning and possibly even Brandon Jacobs.

Packers start the season 2-0.

Houston Texans at Carolina Panthers 1:00 pm

I have no doubt that the Texans will start to see better days for their franchise. Matt Schaub had a fairly successful evening that included a career-long 77-yard touchdown pass to Andre Johnson, but it was Mario Williams with five tackles and a touchdown off a fumble that really shined. To bad they travel to Carolina this week. Jake Delhomme and Steve Smith can conjure up long touchdown passes of their own, including one for 68 yards against St. Louis.

Panthers pounce on the Texans.

Indianapolis Colts at Tennessee Titans 1:00 pm

Vince Young and the Titans ran rampant on the Jacksonville defense last week with Chris Brown leading the way, but the Colts showed they can be the run defense most of us thought they weren’t. After keeping the combined rushing yards of Reggie Bush and Deuce McAllister well under 100 yards, Joseph Addai gave Peyton Manning all the run support he needed tracking off 118 rushing yards by himself. That left Manning to…well…be Manning, with 288 passing yards and 3 touchdowns.

Colts collect their first road win.

New Orleans Saints at Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1:00 pm

The Saints found themselves Manning handled last week in Indianapolis as they were completely dominated in the second half of the game. But don’t start calling out the Aints just yet. Even good teams have off weeks and combine that with the dominating force of Peyton Manning and the rest of the defending Super Bowl Champions, and you’d be hard pressed to find a team that wouldn’t have been defeated just the same. It’s time for Drew Brees to get his groove back.

Saints march into Tampa and march out with a win.

San Francisco 49ers at St. Louis Rams 1:00 pm

It may have been a mistake for the Rams to give Steven Jackson front row seats from the bench during the preseason because he came out looking a bit cold last week against Carolina. Jackson was only able to gain 58 yards on 18 carries and had some trouble holding onto the ball in the third quarter. However, this week they play at home and against a team that won their last match up by driving for more yards in their final drive than they had accomplished in the entire second half of the game. I expect Jackson to correct his errors this week.

Rams bounce back for a win on their home field.

Dallas Cowboys at Miami Dolphins 4:05 pm

Tony Romo set the field on fire last week torching some yardage on 15 completions on 24 attempts for a hot 345 yards and 4 touchdowns. Add Marion Barbers 65 yards on 11 carries for a touchdown and who cares if the beefed up defense that Wade Philips was suppose to bring didn’t show up. If the Cowboys can keep their offense rolling, I have a hard time believing that Trent Green will keep up as well as Eli Manning did. Miami better hope Jason Taylor’s quad is feeling better by game time if they want to stay in this game.

Tony Romo leads Cowboys to another early victory

Minnesota Vikings at Detroit Lions 4:05 pm

Detroit marked off game number one of the 10 wins promised by Jon Kitna this year and the win didn’t go off without the assistance of their first round draft pick Calvin Johnson who caught 4 passes for 70 yards and a touchdown. It was a good display of offense against a fairly strong Oakland defense. However, Detroit almost let the game slip away from them. This week they face the Vikings defense. A little bit better, but…call me crazy, I’m going to give number two.

Lions win number two as they prepare to overtake last years win record.

Seattle Seahawks at Arizona Cardinals 4:05 pm

Matt Hasselbeck and Shaun Alexander’s Seahawk offense got off to a slow start last week against Tampa Bay, but once they settled into the game it was all over. Alexander picked up his slack and rushed for over a hundred yards, and the Seattle defense took the gas out of the Cadillac before moving Jeff Garcia into the breakdown lane. Move this next game into Arizona and I think the Seahawks continue to roll.

Seahawks swoop down on the Cardinals for a win.

Kansas City Chiefs at Chicago Bears 4:15 pm

Ouch!!! Even with Larry Johnson on the field the Chiefs look like you could stick a fork in them. Damon Huard only threw for 168 yards and his receivers had trouble holding on to the ball. Add two interceptions where he wished the defenders hadn’t held on to the ball and Huard wasn’t having his best night. Then you consider that Johnson was only able to rush for 43 yards on 10 carries and now they must travel to Chicago. Facing the devastating Bears defense who, even though they lost, was able to hold last years MVP LaDainian Tomlinson to a mere 25 rushing yards and one touchdown should have Chief fans worried.

Bears claim their first victory.

New York Jets at Baltimore Ravens 4:15 pm

No one can say that the Ravens should have won in their match up against Cincinnati last week, but it’s a shame that a bad offensive pass interference call overturned a touchdown that should have tied the game, and it seems fitting that a turnover finalized it. Baltimore can’t afford to make that many mistakes two weeks in a row, and the Jets could steal a win if they do. Baltimore’s defense will come ready to play, and their offense should return to the ground game that they’re more successful at.

Ravens bounce back from a disappointing loss last week.

Oakland Raiders at Denver Broncos 4:15 pm

Although the scoreboard in Buffalo showed a one point victory for Denver in the final seconds of the game, some numbers tell another story. Jay Cutler completed 23/39 passes for 304 yards and a touchdown, Travis Henry rushed for 139 yards, and Javon Walker caught 9 passes for 119 receiving yards. Broncos owned total yards, 470-184, first downs, 23-13, and had six minutes of additional possession time. Sure they need some fine tuning, but they ARE capable.

Broncos defend their home field from the Raiders.

San Diego Chargers at New England Patriots 8:15 pm

Last week I took the unpopular pick of Chicago edging past the Chargers. Although it looked like I had the right idea around half-time, too many turnovers defeated the Bears. You simply can’t give a team as good as San Diego that many opportunities. So how do you pick against L.T. two weeks in a row without looking insane? You send him and his team mates into Foxborough to face off against Tom Brady and the Patriots. Everyone needs to tune into this match up, a tough game against tough competitors, this game will be a nail biter. Anybody think the Patriots will get some extra film of San Diego?

Patriots pull off the victory at home.

Monday, Sep. 17

Washington Redskins at Philadelphia Eagles 8:30 pm

Last week I took Philly to win over Green Bay and Washington to fall to the defensive strengths of Miami…I was wrong on both counts by field goals. This week these teams match up and I find that I’m unimpressed with Donavan McNabb’s 45% completion percentage, or Jason Campbell’s two interceptions. Clinton Portis showed he was still a capable running back with 98 yards on 17 carries and a touchdown, but Brian Westbrook had 131 yards of combined rushing and receiving without the touchdown. Last week I liked the Eagles, this week I’ll settle for the home team.

Eagles win a game in front of their home crowd.

And that’s going to wrap up another week of picks. Do you agree? Disagree?