NFL Week 2 Picks!
Time for the weekly football picks.
NOTE: Final scores added, records compiled.
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons, specifically Michael Vick, surprised me. The Bucs disappointed me. Hard to say whether or not either team will continue their respective ways, as the season's still young. But this will be a good test for both of them, not to mention it's a divisional game. In Atlanta, though, makes me confident things won't change for either team this week.
Prediction: Atlanta Falcons
Final Score: Falcons 14, Bucs 3
Cleveland Browns at Cincinnati Bengals
Carson Palmer looks fully recovered, and more than just good. When he's clicking, so go the Bengals. Of course, with offseason legal issues pending, they need to remain focused. Also, Cleveland isn't a pushover team anymore, even if they aren't great.
Prediction: Cincinnati Bengals
Final Score: Bengals 34, Browns 17
Houston Texans at Indianapolis Colts
I don't even think it's necessary to attempt 'in-depth' analysis here. The Colts got past the Giants last week, and off on the right foot this season. They aren't going 9-0 again, though. As for the Texans... David Carr has the potential to be a real good Quaterback in the NFL.
Prediction: Indianapolis Colts
Final Score: Colts 43, Texans 24
Carolina Panthers at Minnesota Vikings
Okay, so Minnesota got Coach Childress' career with the big headset on off to a winning start in Week One. In Week Two, we'll see how he and the team react to his first loss. After last week, I can safely say the Panthers already have a sizable chip on their collective shoulder.
Prediction: Carolina Panthers
Final Score: Vikings 16, Panthers 13
Oakland Raiders at Baltimore Ravens
Wow. The Ravens did far better than I expected. And now they get the Raiders, who did far worse than I ever could have speculated. This one will likely get ugly, and fast.
Prediction: Baltimore Ravens
Final Score: Ravens 28, Raiders 6
Detroit Lions at Chicago Bears
The Bears come off a Week One that saw them make history: Brett Favre had never been shutout in his career. Until last week, that is. I don't see the Lions going quietly this week, but at Soldier Field, they will go down.
Prediction Chicago Bears
Final Score: Bears 34, Lions 7
New Orleans Saints at Green Bay Packers
Speaking of Brett Favre and the Pack, they've got New Orleans to contend with this week. A 1-0 Saints team, with a rookie Running Back named Reggie Bush. A rookie RB who compiled 141 total yards in his NFL debut. And now he gets the Packers lackluster defense, which he should feast on. Lambeau Field is great and all, but I think the Lambeau Leaps will be few and far between this year. I'd be shocked if Favre doesn't throw a touchdown, though.
Prediction: New Orleans Saints [Suicide Pick*]
Final Score: Saints 34, Packers 27
Buffalo Bills at Miami Dolphins
The Bills gave the Patriots a fight last week. The Dolphins weren't anything spectacular against Pittsburgh. However, I do believe there's now a definite difference between the level of those two opponents, as well as these two teams. Miami should be better than Buffalo this year. But Buffalo won't make this one easy for the Fish, either. I wouldn't be surprised at all if Buffalo snagged this one from under Miami, but it is the home opener for the Dolphins.
Prediction: Miami Dolphins
Final Score: Bills 16, Dolphins 6
New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles
The Giants lost a tough game to the Colts, but they deserved to. They made too many mistakes, played too sloppy to win. The Eagles looked strong, and their acquisition of Dante Stallworth looks like gold right now. As one sports reporter stated, "He's T.O. without the baggage." I'd agree there. I'd be too hard pressed to go with the G-Men here, because this is also the Eagles' home opener. It comes down to this: the Eagles took care of business last week, and the Giants didn't. I'll be rooting for the Giants like mad, though!
Prediction: Philadelphia Eagles
Final Score: Giants 30, Eagles 24 [Final-OT]
St. Louis Rams at San Francisco 49ers
Another team that did what they were supposed to last week: the Rams. They played well under their rookie Head Coach, Scott Linehan. The Niners scored more than I expected, but still did what everyone pretty much expected of them. Their defense is just plain bad. I expect both these teams to do what's expected of them this week, too.
Prediction: St. Louis Rams
Final Score: Niners 20, Rams 13
Arizona Cardinals at Seattle Seahawks
This will be an interesting game. Seattle produced a total of 9 points last week, but they won. This provides two interesting points. First, the offense isn't in synch. Second, their defense is strong. Whether it's stronger than last season is something that won't be discovered this week. Whether their offense can pull things together is something that will be discovered this week. I feel Arizona will be a Playoff bubble team, and it's mainly because they won't be able to get over the hump and win games like these early in the season. That's one difference between a bubble team and a division winner. However, I'm in no way condemning the Cardinals, either. I am picking them to make the Playoffs this season, after all. Meaning I do think they'll mature, and find ways to win these games, as the season progresses.
Prediction: Seattle Seahawks
Final Score: Seahawks 21, Cardinals 10
Kansas City Chiefs at Denver Broncos
Who is Kansas City's backup Quarterback? Damon Huard? After QB Trent Green left the game, he completed 12 of 20 passes for 140 yards and a touchdown last week. Those numbers may look good, until you see the Chiefs only scored 1 touchdown and 10 total points last week, while sacrificing 23. That's no winning formula. Fortunately for them, this week they're facing the ever-vulnerable Denver. Jake Plummer looked, well, bad last week. He, too, only threw one TD, and on 13 of 26 passes for 138 yards. In short, he did almost as well as Damon Huard. This week, one of these teams has to win, no matter how poor their efforts are. I want to see if Larry Johnson can run on Denver's defense or not. This will be an important divisional game, given San Diego is the only team to have won their first game in the AFC West. After the blast of a hit Trent Green took, and the subsequent severe concussion suffered, he won't be coming back for a few weeks. The Chiefs are lucky he'll be back, period. That being the case, if they want to remain in the division race, they might take a long look at Falcons' backup QB Matt Schaub, seeing as Michael Vick looks like he's on track with the Falcons coaching staff. This may be Trent Green's last season.
Prediction: Kansas City Chiefs
Final Score: Broncos 9, Chiefs 6
New England Patriots at New York Jets
The Patriots had to come back against the Bills last week, scraping out a victory. The Jets did a good job in their Week One win, although it was against Tennessee, which at least for me, makes the quality of the victory difficult to gauge. Chad Pennington looked solid, though, reminiscent of 2002. I don't think the Jets are going to be a .500 team, just a shade under, but if they can pull out games like this one, they may make it to 8-8 when all's said and done in 2006. If for no other reason, this game will be intriguing for as long as the Jets can hang in it.
Prediction: New England Patriots
Final Score: Pats 24, Jets 17
Tennessee Titans at San Diego Chargers
This should be one for the home team. The Titans didn't look good last week, and the Chargers steamrolled Oakland. LaDanian "Eyeshield" Tomlinson made number 21 proud, and Philip Rivers, though a bit unpolished, looked like he may fit into the Chargers' long-term plans after all. He'll get better as the season goes on, too. So when the Chargers open up the home field for the season this week, expect there to be unscheduled, but anticipated, fireworks. What I'm wondering is, will Tennessee put any points up, or will San Diego make it two shutouts in a row?
Prediction: San Diego Chargers
Final Score: Chargers 40, Titans 7
*Sunday Night Football*
Washington Redskins at Dallas Cowboys
This year, I'm going to rate the quality of the Sunday Night game each week before I get into the teams themselves. This game was probably picked because of the strength the NFC East showed last seasons. It's still a strong division, except the Redskins are looking more like the 2005 Eagles. It's only been one week, of course, but I don't like the look of things for Washington this year. One team needs to be the odd one out, the 'whipping boy' if you would, of the NFC East. And I just don't think either of the other three will allow it to be them, thus forcing Washington down. This game should be decent, but will likely fall a bit short of expectations.
Washington and Dallas both have problems at Quarterback. Both QBs are old, both are ineffective when pressured, and neither will take their respective team to a Super Bowl again. Dallas is in better shape, though, because their defense is stronger, and backup QB Toni Romo is supposed to be the heir apparent to starting QB Drew Bledsoe. That switch may happen sooner than expected, but not this week. The key may come in Clinton Portis, and whether or not Dallas can stop him. If so, the Cowboys should have a successful homecoming. If not, Washington will be in it. The thing is, Portis' success weighs on whether or not the Redskins can do more than just run the ball. Otherwise the Cowboys will wise-up to Portis and stifle the running game. At least Bledsoe can dump the ball off to Terrell Owens on a short pass, and let him creat a breakout play. In my opinion, that may be tougher to stop.
Prediction: Dallas Cowboys
Final Score: Cowboys 27, Skins 10
Monday, September 18, 2006
*Monday Night Football*
Pittsburgh Steelers at Jacksonville Jaguars
Same thing with Monday Night games getting examined from a TV standpoint. This one should be a quality game. Last year, both these teams were tough, and both put on strong performances to kick off their seasons this year. I think this one will be close and exciting as expected.
The defending Super Bowl Champions opened the season up as well as they could have: winning with their #2 Quarterback, Charlie Batch, starting, looking quite comfortable running the offense, and the defense making some big stops. All in a day's work for a team who, unbelievably, find themselves on a path requiring they prove they really were that good last year, and still are this year. Because it seems the Steelers are yet again underdogs, despite going all the way and winning the Super Bowl last season. Their win against the Colts was deemed a 'fluke' due to 'The Tackle' Ben Roethlisberger made in the AFC Championship game. But as Defensive End Joey Porter said after last week's game, "Let them make us the underdogs. That's the way we like it."
This week Pittsburgh hits the road to face the Jags, who come off a victory in Dallas, but can't be any less eased by that than the Steelers are with their Week One victory. That's because both these teams have important divisional games next week; JAX goes to Indianapolis and the Steelers host the Bengals. That makes this game somewhat critical for both teams. Jacksonville absolutely needs to keep pace, or set it, with the Colts. Pittsburgh is in a division that could be as tough to navigate as the NFC East this year, if the Ravens are for real. Judging by Baltimore's shutout last week, one would suspect they'll contend and be a threat. So this game becomes pretty important.
Fortunately for Pittsburgh, they may have Big Ben on the field for them on Monday. He's already practicing, 10 days after his appendectomy, and amazingly looks likely to start. I'd be wary about starting him, but it's safe to say Bill Cowher knows what he's doing, being in his fifteenth season as Steelers' Head Coach. Safety Troy Polamalu has a questionable shoulder, which is disconcerting, but I'd expect to see him on the field. So things are looking in the Steelers' favor. If they want to win the AFC North, which may be their only ticket to the Playoffs, given the potential of this division, they'll need to win these games.
Prediction: Pittsburgh Steelers
Final Score: JAX 9, Steelers 0
Week 2 Record: 10-6
2006 Season Record [through Week 2]: 21-11
Suicide Pick Record: 2-0
-Teams Used [through Week 1]: Philadelphia
*The suicide pick means I am picking the selected team as my lock to win for the week. I can't choose any team twice over the course of one season. I'll keep a separate record of these picks, but each one will also be counted in the overall record for the week, and season.
NOTE: Final scores added, records compiled.
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons, specifically Michael Vick, surprised me. The Bucs disappointed me. Hard to say whether or not either team will continue their respective ways, as the season's still young. But this will be a good test for both of them, not to mention it's a divisional game. In Atlanta, though, makes me confident things won't change for either team this week.
Prediction: Atlanta Falcons
Final Score: Falcons 14, Bucs 3
Cleveland Browns at Cincinnati Bengals
Carson Palmer looks fully recovered, and more than just good. When he's clicking, so go the Bengals. Of course, with offseason legal issues pending, they need to remain focused. Also, Cleveland isn't a pushover team anymore, even if they aren't great.
Prediction: Cincinnati Bengals
Final Score: Bengals 34, Browns 17
Houston Texans at Indianapolis Colts
I don't even think it's necessary to attempt 'in-depth' analysis here. The Colts got past the Giants last week, and off on the right foot this season. They aren't going 9-0 again, though. As for the Texans... David Carr has the potential to be a real good Quaterback in the NFL.
Prediction: Indianapolis Colts
Final Score: Colts 43, Texans 24
Carolina Panthers at Minnesota Vikings
Okay, so Minnesota got Coach Childress' career with the big headset on off to a winning start in Week One. In Week Two, we'll see how he and the team react to his first loss. After last week, I can safely say the Panthers already have a sizable chip on their collective shoulder.
Prediction: Carolina Panthers
Final Score: Vikings 16, Panthers 13
Oakland Raiders at Baltimore Ravens
Wow. The Ravens did far better than I expected. And now they get the Raiders, who did far worse than I ever could have speculated. This one will likely get ugly, and fast.
Prediction: Baltimore Ravens
Final Score: Ravens 28, Raiders 6
Detroit Lions at Chicago Bears
The Bears come off a Week One that saw them make history: Brett Favre had never been shutout in his career. Until last week, that is. I don't see the Lions going quietly this week, but at Soldier Field, they will go down.
Prediction Chicago Bears
Final Score: Bears 34, Lions 7
New Orleans Saints at Green Bay Packers
Speaking of Brett Favre and the Pack, they've got New Orleans to contend with this week. A 1-0 Saints team, with a rookie Running Back named Reggie Bush. A rookie RB who compiled 141 total yards in his NFL debut. And now he gets the Packers lackluster defense, which he should feast on. Lambeau Field is great and all, but I think the Lambeau Leaps will be few and far between this year. I'd be shocked if Favre doesn't throw a touchdown, though.
Prediction: New Orleans Saints [Suicide Pick*]
Final Score: Saints 34, Packers 27
Buffalo Bills at Miami Dolphins
The Bills gave the Patriots a fight last week. The Dolphins weren't anything spectacular against Pittsburgh. However, I do believe there's now a definite difference between the level of those two opponents, as well as these two teams. Miami should be better than Buffalo this year. But Buffalo won't make this one easy for the Fish, either. I wouldn't be surprised at all if Buffalo snagged this one from under Miami, but it is the home opener for the Dolphins.
Prediction: Miami Dolphins
Final Score: Bills 16, Dolphins 6
New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles
The Giants lost a tough game to the Colts, but they deserved to. They made too many mistakes, played too sloppy to win. The Eagles looked strong, and their acquisition of Dante Stallworth looks like gold right now. As one sports reporter stated, "He's T.O. without the baggage." I'd agree there. I'd be too hard pressed to go with the G-Men here, because this is also the Eagles' home opener. It comes down to this: the Eagles took care of business last week, and the Giants didn't. I'll be rooting for the Giants like mad, though!
Prediction: Philadelphia Eagles
Final Score: Giants 30, Eagles 24 [Final-OT]
St. Louis Rams at San Francisco 49ers
Another team that did what they were supposed to last week: the Rams. They played well under their rookie Head Coach, Scott Linehan. The Niners scored more than I expected, but still did what everyone pretty much expected of them. Their defense is just plain bad. I expect both these teams to do what's expected of them this week, too.
Prediction: St. Louis Rams
Final Score: Niners 20, Rams 13
Arizona Cardinals at Seattle Seahawks
This will be an interesting game. Seattle produced a total of 9 points last week, but they won. This provides two interesting points. First, the offense isn't in synch. Second, their defense is strong. Whether it's stronger than last season is something that won't be discovered this week. Whether their offense can pull things together is something that will be discovered this week. I feel Arizona will be a Playoff bubble team, and it's mainly because they won't be able to get over the hump and win games like these early in the season. That's one difference between a bubble team and a division winner. However, I'm in no way condemning the Cardinals, either. I am picking them to make the Playoffs this season, after all. Meaning I do think they'll mature, and find ways to win these games, as the season progresses.
Prediction: Seattle Seahawks
Final Score: Seahawks 21, Cardinals 10
Kansas City Chiefs at Denver Broncos
Who is Kansas City's backup Quarterback? Damon Huard? After QB Trent Green left the game, he completed 12 of 20 passes for 140 yards and a touchdown last week. Those numbers may look good, until you see the Chiefs only scored 1 touchdown and 10 total points last week, while sacrificing 23. That's no winning formula. Fortunately for them, this week they're facing the ever-vulnerable Denver. Jake Plummer looked, well, bad last week. He, too, only threw one TD, and on 13 of 26 passes for 138 yards. In short, he did almost as well as Damon Huard. This week, one of these teams has to win, no matter how poor their efforts are. I want to see if Larry Johnson can run on Denver's defense or not. This will be an important divisional game, given San Diego is the only team to have won their first game in the AFC West. After the blast of a hit Trent Green took, and the subsequent severe concussion suffered, he won't be coming back for a few weeks. The Chiefs are lucky he'll be back, period. That being the case, if they want to remain in the division race, they might take a long look at Falcons' backup QB Matt Schaub, seeing as Michael Vick looks like he's on track with the Falcons coaching staff. This may be Trent Green's last season.
Prediction: Kansas City Chiefs
Final Score: Broncos 9, Chiefs 6
New England Patriots at New York Jets
The Patriots had to come back against the Bills last week, scraping out a victory. The Jets did a good job in their Week One win, although it was against Tennessee, which at least for me, makes the quality of the victory difficult to gauge. Chad Pennington looked solid, though, reminiscent of 2002. I don't think the Jets are going to be a .500 team, just a shade under, but if they can pull out games like this one, they may make it to 8-8 when all's said and done in 2006. If for no other reason, this game will be intriguing for as long as the Jets can hang in it.
Prediction: New England Patriots
Final Score: Pats 24, Jets 17
Tennessee Titans at San Diego Chargers
This should be one for the home team. The Titans didn't look good last week, and the Chargers steamrolled Oakland. LaDanian "Eyeshield" Tomlinson made number 21 proud, and Philip Rivers, though a bit unpolished, looked like he may fit into the Chargers' long-term plans after all. He'll get better as the season goes on, too. So when the Chargers open up the home field for the season this week, expect there to be unscheduled, but anticipated, fireworks. What I'm wondering is, will Tennessee put any points up, or will San Diego make it two shutouts in a row?
Prediction: San Diego Chargers
Final Score: Chargers 40, Titans 7
*Sunday Night Football*
Washington Redskins at Dallas Cowboys
This year, I'm going to rate the quality of the Sunday Night game each week before I get into the teams themselves. This game was probably picked because of the strength the NFC East showed last seasons. It's still a strong division, except the Redskins are looking more like the 2005 Eagles. It's only been one week, of course, but I don't like the look of things for Washington this year. One team needs to be the odd one out, the 'whipping boy' if you would, of the NFC East. And I just don't think either of the other three will allow it to be them, thus forcing Washington down. This game should be decent, but will likely fall a bit short of expectations.
Washington and Dallas both have problems at Quarterback. Both QBs are old, both are ineffective when pressured, and neither will take their respective team to a Super Bowl again. Dallas is in better shape, though, because their defense is stronger, and backup QB Toni Romo is supposed to be the heir apparent to starting QB Drew Bledsoe. That switch may happen sooner than expected, but not this week. The key may come in Clinton Portis, and whether or not Dallas can stop him. If so, the Cowboys should have a successful homecoming. If not, Washington will be in it. The thing is, Portis' success weighs on whether or not the Redskins can do more than just run the ball. Otherwise the Cowboys will wise-up to Portis and stifle the running game. At least Bledsoe can dump the ball off to Terrell Owens on a short pass, and let him creat a breakout play. In my opinion, that may be tougher to stop.
Prediction: Dallas Cowboys
Final Score: Cowboys 27, Skins 10
Monday, September 18, 2006
*Monday Night Football*
Pittsburgh Steelers at Jacksonville Jaguars
Same thing with Monday Night games getting examined from a TV standpoint. This one should be a quality game. Last year, both these teams were tough, and both put on strong performances to kick off their seasons this year. I think this one will be close and exciting as expected.
The defending Super Bowl Champions opened the season up as well as they could have: winning with their #2 Quarterback, Charlie Batch, starting, looking quite comfortable running the offense, and the defense making some big stops. All in a day's work for a team who, unbelievably, find themselves on a path requiring they prove they really were that good last year, and still are this year. Because it seems the Steelers are yet again underdogs, despite going all the way and winning the Super Bowl last season. Their win against the Colts was deemed a 'fluke' due to 'The Tackle' Ben Roethlisberger made in the AFC Championship game. But as Defensive End Joey Porter said after last week's game, "Let them make us the underdogs. That's the way we like it."
This week Pittsburgh hits the road to face the Jags, who come off a victory in Dallas, but can't be any less eased by that than the Steelers are with their Week One victory. That's because both these teams have important divisional games next week; JAX goes to Indianapolis and the Steelers host the Bengals. That makes this game somewhat critical for both teams. Jacksonville absolutely needs to keep pace, or set it, with the Colts. Pittsburgh is in a division that could be as tough to navigate as the NFC East this year, if the Ravens are for real. Judging by Baltimore's shutout last week, one would suspect they'll contend and be a threat. So this game becomes pretty important.
Fortunately for Pittsburgh, they may have Big Ben on the field for them on Monday. He's already practicing, 10 days after his appendectomy, and amazingly looks likely to start. I'd be wary about starting him, but it's safe to say Bill Cowher knows what he's doing, being in his fifteenth season as Steelers' Head Coach. Safety Troy Polamalu has a questionable shoulder, which is disconcerting, but I'd expect to see him on the field. So things are looking in the Steelers' favor. If they want to win the AFC North, which may be their only ticket to the Playoffs, given the potential of this division, they'll need to win these games.
Prediction: Pittsburgh Steelers
Final Score: JAX 9, Steelers 0
Week 2 Record: 10-6
2006 Season Record [through Week 2]: 21-11
Suicide Pick Record: 2-0
-Teams Used [through Week 1]: Philadelphia
*The suicide pick means I am picking the selected team as my lock to win for the week. I can't choose any team twice over the course of one season. I'll keep a separate record of these picks, but each one will also be counted in the overall record for the week, and season.