Yes, I'm kinda late on releasing this week's football picks. It's a long story. But here we go with Week 2...
Thursday Night: Denver (Win)
Patriots (1-0) at Bills (1-0): New England-When there was still uncertainty about whether or not Tom Brady was going to play in the first four games, this one was tabbed as a potential New England loss without him. And it's understandable why. Because the Bills looked mighty impressive last week against the Colts. I also think it's hilarious that the Bills stirred the pot by having a sale on air pumps and putting them right in the front at the team store. Except adding fuel to the Patriots' fire isn't necessarily a good thing. It'll be close, but the Bills will become the first AFC East team to lose this season.
Cardinals (1-0) at Bears (0-1): Arizona-The Bears weren't as bad as I thought they'd be against the Packers last week. The Cardinals, meanwhile, had an impressive win over the Saints. I forgot that Arizona is a different team with Carson Palmer.We'll see how they do on the road this week. I've got confidence, though.
Chargers (1-0) at Bengals (1-0): Cincinnati-Was there any team more impressive last week than Cincinnati? Sure, they were playing the Raiders, but the Bengals went on the road (to a place they hadn't won in a long time) and were completely dominant. Now they head home to take on a San Diego team that has traditionally had trouble with 1:00 starts.
Titans (1-0) at Browns (0-1): Tennessee-Marcus Mariota had quite a debut, didn't he? We obviously can't put him in the Hall of Fame yet, but he was certainly as good as advertised, and there's no question who won the battle of No. 1 vs. No. 2. The 2014 Heisman winner knocked of 2013 Heisman winner Jamies Winston in Week 1. Now he gets Johnny Overrated, the 2012 winner, and the Browns in Week 2. Cleveland's not a good team, and Manziel at quarterback doesn't make them better. I think the Titans equal their entire 2014 win total in Week 2.
Lions (0-1) at Vikings (0-1): Minnesota-Neither team's trip to California went well. But, the Lions at least had something resembling an offense in San Diego. Minnesota was tabbed as a sleeper playoff team with Teddy Bridgewater and the return of Adrian Peterson. Where were they in San Francisco? Three points! For an offense with Adrian Peterson! Pathetic! Like I said last week, the Vikings are gonna need to make me believe. Regardless, I do think they get a home win here.
Buccaneers (0-1) at Saints (0-1): New Orleans-Famous Jamies hits the road for the first time and will have to be significantly better than he was in Week 1. Problem is, the Saints are really good at home. New Orleans wins it.
Falcons (1-0) at Giants (0-1): Giants-So, as it turns out, Eli Manning isn't the best at late game clock management. Either that or math. Because of their quarterback's stupidity, the Giants would up losing a game they had no business winning in the first place, but were certainly in position to. They absolutely need to rebound against the Falcons in the home opener, or this could end up being a long season at the Meadowlands.
49ers (1-0) at Steelers (0-1): Pittsburgh-It seems like Pittsburgh hasn't played all season, doesn't it? Last Thursday was so long ago. The 49ers, meanwhile, played the second game on Monday night and now have to fly cross-country for an early game against a good Steelers team. All of that amounts to a Steelers win.
Rams (1-0) at Redskins (0-1): St. Louis-Of all the surprising results last week (and there weren't many), I think St. Louis over Seattle is probably the one that caught people off guard the most. Not me. I had a feeling the Rams would keep that one tight, so it wasn't totally out of the blue to see them win that. St. Louis has a chance to go 2-0 against a Washington team that still needs to figure a lot of things out. Nick Foles' experience playing the Redskins when he was with the Eagles will pay off here, too.
Texans (0-1) at Panthers (1-0): Houston-This is officially the hardest game of the week to pick. The Texans outplayed last week against Kansas City, especially early. That's why the Chiefs went into Houston and got a win. The Panthers, meanwhile, beat Jacksonville. They're gonna have to show me more. The Texans will be more prepared this week and the Panthers will be out of whack defensively without Kuechly. As a result, I like Houston in this one.
Ravens (0-1) at Raiders (0-1): Baltimore-Does anyone actually think the Raiders will beat the Ravens? No. I didn't think so. And you can't even use the back-to-back trips west as a reason why Oakland might pull the upset. Because the Ravens stayed out west after their game in Denver and trained in San Jose all week.
Dolphins (1-0) at Jaguars (0-1): Miami-Florida has one NFL team, one quasi-NFL team, and one glorified college team. The NFL team plays the glorified college team this week. Which one do you think will win? The AFC East ain't getting its first non-division loss here.
Cowboys (1-0) at Eagles (0-1): Dallas-Oh man, you've got Dallas, which was lucky to escape last week in a game they tried to hand to the Giants, but Eli insisted they take back. And you've got Philadelphia, which is in the opposite situation. The Eagles lost to a Falcons team they're probably better than, and now face the prospect of falling to 0-2. Despite the loss of Dez Bryant essentially for the year, Dallas has the weapons to make-do without him. They went undefeated on the road last year too (well, until that playoff game in Green Bay). That's the main reason why I'm going with the Cowboys.
Seahawks (0-1) at Packers (1-0): Green Bay-A rematch of last year's NFC Championship Game that suddenly has a lot more urgency for Seattle after that Week 1 loss in St. Louis. The Seahawks obviously don't want to go home 0-2, but that possibility is staring them directly in the face. You think the Packers forget the NFC title game? They've got their chance for revenge, and they're gonna take it. A win here could be big come January.
Jets (1-0) at Colts (0-1): Indianapolis-In this week's Super Bowl rematch, we go back to one of the greatest upsets in Super Bowl history, the 3rd edition with Joe Namath's guarantee. The modern-day Jets and Colts come in here with very different Week 1 experiences. The Jets played Cleveland at home, which was virtually a guaranteed win. The Colts went into Buffalo expecting a victory, but were punched in the gut by Rex Ryan's new-look Bills. The Indianapolis offense will definitely recover at home, and this will be a real test to see how good the Jets actually are. Indy can afford 0-2 more than some other leading Super Bowl contenders, but they're not gonna have to worry about it.
This Week: 1-0
Last Week: 11-5
Season: 12-5
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