If you're like me and do your picks on Yahoo!, look at the percentages for some of this week's matchups. I don't think I've ever seen a 99-1 before, and this week there are two! And the crazy part is neither one surprises me. In addition to Seattle-Jacksonville and Denver-Oakland, there are two 96-4's, a 95-5 and a 93-7. There's even an 82-18 in favor of the underdog Giants. I've never seen so many matchups where the confidence in one team is so high in the same week. Which means a lot of my picks for this week will be the same as many, many others.
Packers (1-1) at Bengals (1-1): Green Bay-The Bengals got the win in dominating fashion over Pittsburgh on Monday night, but I'm not entirely sure if that says more about Cincinnati or Pittsburgh. Anyway, they get another test this week as the Packers come to town. Green Bay sure recovered from that loss to San Francisco in Week 1. They beat the Redskins by 18 in a game that wasn't even that close. That was an utter beat down from the start. I think it's safe to say Aaron Rodgers got his mojo back. And it's also safe to say that Andy Dalton is no Aaron Rodgers. Packers win.
Rams (1-1) at Cowboys (1-1): Dallas-Still not sure what to make of Dallas. The Giants tried to literally hand them the game and they only barely won, then they go and lose to Kansas City (although, I, for one, am getting higher and higher on the Chiefs). I was also really impressed with the way the Rams played in Atlanta. St. Louis has a real chance to be a spoiler this season. But this week, I'm going to take Dallas.
Chargers (1-1) at Titans (1-1): Tennessee-Let's be honest. The Titans should be 2-0. And the most impressive thing about their start is that both of their games so far have been on the road. The Chargers don't like 1:00 starts, but they pulled one off last weekend in Philadelphia and provided the rest of the NFL with the template on how to slow down the Eagles' offense in the process. I'm not sure San Diego wins two 1:00 games in a row, though. Especially against an overachieving Titans team in its home opener.
Browns (0-2) at Vikings (0-2): Minnesota-Who trades their best player (for nothing!) two games into the season? No, the Trent Richardson trade still doesn't make any sense to me. Unless the Browns felt they had to somehow get worse, make their fans even more miserable, and bring more attention to the Indians' pursuit of the AL wild card. The fact that they're playing the Vikings in Minnesota's home opener seems like a side note. Of course the Vikings are the pick. The chances of my picking Cleveland at any point from now until the end of the season aren't very good.
Buccaneers (0-2) at Patriots (2-0): New England-This is the game where the Yahoo! breakdown was 93-7 New England. The Patriots haven't looked great, but they're 2-0 and that's really what matters. And they've had 10 days off since that win over the Jets last Thursday. It's been the opposite story for the Bucs. Tampa Bay is 0-2, but has lost both games by a combined three points and could've (probably should've) won both. This week's loss won't be as close.
Cardinals (1-1) at Saints (2-0): New Orleans-New Orleans still has some things to figure out, because the Saints aren't as good as they think they are. They should beat the Cardinals at home, though.
Lions (1-1) at Redskins (0-2): Washington-Speaking of teams that aren't as good as they think they are, how about the Washington Redskins? (By the way, I highly recommend Rick Reilly's current column about the Redskins' name controversy.) I think Washington simply needs to figure out how to play with Griffin limited, but the Redskins were embarrassed last week at Lambeau. The good news is that they've got Detroit this week, so if they're able to keep RG3 on his feet, the Redskisn should be able to get their first win.
Giants (0-2) at Panthers (0-2): Giants-The Giants have a lot of problems. I'll be the first one to admit it. We were saying that last year, too, when they went into Charlotte on a Thursday night in Week 3 and absolutely destroyed the Panthers. I'm not saying that'll definitely happen again, but the Giants are probably treating this like a virtual must-win, especially with a trip to Kansas City next week. Eli Manning isn't as bad as he's looked in the first two weeks. The Panther defense has fallen apart at the end of the game twice in two games. I like his chances to straighten it out against Carolina.
Texans (2-0) at Ravens (1-1): Baltimore-The national early game matches two division winners from last season. I've really been impressed with the Texans this season. They didn't play their best in either game, and they've trailed in the fourth quarter of both. Yet they've completed two fourth quarter/overtime comebacks and are 2-0. And you've gotta think Houston's only going to get better. Same thing with the Ravens, who were embarrassed in Denver, then barely beat the Browns last week. But Joe Flacco's wife won't be having a baby just before the game starts this week, so you have to figure he'll be a little less distracted. Houston's the favorite, which surprised me. I guess that means I'm taking the underdog.
Falcons (1-1) at Dolphins (2-0): Atlanta-The third team playing its home opener in Week 3 is 2-0 Miami, who might finally give New England a challenge in the AFC East. And last week's win was the one that showed me a lot. They went into Indy, held off Andrew Luck's trademarked fourth-quarter comeback, and beat the Colts. Atlanta's the better team, though, and has the Patriots next week. This might be a bit of a trap game, but I don't think it will be.
Bills (1-1) at Jets (1-1): Buffalo-The Bills have also surprised me with how well they've played this season. E.J. Manuel looks like the real deal. A last-second loss to New England followed by a game-winning touchdown on the last play against Carolina. Since we've last seen the New York Jets, they've graduated to the fourth-worst team in the AFC, since Cleveland has pulled a Miami Marlins on everybody. Whoever wins here will believe they have a chance to be a real contender. Of the two, the only one that's true about is Buffalo. As a result, I'm going Bills.
Colts (1-1) at 49ers (1-1): San Francisco-Andrew Luck returns to the Bay Area, where he's reunited with Jim Harbaugh. And, oh yeah, the Colts have suddenly gotten significantly better since losing to the Dolphins last week. They have a running game now. Has Trent Richardson had enough time to engrain himself into that offense? Well, we'll find out. Likewise, how will the 49ers bounce back after their now-annual waxing in Seattle? I think just fine. Luck vs. Kaepernick should go the way of the dude with the tattoos. (Surprisingly, this is a 95-5 on Yahoo!)
Jaguars (0-2) at Seahawks (2-0): Seattle-This is one of those aforementioned 99-1's. The Seahawks have scheduled Jacksonville for their Homecoming Game. My only questions surrounding this game are: Did the Jaguars go back to Jacksonville or just stay on the West Coast? (My guess is the latter.) How long will the Seahawks' starters play? And, what will the margin of victory be? (Can they get to 70 like all those college teams on Saturday?)
Bears (2-0) at Steelers (0-2): Chicago-Pittsburgh's really in trouble. Where has the Steelers offense gone? It's very realistic that they could head to London 0-3, making this one an absolute must-win. But this is a different Bears team than we've seen in the past. They can score now. Both of their wins came in Chicago and this is their first road game, but I don't think that necessarily matters. Besides, they're helped by the fact they're playing a Sunday night game in Pittsburgh, which should give them similar weather. Hopefully we finally get a good one on NBC. I'll say Chicago wins a close game.
Raiders (1-1) at Broncos (2-0): Denver-There's an appliance store in Denver that's giving away stuff for free if the Broncos shut the Raiders out. Maybe they should change it to if the Broncos score 50 points, because they almost did it against the Ravens and against the Giants, so putting up half a century on the Raiders isn't a stretch at all. Oakland does have a win. But that's primarily because they're less bad than Jacksonville.
Last Week: 12-4
This Week: 0-1
Season: 22-11
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