Well folks, Week 1 gave us its share of surprises, didn't it? The Bills, Jaguars and Rams are all in sole possession of first place in their divisions, while we also saw something we thought we might not see all season--a Patriots loss. What's in store for Week 2? Well, we've already seen Cincinnati fire its offensive coordinator after failing to score a touchdown on Thursday night, but I'm sure there's much more to come.
Cardinals (0-1) at Colts (0-1): Arizona-Arizona wasn't dealt an easy hand to start the season. Back-to-back trips to the Midwest for 1:00 kickoffs. Last week, they got outclassed in Detroit, but they'll likely have a far better result in Indianapolis. The Colts went out to LA last week and the game looked like a USC vs. Idaho guarantee game. They aren't that good with Andrew Luck. Without him, they're just bad.
Eagles (1-0) at Chiefs (1-0): Kansas City-Thank you Chiefs for making us not have to listen to "Can the Patriots go undefeated?" talk this year. Anyway, we all knew Kansas City was good. All they did on Thursday night was give us further evidence of that fact. Now they take on Andy Reid's former team in their home opener. Nice win by the Eagles last week, but the Redskins are not the Chiefs. Kansas City wins.
Patriots (0-1) at Saints (0-1): New England-Sound the panic alarm! The Patriots lost at home in their opener! Remember the last time they lost big to Kansas City? They didn't lose again that season and won the Super Bowl. Belichick's had an extra three days to figure out what went wrong last week and how to fix it. And, more importantly, they're playing the Saints instead of the Chiefs this week. The last-place Patriots' stay at the bottom of the AFC East standings will likely be a short one.
Vikings (1-0) at Steelers (1-0): Pittsburgh-On paper, this might be the best matchup of Week 2. Minnesota really controlled play pretty much all night against New Orleans, while Pittsburgh had some surprisingly tense moments in Cleveland. Their result was the same, though, and one of them will be 2-0 after this week. While they looked good last week, I'm not completely sold on the Vikings. Let's see how they do in their first road game of the year, which is, obviously, a very tough test. I'm taking the Steelers.
Bears (0-1) at Buccaneers (0-0): Tampa Bay-They're playing in Tampa less than a week after Irma, as the Bucs welcome their former quarterback Mike Glennon for their opener. Playing 16 straight weeks could definitely have a bearing on this potential playoff team down the stretch (especially since their Thursday night game is early). But the extra rest should help them this week. They didn't need extra time to prepare for the Bears, but they got it. The Bucs win this one for Tampa (now if the Rays could just do some winning for Tampa against the Red Sox).
Bills (1-0) at Panthers (1-0): Carolina-Ladies and gentlemen, the Buffalo Bills are in sole possession of first place in the AFC East. It's not going to last long, so I just wanted to make sure I got it out there. Both of these teams beat an opponent that's pretty bad last week, so this week will provide a much tougher challenge. The Panthers are a better team than the Bills and they're playing at home. That's enough for me.
Titans (0-1) at Jaguars (1-0): Tennessee-Raise your had if you thought Jacksonville was going to beat Houston last week. Anybody? Didn't think so. Not only that, the Jaguars smacked the Texans. Definitely one of the surprises of Week 1. Now they play another division game against the Titans, who lost at home to Oakland last week. I'm still going to say Tennessee should win this game, but the Jaguars pulled it off last week, and I think the Texans are better than the Titans, so first-place Jacksonville getting to 2-0 suddenly doesn't seem like much of a stretch, either.
Browns (0-1) at Ravens (1-0): Baltimore-Cleveland kept it surprisingly close against Pittsburgh last week, but, in true Browns fashion, they found a way to lose. Maybe it's because the Indians were winning enough for all three Cleveland teams. Well, the Indians finally stopped winning, so maybe they'll share some with Cleveland's "football" team. Then again, maybe not. Do you really see them beating the Ravens, a team that shut out the Bengals in Cincinnati, in Baltimore? I don't.
Jets (0-1) at Raiders (1-0): Oakland-Two teams play their home games at MetLife Stadium. So why in God's name did it sit empty for the first two Sundays of the season?! Anyway, the Jets take their traveling circus cross country for a matchup with the Raiders. This would be one game you could count on Oakland to win when both teams were bad. Now that the Raiders are good, it's not going to be pretty. Fortunately I'll be able to watch the Cowboys-Broncos game instead.
Dolphins (0-0) at Chargers (0-1): Miami-The Dolphins have spent the week in Southern California getting ready for their delayed opener. The Chargers, meanwhile, have a short week after playing the second Monday night game (and giving it away with that missed field goal on the final play). It's their first game in their temporary home, but they're evidently having trouble selling tickets even in a 30,000-seat soccer stadium (mainly because no one, including the Chargers, wants them in LA). It'll be very interesting to see how many people actually show up to see the Dolphins win.
Cowboys (1-0) at Broncos (1-0): Dallas-As long as Ezekiel Elliott is allowed to play (which I think will be the entire season), Dallas should be favored in most, if not all of their games. The last time Denver played Dallas, Peyton Manning was at the helm for the Broncos. Now it's Trevor Siemian, which isn't quite the same thing. Denver barely beat the Chargers on Monday night, while the Cowboys pretty thoroughly handled the Giants. The Broncos' defense may be the strength of the team, but the Cowboys have enough offense that they'll score just enough points to get it done.
Redskins (0-1) at Rams (1-0): Rams-OK, here's what I've got to say about the woeful attendance at the Rams-Colts game (a crowd that rivaled the one at Trump's inauguration)...the LA Coliseum made it look much worse than it actually was. I'm not saying all those empty seats were a good thing. But the LA Coliseum seats 90,000 people. It also looked empty for Super Bowl I. If you had 50,000 people sitting in a 65,000-seat stadium, it wouldn't have looked nearly as bad. The LA Coliseum, of course, won't be empty for the track & field events at the 2028 Olympics. IOC President Thomas Bach is coming to this game to celebrate LA's being awarded those Games. Unfortunately, he won't see a very good football game. I'll take the Rams because, why not? (Also, why are both LA teams home this week? You're gonna complain about the attendance for both of them anyway, so maybe making fans choose between the games wasn't the brightest idea.)
49ers (0-1) at Seahawks (0-1): Seattle-Both of these teams lost last week. One lost on the road against one of the favorites in the NFC. The other got smacked around at home. See where I'm going with this? The Seahawks don't lose at home period. They certainly won't against a 49ers team that they're far superior to.
Packers (1-0) at Falcons (1-0): Green Bay-Atlanta opens its new stadium on Sunday Night Football with a rematch of the NFC Championship Game. This is the Falcons' first real test of the season after opening against the Bears. The Packers, meanwhile, get their second straight playoff team to open 2017. You know that after losing the final game at the Georgia Dome, Aaron Rodgers and Co. would like nothing more than to spoil the opening of Mercedes-Benz Stadium. I think they will, too.
Lions (1-0) at Giants (0-1): Giants-Detroit was impressive in its Week 1 win over Arizona. The Giants were not in their Week 1 loss at Dallas. In fact, they made it abundantly clear that they're not the same team without Odell Beckham, Jr., and that overall lack of offense going back to last season is definitely troubling. So why am I picking the Giants? Because I don't see that defense having two bad games in a row, and Detroit's offense should give them far fewer problems than Dallas did.
Thursday Night: Houston (Win)
This Week: 1-0
Last Week: 11-4
Season: 12-4
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