September 11, 2007

NFL Week 2 Predictions

September 11, 2007, 10:59 PM | 7 Comments

Last week I got off to a really good start by going 12-4 with my picks for week 1, and what an exciting weekend it was! As always during the first few weeks of an NFL season, there were a few surprises, but the story of week 1 was injuries. It’s extremely tragic what happened to Buffalo’s Kevin Everett and I really hope for the best. So far things are looking up, so let’s hope that they continue to improve.

Many teams suffered key injuries to key players last week, but I think you have to look at Chicago, the New York Giants and St. Louis as the hardest hit. Chicago lost 2 defensive starters for the season, New York has lost 2 offensive starters for a significant period of time and a defensive starter and St. Louis will be without standout offensive lineman Orlando Pace for the rest of the season. It’ll be extremely interesting to see what type of impact these injuries have on their respective teams, but there are some worried coaches and GMs right now, that’s for sure.

Some of the things I’ll be looking for this week are whether or not certain teams are as bad (or as good) as they showed last week. Surely Baltimore can’t be as bad as they were on Monday night and Pittsburgh can’t be as good as they looked against the Browns… can they? The Jets probably aren’t as bad as they looked against the Patriots last week, but that injury to Chad Pennington I’m sure has many Jets fans nervous… or cheering. Is Carolina really leading the NFC South?

Game of the Week: Chargers at Patriots

This game is huge and could possibly factor into the final playoff seeding come January. One thing is for sure, this is going to be a colossal match-up between 2 of the AFC’s premiere teams and it should be a lot of fun to watch.

Last week, the New England Patriots burst out of the gates and really vindicated all of the people that have been saying the Pats are the Super Bowl favourite for this year. Randy Moss played like New England expected when they went out and made the trade to get him. Tom Brady was Tom Brady and the Patriots walked all over the Jets. But wait just a minute… the Chargers aren’t the Jets. Not that the Jets are a bad team, but they’re clearly not on the same level as the Patriots, Colts and Chargers.

San Diego got off to a bit of an awkward start last week, which concerns me just a bit. LaDainian Tomlinson rushed for a meager 25 yards on 17 carries last week for a horrible 1.5 yards per carry average, but he still factored into the game by throwing a touchdown pass. Yes, the Bears have a pretty good run defense, but that’s just not the LT we’re used to seeing. Tomlinson is currently 50^th on the leading rushers list but I don’t expect that to last long. Remember, LT doesn’t ever take a snap during the pre-season, so maybe he was just a little rusty?

The Chargers have a lot of great weapons on offense but it really all revolves around LT, so it’s going to be up to him to carry the majority of the load in New England. On the other side of the ball, the Chargers defense had a great game last week and held the Bears to just 3 points. I think they’ll be able to keep their team in the game this week, so it’s going to be up to the offense to score a good amount of points if they want any chance of beating New England… because while their defense should be good, they certainly won’t be holding that Pats offense to 3 points.

Here are my picks for week 2!

Away	Home	Comments	Pick	Result
Bengals (1-1)	Browns (1-1)	Last week the Browns made the Steelers offense look like the 1999 Rams “Greatest Show on Turf” offense, and that doesn’t bode well for them as they prepare to take on Cincinnati. The Bengals are coming of a huge win against the Ravens, but if I was the Browns, I’d be pretty intimidated by that Bengals defense. Yes, even more so than their potent offense (which disappeared after the 1st quarter on Monday night).
Texans (2-0)	Panthers (1-1)	I was wrong about both of these teams last week because I picked both to lose. Unfortunately, Jake Delhomme and Matt Schaub had other plans. It was nice to see Ahman Green get off to a good start in Houston, but after last week’s strong start, I’m going to have to pick Carolina to win this one because they just have too many weapons on offense.
Colts (2-0)	Titans (1-1)	Indianapolis came out of the gates slow, but then exploded in the second half against the Saints. The Titans had a good week 1 win, but give the Colts 9 days to prepare and I’d pick them against almost any team in the league.
Falcons (0-2)	Jaguars (1-1)	Falcons fans found out right away what Lions & Dolphins fans have been talking about for years. Joey Harrington just isn’t cut out to be a starting quarterback in the NFL. It’s going to be a very long year in Hotlanta, but everyone knew that anyway.
Packers (2-0)	Giants (0-2)	Huge win for Green Bay last week! As I mentioned last week, it’s their defense that’s going to be the key for them this year because there are huge questions about the Packers offense. With the injuries that the Giants sustained on Sunday night, I just can’t pick them to beat the Packers. They very well could, but this is a winnable game for Green Bay. Congratulations to Brett Favre for tying John Elway’s all time wins mark as a starting QB… hopefully Favre will stand alone after this weekend. GO PACK!
49ers (2-0)	Rams (0-2)	Losing Orlando Pace is huge for the Rams, so it’ll be very interesting to see how the O-Line responds. St. Louis is always tough at home and save for the last 3 minutes of the Monday Nighter, San Francisco’s Offense doesn’t look all that great right now. This may be close, but I’ll pick the Rams this week.
Bills (0-2)	Steelers (2-0)	The Steelers may or may not be as good as they showed on Sunday against the Browns, but they’re still one of the better teams in the AFC. Buffalo obviously has a lot on their minds right now, and for good reason. They’ll be very emotional for this game and I think that bond and that energy will help them stay in this one. In the end though, I think the Steelers should be able to do enough to win.
Saints (0-2)	Buccaneers (1-1)	New Orleans had a pretty good first half last week against the Colts, but then it all fell apart. If they want to establish themselves as the favourite in the NFC South again this season, they’re going to have to take this game from the Bucs… and I think they will.
Seattle Seahawks (1-1)	Cardinals (1-1)	Last week Arizona failed to convince me that the culture of defeat has left the desert. They had every chance to win in San Francisco and really just let the game slip away. Seattle started strong and will look to maintain their NFC West lead this week, and I’m pretty sure they’ll do it.
Cowboys (2-0)	Dolphins (0-2)	Tony Romo has definitely put last season behind him and looks poised to lead the Cowboys this season. After that showing on Monday night against the Giants, it’s hard not to think that they’re serious contenders for the NFC East title this year. I know it’s only one week, but their offense looked extremely good on Sunday night.
Vikings (1-1)	Lions (2-0)	The tough thing about this game is that the Vikings are not the Raiders (who the Lions beat last week) and the Lions are not the Falcons (who the Vikings beat). So I think this’ll come down to the individual match-ups. Minnesota gets the edge at RB and total defense, but Detroit gets the edge at WR, QB and total offense as a whole… plus, they’re at home. I’ll take Detroit, but this could be close.
Chiefs (0-2)	Bears (1-1)	Neither of these teams were very good last week, but I’ll give the edge to the Bears because they were playing against a tough San Diego team and their defense played pretty well.
Raiders (0-2)	Broncos (2-0)	What a crazy end to last week’s game in Buffalo. If you missed it, you really need to watch the highlights. Until the Raiders win a game, I won’t be picking them to win… regardless of who they’re playing.
Jets (0-2)	Ravens (1-1)	Baltimore is going to be looking to prove themselves this week. After 6 turnovers on Monday against the Bengals, you can bet they’ll be working hard all week to rectify that problem. I wouldn’t want to be the Jets right now.
Chargers (1-1)	Patriots (2-0)	In what could very well be a preview of the AFC Championship game this season I’ll be looking for 2 things. Can the Patriots offense tear up a Chargers defense that was very good last year and appears to be just as good this year? And, can New England limit LT’s production like the Bears did last week? Based on the offensive performances of both these teams last week and because the Patriots generally win these big games at home, I’ll take New England.
Redskins (2-0)	Eagles (0-2)	The Eagles lost a tough one last week, but they’ve still got to be considered as one of the better teams in the NFC. I think this division is going to be really tight (as always) but if the Eagles want to be in the running for the NFC East crown at the end of the year, they’re going to have to start by beating the Redskins this week.

Hopefully I can continue my success this week and get off to a great start that will set the pace for how I’m going to fair this season. Check back after the games for more thoughts and updates from week 2. Also, if you haven’t voted yet in the “Who will win this year’s Super Bowl” poll, place your vote in the poll at the top of last week’s entry as I’ll probably close the poll after week 2 or 3 has been completed. And as always, here are ESPN’s Expert Picks.

Update: Well, after starting so nicely last week (12-4) I had a bit of a tougher time this week. There were definitely a lot of surprises (hello Cincinnati and Cleveland… yeah, you) and upsets but I still managed a so-so 10-6 this week to bring my total up to 22-10. Not too bad after 2 weeks, but I’m hoping to do better next week. Speaking of next week, check back on Tuesday for what looks like it’s going to be a very difficult slate of picks in week 3.

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