Week 2 Predictions

Record: 8 of 16 for the week, 19 of 32 for the season.

My picks are in italics. Winners will be in bold.

This week is tough. There are so many games that can realistically be expected to go either way that my confidence in my own accuracy is in doubt for one of the very few times I can remember over the past few years.






Sunday:

-- Lions vs Texans

Detroit pulled off a win IN Chicago against a decent Bears defense.

The Texans offense was less impressive than I’d expected against a weak San Diego team, and Houston’s defense was even worse than I’d expected.

Plus I just like Joey Harrington.

--Broncos vs Jaguars

Denver stopped Trent Green, normally a sickeningly efficient QB, dead in his tracks. Byron Leftwich should be a walk in the park.

The Jags also had no running game and after being beaten up by Priest Holmes, Fred Taylor will be a nice break.

The only worry is that Jacksonville’s defense is better than KC’s. This will be a much better test of Denver’s offense.

--Packers vs Bears

Carolina was a much tougher opponent than Chicago will be.

If the Bears thought the Lions were hard on them last week, they can’t be happy about Favre coming to town.

--Ravens vs Steelers

The Steelers performed in an underwhelming fashion against a weak Raiders team, but the Ravens offense was shoved around by the Browns defense and gave up a couple of late scores.

Right now this looks like a battle between two very bad teams, but someone has to win.

I’m assuming that Ray Lewis has his boys whipped into a frenzy after they were embarrassed last week.

--Titans vs Colts

The Titans are missing their starting LG and have a rookie starting in his place. Except for RB Chris Brown their offense was pathetic last week.

The Colts clearly outplayed the Patriots last weak, regardless of the loss.

The Titans running game and pass protection will both be slightly downgraded and it doesn’t seem they can match the Colts offensive production.

--Chiefs vs Panthers

The Panthers lost their best receiving threat, maybe for the year.

The big problem for the Panthers is that their defensive secondary will not be able to shutdown Chiefs TE Tony Gonzalez like Denver did.

--Saints vs 49ers

These are two bad teams in a game no one cares about. Neither of them played especially well last week.

The 49ers played a better game, but against a weaker opponent.

The Saints offense was helpless against Seattles D, but their defense held up reasonably well against one of the best offenses in the league.

The Saints get the nod because they are at home.

--Redskins vs NJ Giants

The ‘Skins won a hard game against a very good defense last week.

The Giants offense did reasonably well against Philly’s D, but their defense got shredded.

Clinton Portis is the difference maker in this game.

--Falcons vs Rams

The Rams were lucky to beat the Cardinals AT HOME last week and they still have the problems of a lousy defense and a shaky O line.

The Falcons are a better team than the Cardinals and the game is in Atlanta.

--Seahawks vs Buccaneers

Seattle’s defense was dominant and its offense was consistent if not spectacular last week vs the Saints.

The Bucs played tough defense overall, but seemed to forget that the offense is supposed to play football, too.

Their running game was nonexistent and they let Clinton Portis embarrass them.

They can expect to be embarrassed again this week.

--Raiders vs Bills

Another game between two bad teams no one cares about.

The Raiders running game was horrible last week and they only had moderate success stopping the run.

Unlike Pittsburgh, the Bills have two pretty good RBs, so should always have a reasonably fresh pair of legs in the game.

The Bills defense is stiffer than the Steelers’, so Gannon should have more trouble in the passing game.

--Patriots vs Cardinals

Before they got hit with a wave of injuries I’d have given the Cards a chance to win this one, but it just is not gonna happen now unless the Pats fall apart.

--NJ Jets vs Chargers

The Chargers barely had enough to beat a Texans team with a very weak defense and a middling offense.

The Jets are a much better team on both sides of the ball than the Texans.

The Chargers chances of coming out of this with a W are slim.

--Cowpatties vs Browns

The Cowpatties struggled against a Minnesota defense that is good, but not dominating. The Browns defense is better.

This does not seem to be the stellar Cowpatties defense we saw last year. Garcia and Winslow should walk away with their second win of the season.

Sunday Night

--Bengals vs Dolphins

The Dolphins did not play as badly as the talking heads at ESPN make it seem they did against the Titans. Their defense played well.

This week, with Feeley starting, the offense should be marginally better.

That’ll be enough, because the Bengals defense is nothing special and their offense is only average.

Monday

--Eagles vs Vikings

The Vikings performed better against a better defense.

Philly’s defense also showed serious problems, allowing two bad QBs to pass for a combined 269 yds and letting Tiki Barber (!) run for 125 yds on just 9 carries.