Well another week, another barely above .500 performance for me in my picks. A huge number of close NFL games were decided in the final minutes last week, and while that may not be good for my picks record, it surely makes for some exciting football. Of course, other times I was just blatantly wrong, as in the case of the Seahawks-49ers game.Hopefully my record will fare better in the third week of NFL action, right before teams start taking their byes and trying to work through their problems. Through two weeks, I sit at 18-14 on the season, and I've got a lot of catching up to do.
Chiefs at Eagles
30-20 Eagles
Andy Reid will return to Philadelphia Thursday night to play the team he coached for so many years, but he won't get the outcome he was expecting. Chip Kelly's offense is simply too explosive and the Chiefs' defense may have trouble slowing the fast pace attack down. If this game turns into a shootout, it's hard to bet on Alex Smith over Michael Vick, which could spoil Reid's homecoming.
Texans at Baltimore
20-14 Texans
Expect plenty of defense and not a ton of offense with these two teams, as the battle for field position will be critical in this game. The Ravens have Ray Rice injured (though it's possible he might still play) and their offensive line doesn't look ready to handle J.J. Watt. Joe Flacco and his new targets have not had much success throwing the ball either, so he'll have to hit on a few deep shots to get this team moving. The Texans expect Andre Johnson to play, but so far Arian Foster has not looked dominant, and he's still the engine this team runs through. If the Ravens slow down the run game, Matt Schaub is going to have to make sure he doesn't throw another ill-timed interception to give this game away.
Giants at Panthers
24-14 Giants
A battle between two teams fighting to stay relevant very early on in the season. Neither team can afford the death knell that would be an 0-2 start. In the end, there is no doubt future Hall of Fame coach Tom Coughlin is going to make this team play better than they did in the first two weeks, while Ron Rivera already seems to be on his way out the door. The Panthers' secondary shouldn't be able to handle the Giants' aerial attack, while Cam Newton and his offense have struggled to get things going in the first two games.
Packers at Bengals
28-21 Packers
Aaron Rodgers reminded everyone last week just how amazing a quarterback he is, and it should be clear to Bengals fans after Sunday just how big of a gap there is between Rodgers and their quarterback.There's no doubt Andy Dalton can be effective with all the talent around him, but Rodgers' presence just makes the team around him more talented than they were without him. The Bengals' one weakness on defense is their secondary, and Rodgers should be able to exploit that by getting the ball out of his hands quickly, neutralizing the Bengals' strong front.
Rams at Cowboys
24-21 Rams
I keep rolling with the Rams every week, but another slow start may cause me to start doubting my sleeper pick for the playoffs. The Rams showed plenty of heart battling back from a 24-3 hole against the Falcons, but they simply can't fall that far behind against quality opponents on the road. Jared Cook is going to have to show up again like he did week one, instead of almost disappearing from the stat sheet. The Cowboys are going to need to get their ground game going to give Tony Romo some balance, but that's proved pretty hard to do against St. Louis. Dez Bryant is going to need to play hard all four quarters for the Cowboys to walk out of this one.
Browns at Vikings
21-10 Vikings
Christian Ponder will be benched and Leslie Fraizer will be fired if the Vikings lose this game, as this week it seems as if the Browns are practically giving this game away. They are starting their third string quarterback, and they just sent their best offensive player to another team. The Browns are clearly punting on the rest of 2013 and hoping for the best in the future, and it's the Vikings job to oblige their request.
Buccaneers at Patriots
15-12 Patriots
Signs point to this being an ugly game between two teams that are not exactly playing good football right now. The Patriots get the edge for being at home, and Bill Bilichick knows enough about his good friend Greg Schiano to keep that team from having a ton of success. Tom Brady needs to continue to buy time for his weapons to get healthy, and he most likely is going to struggle to put together a functional offense against a defense that played the Saints very tough last week. Josh Freeman is almost begging to be benched (or traded) at this point, so the Patriots should have no problem holding Tampa's attack down either.
Cardinals at Saints
27-20 Saints
Picking against the Saints in the Superdome is never a smart thing to do, as the Saints have a good chance of staying perfect on the season and taking charge of the NFC South. Tight end Jared Cook had a great day week one against the Cardinals, and Sean Payton and Drew Brees must be drooling over the match-ups they can get with tight end Jimmy Graham (who had 179 yards just last week). The Saints defense appears more than capable of holding its own throughout the season, though maybe another Patrick Peterson pass or catch will be enough to throw them off.
Chargers at Titans
21-14 Chargers
The Philip Rivers redemption tour continues with a win on the road against the Titans. The Titans' defense has been playing extremely tough so far this season and they almost caused me to go with the Titans, but the offense has too many questions for me to pick them over Rivers. Jake Locker simply can't push the ball accurately just about anywhere, and the passing game allows defenders to load the box against Chris Johnson (Locker averaged under five yards per attempt last week, on 30 attempts). The Titans simply don't have a quarterback right now, and without that it's hard to win in the NFL today.
Lions at Redskins
33-28 Lions
I want to have faith that RGIII is going to start to redeem himself in front in his home crowd, but his offensive line has struggled and they're going against one of the best defensive lines in the business. The Redskins' defense has also pulled the team out of games early, and it's very possible that Matthew Stafford and Megatron could roll right past them just as the Eagles and Packers have done. The Redskins are going to fall into an early hole again, but Jim Schwartz's undisciplined team is going to make enough mistakes to let them back in the game. The problem is that it just doesn't look like Washington knows how to win yet.
Falcons at Dolphins
27-24 Dolphins
My upset pick of the week again goes against the Atlanta Falcons, who were so kind as to prove me wrong last week. This time could be different though, as they are now on the road against a Dolphins team trending up after a big win on the road against the Colts. Miami's defense cannot be taken lightly, and if the Falcons aren't able to generate a rushing attack like last week, Cameron Wake is going to be aiming for Matt Ryan on every single play, not a huge recipe for success. Ryan Tannehill is looking more and more mature as a passer, and he and Mike Wallace have a chance to abuse some of the Falcons' young corners.
Bills at Jets
17-10 Bills
The battle of the rookie signal callers goes to the one picked earlier, in this case Bills' quarterback EJ Manuel. EJ has been good but not great in his first two starts, but that's all this team has needed him to be, and this team is going to be spurred on by the high emotions following their comeback win against the Panthers. Meanwhile, there's still plenty of doubt in Florham Park about their rookie quarterback, and it's fair to wonder whether Mark Sanchez would be starting for this team if he was healthy. Geno Smith has plenty of time to prove himself capable while Sanchez is recovering, but the early returns are not looking great so far.
Jaguars at Seahawks
42-6 Seahawks
This match-up just seems unfair. The worst offense in the league will go against the best defense in the league, in a stadium where a new record was just set for noise level. The silver lining is that at least the Jaguars will stay on track to be at the top of the 2014 draft, now that the Browns have firmly announced their intention to compete with them for that spot.
Colts at 49ers
28-27 49ers
Jim Harbaugh's former protege comes to visit Sunday, in a classic match-up of master against student. Andrew Luck just received a ton of help from his front office in the form of Trent Richardson, and the new balance he should bring to the Colts' offense could open up plenty of lanes for Luck to throw the ball into. Harbaugh is going to know his former pupil's tendencies though, and he's going to have his team ready to make a statement after being embarrassed Sunday night against their division rivals.
Bears at Steelers
24-13 Bears
The Bears continue to look like a team ready to make a statement, while a lot of Steelers fans are ready to throw in the Terrible Towel. Todd Haley could not get the offense to move effectively against the Bengals Monday night, and having a short week to figure out another tough defense will be tough for him. The Steelers will also be facing a rejuvenated Jay Cutler, who has fixed quite a few of the holes in his game, except his propensity of turning the ball over. Too bad the Steelers' defense has yet to force a turnover on the year.
Raiders at Broncos
33-17 Broncos
I'm predicting that this game will at least be closer than many people are anticipating, as Terrelle Pryor's legs will at least help keep the ball out of Peyton Manning's hands. That doesn't mean the Broncos' attack will have any trouble marching up and down the field Sunday, as they appear to be the class of this conference by a wide margin. Despite plenty of concern throughout the offseason, the Broncos are going to get through half of Von Miller's suspension undefeated.
No comments:
Post a Comment