NFL Picks - Week 2

Week 1 of the NFL season has come and gone and there were a lot of good things and bad things. (You can check out my opinion on those things in the Four Downs feature posted two days ago.) Now it is time to quickly move to Week 2 of the NFL season. This week starts on Thursday, as will every week from here on out after the league negotiated to bring Thursday night games weekly instead of a few as the season winds down. The primetime slate is really the highlight of the week, and there are a few afternoon games that could result in some surprises. With that said, here are my picks for the games in Week 2.

Thursday

Chicago Bears (1-0) vs. Green Bay Packers (0-1) - NFL Network, 8:20 PM ET

The NFL’s oldest and most historic rivalry kicks off Week 2 and there are a lot of division and conference implications. The Chicago Bears could take a commanding early lead if they walk into Lambeau Field and escape with a victory. If that happens, then the Green Bay Packers could just as easily fall into an early 0-2 hole with another conference loss, and a division loss. Should the Packers win however, they will certainly salvage a tough loss last week to San Francisco and avoid their first regular season back-to-back loss at Lambeau Field for the first time since 2008. While the secondary has some concerns with covering the likes of Marshall, Jeffery, Bennett and Hester, you have to wonder if the Bears also have the personnel to cover Jennings (who is doubtful to play), Nelson, Driver, Cobb, Jones and Finley. Despite Chicago’s front seven being better than Green Bay’s, in my opinion, I expect this to be a good old-fashioned shootout. When you look at the history of these teams, is pretty absurd. I do not see the Green Bay Packers going 0-2, and I think Rodgers plays lights out and wills the Packers to victory with a late touchdown or two.

Result: Chicago 24 Green Bay 33

Sunday

Kansas City Chiefs vs. Buffalo Bills - CBS, 1:00 PM ET

Both of these teams had some lofty expectations going into Week 1. In the case of the Bills, those were vanquished early in the first quarter, and in the case of the Chiefs it lasted until the 3rd quarter. Now these two teams will matchup in Western New York in a game where both teams have a lot to lose. Neither of these two teams would want to fall into a 0-2 hole, so I expect both of them to come out with a level of intensity. The key matchup here is the front four of the Buffalo defensive line against the offensive line for Kansas City. The Chiefs negated a lot of pass rushing opportunities last week against the Falcons, while the Bills defensive line was completely negated of registering sacks and barely came away with any pressures. Even though Kansas City’s secondary is still in bad shape, I think they pull away with a win and I will continue to look embarrassed about picking Buffalo as a playoff team. Dwayne Bowe should have a huge day against rookie Stephon Gilmore who was picked on by Mark Sanchez last week like it was his job. I am really sorry, Buffalo fans.

Result: Kansas City 27 Buffalo 14

Cleveland Browns vs. Cincinnati Bengals - CBS, 1:00 PM ET

Yuck. The Battle for Ohio could be really, really ugly this weekend. Not because of the weather either because it’s looking reasonable for this one, but because of the teams involved. Cleveland look magnificently dreadful against Philadelphia last week even though they almost came away with a victory. Brandon Weeden was disastrous and now, if it could get much worse, Joe Haden is officially suspended for this contest. On that note, A.J. Green is probably salivating over being matched with Sheldon Brown. The Bengals, as a whole, did not look terrible against the Ravens; they were just entirely overmatched in the trenches and towards the end of the game, Andy Dalton looked extremely shaky after being hit and pressured so much. I do not think he will be facing that kind of pressure against Cleveland by any means, even though they decimated Philadelphia’s offensive line. Their defense should get right back on track and Geno Atkins should come away with a few pressures and sacks. I do not expect this game to be very close, and I think that Cincinnati rebounds off of a pasting by Baltimore. They will give a pasting of their own to the Browns and another long year in Cleveland marches onwards.

Result: Cleveland 10 Cincinnati 31

Minnesota Vikings vs. Indianapolis Colts - FOX, 1:00 PM ET

This matchup produced one of the best regular season encounters of the 2009 season and was nearly the Super Bowl. It’s no Favre vs. Manning this team, but there certainly are some interesting storylines. Andrew Luck, despite the three interceptions (and lost fumble) that he had on Sunday, still looked sharp and threw for over 300 yards. Against a much worse secondary than Chicago has, I can see him lighting up the Vikings for another day of 300 yards or more. Meanwhile Adrian Peterson defied odds and had two rushing touchdowns last week against a good Jaguars defense. What will he do this week for an encore, possibly with more carries, against a worse run defense? We could see some big runs and more end zone visits for Mr. Peterson. To me though this battle really comes down to both pass rushes. Brian Robison destroyed Guy Whimper last week but Jared Allen was destroyed himself by Eugene Monroe. Dwight Freeney was hurt against the Bears after starting off pretty well, and Robert Mathis couldn’t generate too much off of the edge. Being that these pass rushers will be facing either good-to-below-average tackles in this game, it could result in a nightmare for both Luck and Christian Ponder. Somebody has to step up. With that said, give me the Vikings. The Luck Era will have to wait for its first win.

Result: Minnesota 21 Indianapolis 16

Oakland Raiders vs. Miami Dolphins - CBS, 1:00 PM ET

We have another matchup of 0-1 teams here in the AFC. The Oakland Raiders probably would have had more success last week if their long-snapper was not hurt and if Shane Lechler had a punt that was blocked for the first time since 2006. Meanwhile, the Dolphins struggled mightily with the Houston Texans and reportedly J.J. Watt of the Texans learned their snap count from Hard Knocks. That could present itself to be a problem yet again this week. Rolando McClain had an incredible night against San Diego and stopped the run effectively, according to Pro Football Focus. He picked up four stops, five tackles at the line of scrimmage and had two QB hurries on just six pass rushes. That will certainly be needed from Oakland this week. If anything was effective for the Dolphins it was their defensive line. DT Randy Starks gave the best performance on the line, picking up two stops, three pressures and two sacks on the afternoon. Ryan Tannehill’s struggles may have been large but he was playing against a great defense, and if he gets time in the pocket, he can pick on a weak secondary for Oakland. Nonetheless, I think Oakland is a much better team than their game against the Chargers showed, and I think they pick up a road victory here.

Result: Oakland 24 Miami 14

Arizona Cardinals vs. New England Patriots - FOX, 1:00 PM ET

The last time Arizona traveled to New England it was in 2008, just a few weeks before the Cardinals made a run to the Super Bowl. The Matt Cassel-led Patriots whooped the Cardinals 47-7. It would not be a surprise to anybody if a similar result happened in this game. Tom Brady and the Patriots didn’t overwhelm the Tennessee Titans on Sunday but they methodically beat them down with a pretty balanced attack and even with Tom Brady under center, the Patriots having a good-to-great rushing attack should put teams in a tizzy. What’s more is that their young defense had a lot of great performers, with Chandler Jones, Tavon Wilson and Dont’a Hightower all providing great contributions. Wes Welker was seemingly nowhere to be found, but that shouldn’t be too big of a problem going forward. Meanwhile, Arizona won their game against Seattle, albeit with some controversy in the air. Their quarterback situation could not honestly be worse and it appears that Kevin Kolb will be starting this week with John Skelton being hit with a high ankle sprain. Larry Fitzgerald was terrific as usual, and the continually underrated Vonnie Holliday played incredibly well on the end. Despite all of that though, the Patriots should roll, and roll big. 

Result: Arizona 13 New England 37

Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. New York Giants - FOX, 1:00 PM ET

Going into the season, one would have expected one of these teams, going into this game, to have won, and one of these teams to have lost. Though I’m sure that the majority didn’t think the Buccaneers would have the win, and the Giants would have the loss in this matchup of NFC teams. Nonetheless, that is what we have on our plate. The Giants secondary looked awful against the Cowboys and Justin Tuck had a game to forget. The passing game for Tampa Bay may not be totally potent, but they will need to get all that they can out of them to stop Vincent Jackson and Mike Williams. Victor Cruz will also need to shore up the drops and catch the ball more often. Tampa Bay really has to just do what they did last week against Carolina. The Giants are a very bad rushing team so they may hold their foe to low rushing numbers. Mark Barron was all over the field last week and could definitely provide a big impact. For the game, I think that this could potentially be a game the Giants could lose. They seem to find a way to drop games to teams that they shouldn’t. I do not think that they will suffer a big hangover, what with the rest that they have had so I think the Giants pull one out here at home, but it’ll be close.

Result: Tampa Bay 14 New York Giants 17

Baltimore Ravens vs. Philadelphia Eagles - CBS, 1:00 PM ET

This on paper proves to be the game of the day with star power and brand name. On the field though, I am not totally sure. Philadelphia may have won last week against Cleveland but the Eagles did not look too great. In fact, they nearly lost that contest which would have started the season on an embarrassing note. Michael Vick looked like he didn’t trust his offensive line at all and he was picked off four times by a porous Cleveland defense. With the Eagles now facing a team with a much better defense in the Ravens, they could be in for a world of hurt. Joe Flacco looked extremely sharp against the Bengals in his first game after his impressive performance in the AFC Championship Game, as did the offense and defense themselves. They put up 40+ points on a pretty good Cincinnati defense and the Eagles defense will have to do everything in their power to stop the offensive attack of the Ravens. I think this game could definitely be influenced by the fact that the Eagles are the home team, but I think the Ravens will be able to beat them. If the Eagles offensive line performs how they did last week, this might get ugly.

Result: Baltimore 23 Philadelphia 17

New Orleans Saints vs. Carolina Panthers - FOX, 1:00 PM ET

Going into the week I’m not sure many expected this to be a battle of 0-1 teams. Nevertheless in the NFL anything can happen and now that is what we have in this NFC South matchup. The Saints started off their us-against-the-world tour with a devastating and demoralizing loss to the RGIII-led Washington Redskins. The offense looked good, despite Brees throwing two interceptions but their defense looked disastrous. Neither Malcolm Jenkins or Roman Harper had a defended pass and the cornerbacks were shaky also. If anything is a positive it’s the fact that their notoriously bad run defense actually looked pretty good. That should help them against a Carolina team that was embarrassingly held to 10 yards rushing. A lot of people that had lofty expectations for this Panthers club may have been a bit too lofty. The secondary looked bad, the offensive line looked worse but Cam Newton on the bright side did play very well. They will definitely need him to make some good throws against a shaky looking New Orleans defense. On that note, I think that the Saints will rebound nicely off of the loss to Washington, but I’m going to give Carolina this victory because I see a bigger game from Cam.

Result: New Orleans 24 Carolina 27

Houston Texans vs. Jacksonville Jaguars - CBS, 1:00 PM ET

The Texans and Jaguars will meet in an AFC South matchup down in the Sunshine State and both teams will definitely be looking to make a stamp on the division race. Jacksonvile’s usually good defense didn’t do so great against second-year quarterback Christian Ponder or Adrian Peterson which doesn’t spell greatness against a much more complete and potent Houston Texan offense. On the other hand, their offense looked very sharp and Blaine Gabbert showed some great flashes including his should-have-been game-winning touchdown pass to Cecil Shorts with 20 seconds to play. If not for a long field goal in the final seconds from Blair Walsh that would have left a memorable mark in the early career for the former Missouri Tiger. Nonetheless they will be going up against one of the AFC’s best. The Texans despite a slow start looked about as good as they could have looked against the Miami Dolphins. Arian Foster played well, Matt Schaub looked about as good as he has EVER looked and the defense played phenomenally. I think this is a game where the Texans will flex their muscles, and pick up a victory.

Winner: Houston 24 Jacksonville 10

Washington Redskins vs. St. Louis Rams - FOX, 4:05 PM ET

The Washington Redskins were the biggest surprise of Week 1 depending on who you talk to. Robert Griffin III looked phenomenal, the offensive line played extremely well and Brian Orakpo and Ryan Kerrigan looked like a great pass rushing duo. They walk into their second road game in a row against an opponent with whom they have ties to from this past offseason. Remember, it was the Rams who traded them the #2 pick which the Redskins used for Griffin III. With that momentum they do have a lot of good things going for them heading into the Edward Jones Dome. However the task may not be as easy as it looks. The beleaguered Rams competed with the Detroit Lions for nearly 60 minutes last week and the game came down to the final possession. Their secondary looked sharp, especially free agent acquisition Cortland Finnegan, and rookie Janoris Jenkins who both came away with interceptions. Lest we not forget about pass rusher Chris Long, and we have a defense that looks to be improving. Offensively they were not so bad either. Sam Bradford threw for a touchdown to Brandon Gibson and looked pretty sharp all day under pressure. With that said I see similar results this game; the Rams will compete, but I like the Redskins more on the road again and I think RGIII has another sensational afternoon.

Result: Washington 21 St. Louis 17

Dallas Cowboys vs. Seattle Seahawks - FOX, 4:05 PM ET

Who is more on top of the world than the Dallas Cowboys? After beating the defending Super Bowl Champion New York Giants, the ‘Boys from Big D look poised to continue their winning ways this week. Despite the end result of last game, however, don’t let the Seahawks fool you. This is a team on the rise that has a great secondary that is arguably the best in football. In fact, when cornerback Brandon Browner was matched up with Larry Fitzgerald last week, he didn’t allow the All-Pro wide receiver to have even a single completion. Browner is a physically gifted, tall cornerback that can go with the best of them and i see him having similar success this week against whomever he’s matched up with. It’s no easy task to walk into CenturyLink (formerly known as Qwest) Field and with either. The 12th Man should surely be in full force for the Seahawks home opener. Russell Wilson may have some trouble though as Dallas secondary showed a lot of improvement this past week against Eli Manning and the Giants receivers. Tony Romo is going to have to be very, very careful that he doesn’t let his throws slip into the hands of Browner, Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas or Kam Chancellor because they will all make him pay. For the result, I think Dallas rides their momentum and despite the vaunted secondary of the Seahawks, comes away with another big road victory.

Result: Dallas 23 Seattle 20

New York Jets vs. Pittsburgh Steelers - CBS, 4:25 PM ET

Who would have thought that the New York Jets could do what they did last week to the Buffalo Bills? Certainly not me. They put on an offensive display that clearly was not seen during the preseason, further proving how abysmal that is and how much of a joke it can be relegated into being. Furthermore their defense came to play as well and held Buffalo to nearly nothing but garbage time action. They will need all of that and then some as they return to the site of the 2011 AFC Championship Game where the Jets, for the second consecutive year, fell on their faces in their quest to make the Super Bowl. The Pittsburgh Steelers certainly have to feel down on themselves after suffering yet another crushing defeat in the city of Denver, even after Ben Roethlisberger and the Steeler offense converted nearly every single third down opportunity that they faced. The defense did not help matters either and with Ryan Clark and James Harrison both out of action, LaMarr Woodley was shut down for the most part, as was most of the pass rush, the interior line couldn’t get any push and the secondary looked bad. As crazy as it may sound, I do not see that improving this week. I think that the Jets once again shock the world and come away with an even bigger win than they had last week.

Result: New York Jets 17 Pittsburgh 13

Tennessee Titans vs. San Diego Chargers - CBS, 4:25 PM ET

I do not think that Tennessee could have asked for a more dreadful performance all around than what they gave last week. Chris Johnson finished with three rushing yards, Jake Locker separated his shoulder and Tom Brady was able to pick them apart on nearly every passing play. With their opponent this week, it might behoove them to step it up. Even though Oakland’s secondary isn’t in the best shape, Philip Rivers looked extremely sharp and was able to make some darn good throws, too. Defensively the Chargers looked pretty good too. Although on the other side, I do think that they were helped in part to Oakland’s special teams woes that they felt from the start to the finish. When it comes to this game, to me, it’s about as honest as a pick’em can get. With that said, give me the home team as I think San Diego starts off this season with a 2-0 record, while the Titans are left to scramble and collect their thoughts and be left in limbo.

Result: Tennessee 14 San Diego 24

Detroit Lions vs. San Francisco 49ers - NBC, 8:20 PM ET

In this rematch of the infamous “handshake game,” the Detroit Lions instead will be the away team and the San Francisco 49ers will be the home team. Detroit had a shaky start to the game against St. Louis but willed their way to a comeback victory in spite of the fact that Matt Stafford threw three interceptions. Stafford, the offense as a whole and the defense also have to step up big time this week. San Francisco is no cakewalk as proven by their performances in the NFC Championship Game, last year as a whole and their dominant performance at Lambeau Field last week. It was arguably the biggest win of the week when the 49ers destroyed the Packers’ offensive line, wide receivers and the offense did a damn good job too. There is no better front seven as a whole than the 49ers in my opinion, and their secondary is looking a lot better than it was last year, which could present itself to be a problem to a pass-heavy team like Detroit is. I think this will be a smoke show from start to finish and I do not see Jim Schwartz and the Lions getting any form of revenge over San Fran.

Result: Detroit 13 San Francisco 31

You’ll be able to find my Monday Night Football preview in the Four Downs feature coming on Monday afternoon.