Week 2 NFL Picks

ESPN.com

After a perfectly mediocre 8-8 start to the season, I’m ready to roll now.  I’ve got my finger on the pulse of the NFL and I’m here to share much better picks this week.  Or worse.  Or the same.  How’s that for confidence?  Anybody get the feeling that this is going to be a really weird year in the NFL?  We’ll see!  On to the picks:

Tennessee over Cincy: Let’s see, last week the Titans managed to beat the Jags, thought to be a playoff team, while Cincy lost to the Ravens, who had a rookie QB.  Yeah, Cincy has earned my wrath now and I shall be shunning them for the majority of the season.  Titans and their backup QB are the pick.  Bonus points if Vince Young does something insane on the sidelines.

Green Bay over Detroit: Is this the year that Millen finally gets fired?  Who are we kidding.  But Detroit got their behinds kicked by Atlanta and Green Bay handled Minnesota, so they’re my pick here.  Thanks for making me look stupid, both of you.

Kansas City over Oakland: Only because it’s at KC.  And this is pick for game I’d least like to watch.  There are few things that I can think of that I’d like less than seeing this game.  How sad.

New York Giants over St. Louis: Oh Rams, how stinky you are!  38-3 last week.  I love it.  I have never forgiven the Rams for their behavior in the 99 Championship game and I shall continue enjoying their suckitude for as long as I can.

Minnesota over Indy: Is it possible for the Colts to go 0-2?  I don’t know, I don’t like doing it, but they’re playing in Minny who has to be mad over their GB game.  Manning did not look right to me last week and I just don’t know if they can correct all the mistakes in a weeks time.  This one will probably bite me on the butt, but I’ll take my chances.

New Orleans over Washington: Washington failed to impress me last week.  In fact, they impressed me to stop thinking they might be a playoff team.  Players making errors is one thing, coaches seeming lost and helpless is another.  NO looks to be a major threat this year, their defense is a lot better than I expected it would be, watch out for Charles Grant, Jason Campbell.

Carolina over Chicago: Another toss up, both took wins from teams I expect to be in the playoffs.  Carolina gets the nod because they’re at home and they don’t have Kyle Orton as a QB.  I’m not yet a believer, prove me wrong Beard Boy.

Jacksonville over Buffalo: Only because the Jags played like crap last week and I can’t imagine they’ll do it two week sin a row.  If they do, the playoffs will look like a far murkier possibility.  That O-line gave up 7 sacks last week, I can’t imagine Del Rio was too happy with them.  Jags managed to sell enough tickets for the game not to be blacked out in Jacksonville so I’ll take that as a good sign.

Seattle over San Fran: I’m not sure who will be catching the ball for the Seahawks, they have 4 WR’s injured or something like that.  Fortunately they are playing San Francisco, who doesn’t have anybody to throw the ball to healthy WR’s.  I’ll take my chances that Hasselbeck will find someone to get the ball to.

Tampa Bay over Atlanta: Was last week an aberration?  Are the Lions that crappy or the Falcons that improved? I don’t know.  I do know that Michael Turner scares me.  Hopefully the Bucs defense will have their stuff together this week and minimize the big plays.  I like Griese and I’m anxious to see what he does.  I don’t know what the QB situation is in Tampa but I happen to like our depth so bring it.

Baltimore over Houston: Is Baltimore better than I think they are?  I don’t know.  I do know they’re the team that ruined my perfect 0-16 season for Miami last year and I shall never forgive them.  Man, could have had 19-0 and 0-16 and both got fouled up.  I hate football sometimes.  Anyway, Houston got their butt kicked last week and Baltimore won, so this is my pick.  I’ll probably regret it, in fact, I already do, but I’ll give the Ravens this one chance not to screw me over.

NY Jets over New England: Look, I don’t know what to expect here.  The Matt Cassel era has begun.  If Brady was QBing, I promise you I would pick the Pats.  I still think they might find a way to win this one, what with the Mangini hate flowing strong.  But, they’re in NY and it’s his first game on the road, so I’ll go with the QB that has a few years of experience under his belt.

Arizona over Miami: This one could go either way too.  I have no great faith in AZ and Miami was somewhat impressive against the Jets last week.  I mean, they didn’t get stomped on.  But I’ll take the Zona WR’s (please give Boldin to the Bucs!) over Miami’s D.

Denver over San Diego: Denver looked impressive, against Oakland, yes, but impressive all the same.  San Diego lost to Carolina.  This did not impress me.  They’re in Denver, so I’ll go with Denver.  Denver also likes to mess with me, so we’ll see what happens.

Pittsburgh over Cleveland: Cleveland was lackluster last week.  Receivers dropped a ton of passes.  Meanwhile Pittsburgh smacked the hell out of Houston.  I’m going with the team that played well in week 1.  I’d like Cleveland to surprise me here, I picked them to win their division, but I’ll go with the Burgh.

Philly over Dallas: Yep, I’ll go against the Boys on a Monday night game in their own stadium.  Philly’s DBs match up well with Dallas’ WRs.  Philly was awesome last week, as was Dallas.  It’s a toss up but I’m going to bank on Romo doing something stupid in a big game.  He doesn’t tend to let me down there.

So, that’s this week.  Hopefully I’ve improved on last.  Hopefully chaos does not reign in the NFL and this week we’ll restore some order.  Hopefully this week there will be no major season changing injuries.  I didn’t like leaving week 1 being depressed.  Happy watching!