buffalo at pittsburgh
buffalo : the bills almost won last week despite getting very little from their offense. i don't expect much to change this week.
pittsburgh : the steelers looked impressive last week. then again, they were playing the browns. i'm curious to see if they can maintain that level of play against a [slightly] better team.
the pick : pittsburgh
houston at carolina
houston : the texans are fielding their best team since the franchise's induction into the nfl, which is good because that means they can finally shed their 'expansion' label. their offense looks better with schaub at quarterback and their defense continues to improve with more experience.
carolina : if the panthers can establish a consistent running game, they will be able to return to contender status. if not, they will be mired in mediocrity yet again.
the pick : houston
atlanta at jacksonville
atlanta : the falcons played terribly last week, but i expect to play better as the season progresses [i have to no reason as to why i made that claim].
jacksonville : the jaguars are a team that plays to the level of their competition, and when teams do that, they get beat by teams they should beat every now and then.
the pick : atlanta
new orleans at tampa bay
new orleans : despite last week's stinkbomb, i look for the saints to rebound this week and get their offense together. as for their defense, well, it looks like they still have a major weakness at cornerback.
tampa bay : the buccaneers have the potential to surprise their opponents this year with a veteran quarterback and a defense that has found younger players to add to an aging defense. even with the possibility that cadillac williams will not be playing this week, i don't see the bucs offense losing that much with michael pittman starting.
the pick : new orleans
green bay at ny giants
green bay : plain and simple, the packers won last week with luck. so i guess that's their game plan for this week.
ny giants : has there ever been a team that needed a coaching change this early into the season? is it even possible for more bad things happen to giants this week than last week? but as poorly as the giants played last week, they were still in the game towards the end. as for this week, there's just too much to overcome.
the pick : green bay
san francisco at st louis
san francisco : i want to go on record to say that i knew the 49ers were going to call an end around to a wide receiver for their game winning play last week. call it a hunch. other than that, i enjoyed how mike and mike and mike decided that the cardinals and niners both played excellent defense as to why their offenses struggled. that was nice of them.
st louis : orlando pace is out for this game, which is significant, yet he was out last year for some games and stephen jackson still played well. the lesson as always, stephen jackson always pretends every defensive player is danny glover.
the pick : san francisco
cincinnati at cleveland
cincinnati : the bengals might have turned the corner with last monday's victory. their offense played well against an elite ravens defense. this is not good news for the browns.
cleveland : the nfl should make a new rule: if a team loses to cleveland, then said team should automatically be disqualified from the playoffs in the same year, no matter what their record is. with that in mind, the browns traded starting quarterback charlie frye one week into the season for a sixth round pick [never a good sign] and now have derek anderson as the starter [someone please tell me how this is will make a difference]. just start brady quinn and get it over with.
the pick : cincinnati
indianapolis at tennessee
indianapolis : wow, by the looks of last week's game, the colts are diversifying their offense, which is bad news for the defensive coordinators everywhere. before last week's game, we all knew that marvin harrison lined up on one side and reggie wayne on the other. but against the saints, they switched sides and sometimess lined up on the same side. and for the first time i saw them run a play where dallas clark gets the ball on an end around [which shouldn't really strike fear into opposing teams, but it might be a sign of other new plays to come]. their defense also looked stout against a good new orleans offense. they might be better than i previously thought.
tennessee : it looks like the titans will continue to employ the same strategy for games this year as they did last year, which is keep the game close and hope vince young makes some plays at the end. if chris brown can stay healthy, the titans will have one of the better rushing attacks [i'm counting vince young] in the league.
the pick : indianapolis
minnesota at detroit
minnesota : ever since his freshman year at oklahoma, i've always thought adrian peterson would be a good pro, although it seemed the media forgot how good he was the more he played in college. he will help tavaris jackson ease into being a starter in this league, much like how he helped jason white win the heisman.
detroit : call it a gift from the schedule gods, as either oakland or detroit would have been 1-0 after playing each other last week. detroit took advantage the schedule and are over .500 for the first and possibly last time of the season. i still can't believe that jon kitna is the only legitimate quarterback on their roster. lions management are putting a lot of faith in a person whose greatest nfl achievement is leading the bengals to a 8-8 record.
the pick : detroit
dallas at miami
dallas : the cowboys offense was near unstoppable last week against the giants. but the fact that the giants were still in the game despite the fact that cowboys offense played well is not a good sign. the cowboys biggest weakness is their secondary, especially at strong safety where pro bowler roy williams couldn't stop the pass to save his life.
miami : cam cameron is supposedly an offensive minded coach, yet their defense is what will keep the dolphins in this game. the dolphins have enough parts on offense to do well, i believe it's just a matter of when. unfortunately, it won't be in time for this game.
the pick : cowboys
seattle at arizona
seattle : the seahawks returned to form last week, and they showed what they are capable of doing when they have healthy team. last week, shaun alexander was able to play showed why he was worthy of the madden curse.
arizona : the cardinals did enough to win last week, but i'm sure it came as no surprise that they lost another season opener. i'm starting to think that the cardinals franchise just isn't that good.
the pick : seattle
ny jets at baltimore
ny jets : most likely, jets fans will get their wish granted and see the quarterback with a cartoon character's name, kellen clemens, start this week. unfortunately, it comes against one of the most ball-hungry defenses of all time. i love how over the years the ineptitude of the ravens' offense has cultivated a mentality from their defense to score at all costs because they know their offense can't. this is a great opportunity to see this ideal of the ravens' defense come to fruition.
baltimore : last week, steve mcnair did two things steve mcnair does every year. he plays both well and poorly in the same game and he gets hurt. with the absence of jonathan odgen, the ravens running game will struggle [sorry willis mcgahee]. if anyone doubted ray lewis' toughness [i can't think of why anyone would], he is expected to play even though he suffered a torn tricep last monday.
the pick : baltimore
oakland at denver
oakland : the raiders will not be as bad as people think this year. if daunte culpepper starts this week, i actually expect good things from their offense. i know that their offense was the worst of all-time last year, but that'll happen when a bed-and-breakfast guy runs the offense. the raiders will be competitive this year.
denver : the broncos should not have needed a hurry-up last second field goal to beat the bills last week. it's slightly embarrassing.
the pick : denver
kansas city at chicago
kansas city : there is a good chance that the raiders will end up with a better record than the chiefs. they look hapless and uninspired last week, and i don't see any of that changing any time soon.
chicago : as i expected, the return of tommie harris has placed the bears' defense back in the league's elite [without him, their defense was beatable]. unfortunately, their offense looked terrible and i can't imagine rex grossman finishing this season as their starting quarterback. he still hasn't learned to not throw off his back foot, which is the main cause of so many of his poor throws. unless this improves, i can't see the bears getting far in the playoffs. cedric benson also played poorly, which is partly due to the offensive line's lackluster play.
the pick : chicago
san diego at new england
san diego : last year, phillip rivers didn't throw to antonio gates enough, and instead threw to the likes of keenan mccardell and eric parker [not good]. norv turner has changed that. judging from last week's game, gates is once again being utilized as their primary receiving option. i also can't believe that the media doesn't have more to say about tomlinson being contained by the bears last week [i realize that he accounted for 2 td's, but he didn't have a dominating performance]. if he doesn't have a big game this week, look for some premature whispers from the media.
new england : am i the only one who finds the whole spying on the jets humorous? with that being said, i don't want to hear the argument from patriots fans that a lot of other teams are doing it as well. other teams doing it doesn't justify that they did it.
the pick : new england
washington at philadelphia
washington : this might be the year where joe gibbs takes the redskins to the next level [it's about time]. the defense looks solid and the players are finally learning the highly touted system implemented by al saunders.
philadelphia : the eagles run of bad luck continues into this season. last year, they lost a game by a last second 62 yard field goal. last week, they lost by a late turnover [although that wasn't as big a fluke as a 62 yard field goal].
the pick : washington
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