Ravens at Bengals: Many pundits were hailing the Bengals for their acquisition of Terrell Owens as being a final piece to go along with the other offensive parts in Cincinnati to create a juggernaut. What may have been forgotten in all those accolades is that Chad Johnson isn’t all that good anymore, Terrell Owens is getting really old, and Carson Palmer isn’t all that good anymore. Although the Bengals DO lead the league in quarterbacks who are also brothers, so that’s something. As for the Ravens, they suffocated the Jets offense on Monday night in a dismally boring game. Their offense will need to manage a little more than ten points per game, though, if they are going to keep winning. Or maybe they don’t need to if Ray Lewis and company keep throttling teams as completely as they throttled New York. I think the Ravens get a few more points this week, and the Bengals won’t be able to match. Ravens 24 Bengals 10
Dolphins at Vikings: Two teams that both struggled in week 1. Of course, the Vikes struggled against the World Champs, and the Dolphins struggled winning a low scoring game against a dreadful Bills team. I don’t think Minnesota is going to be as good as they were last year, but I still think they are good enough to win at home against a very average Miami squad. Vikings 22 Dolphins 16
Bears at Cowboys: Chicago is lucky that the NFL fiercely enforces their dumb rules, otherwise Calvin Johnson and the Lions would have beaten them last week. I don’t think their luck continues in Big D. The Cowboys were defeated last week due to two weird plays to end each half, so long as they can avoid trying a dumb desperation play to end the first half and as long as Alex Barron can avoid doing another two point take down on the deciding play of the game, the Cowboys should have enough firepower to win their home opener against the Bears. I say they avoid all these things, and have a big day. Cowboys 27 Bears 13
Eagles at Lions: Is there such a thing as a loss you can feel good about? If so, the Lions experience that last week, coming within a whisker of winning on a call that the segment of America that doesn’t cheer for the Bears felt was incorrectly called. I might be inclined to pick the Lions if Matthew Stafford was going to start at QB, but with Shaun Hill back there, I just can’t pick Detroit. The Eagles will also start a quarterback that didn’t start the season as the starter, due to Kolb being injured last week too, but Mike Vick looked like the pre-dog fighting conviction era Atlanta quarterback last week…which is a good thing. He looked even better considering he was wearing that beautiful kelly green Eagles jersey. (Can Philly just go back to that full-time immediately, please?) I’ll take the visitors in this one. Eagles 26 Lions 20
Cardinals at Falcons: How many calls per week do you think Kurt Warner is fielding from Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt? Twenty? Thirty? “Please, Kurt. We need you back immediately!” The Cardinals are a shadow of what they have been the past few years, and the drop off from Warner to Derek Anderson is staggering. I don’t think the Falcons are all that great either, but they should be able to defeat this shell of an NFC West team. Falcons 29 Cardinals 13
Bills at Packers: When one of the worst teams in the NFL visits one of the better teams, it’s probably a good idea to back the home team. I’ll take Aaron Rodgers and company in a romp. Packers 37 Bills 3
Steelers at Titans: This may secretly be one of the best matchups of the week. Maybe it’s not even a secret. The Titans have looked reborn ever since the point that Vince Young took the reigns last season, and they are making a solid argument for being on of the better teams in the league. I also have a feeling that the Steelers, while not elite, are a stronger team than most people think. This should be a fun game to watch if you like hard hitting football. I’m going to take the Titans in a squeaker. Titans 20 Steelers 17
Buccaneers at Panthers: At 1-0, Tampa may very well be at the high water mark of their season. Sadly, they don’t get to play at home? Against the Browns every week…they might be a contender if they were allowed to do so. That week one win does little to change my opinion that this is an awful, awful football team. Not all hope is lost for them this week, though, as apparently playing quarterback for the Panthers means that by default you will suck. Matt Moore was a rather atrocious 14-33 passing with 3 interceptions for a 32.6 passer rating…not so good. Moore was sacked by Osi Umenyiora late in the game and then replaced by Jimmy Clausen who went 0-2 and managed a better passer rating than Moore despite NOT COMPLETING A PASS. We’re not sure who is going to play quarterback for the Panthers on Sunday, but either way, at least the Bucs have a shot. Although, I still think they lose. Panthers 13 Bucs 6
Rams at Raiders: The two teams that fled Los Angeles fifteen years ago hook up this weekend, and it’s hard to say which team is more pathetic at the moment. The Rams were the worst in the league last year, but have some hope with their new rookie quarterback Sam Bradford. Last week, Saint Louis is lucky Bradford’s arm didn’t fall off, as he tossed fifty-five throws into the Missouri air against the Cardinals. That is too much throwing, and it’s hard for ANY team to win when your offense is that unbalanced. The Raiders had problems of their own, as their free-agent quarterback also looked dreadful, and they were slaughtered by the Titans. I am giving the edge in this matchup to the Raiders, although I hope to not see a minute of this dreadful game. Raiders 20 Rams 13
Chiefs at Browns - The Chiefs have got to feel like a million bucks right now after taking out the Chargers, and the Browns just lost to Tampa. All signs point to a Chiefs victory, so naturally, I'm going to take Cleveland. Browns 16 Chiefs 9
Seahawks at Broncos – I had two things confirmed watching my Broncos play on Sunday against Jacksonville. 1. The solid citizens that Josh McDaniels has amassed on his football team will play hard for him. 2. Those solid citizens are also only marginally good football players. The result of these two facts is that I think we will see a team in Denver trying very hard and losing very often. The Seahawks were the surprise of Week 1…Unless you read here on Vertically Striped Socks last week where I told you before their game with the 49ers that they would win, that is. Seattle thumped the Niners and made people wonder if against all odds…the Seahawks may be decent this year. I think the Hawks fall back to earth a little bit this week, and the
Broncos play just hard enough to win their first game in 2010. Broncos 27 Seahawks 24
Texans at Redskins – Houston is bound to have a little bit of a letdown after finally vanquishing their nemesis the Colts, but I think even with a let down that this team is still good enough to go into Washington and take down Donovan McNabb and the Redskins, who despite beating the Cowboys in a big divisional game, only scored 6 offensive points in the contest, as Mike Shanahan’s high flying system was more than a little bit ineffective. The Skins only won thanks to boneheaded plays by the Cowboys. The other team in Texas plays smarter ball, and I don’t think that Washington will sweep the state. Texans 31 Redskins 20
Jaguars at Chargers – San Diego was embarrassed on Monday Night against the Chiefs. The Chargers may not be as good as they have been in recent years, but I just have a hard time seeing this average Jacksonville team travelling cross-country and putting the Chargers in an 0-2 hole. Not that it’s impossible, as San Diego has been very bad in September the past few years, but I’ll be surprised if they don’t take care of the Jags at home. Chargers 34 Jaguars 19
Patriots at Jets – A whole offseason of preening, and the Jets come out on opening night…the first regular season night in their new stadium and they get beaten down by the Ravens so badly that at the end Dustin Keller ran out of bounds shy of the first down because he just wanted to get out of there. The Jets managed a whopping 6 first downs all game and only 9 total points while taking 125 yards in penalties. The defense looked decent, but lost defensive line stalwart Kris Jenkins for the rest of the year, and now Darrelle Revis has a tweaked hamstring. The season could probably have started better for Jets fans…Now here comes the big bad Patriots and a grumpy Randy Moss and New York faces the very real possibility of starting this season of Hard Knocks and high expectations with a whimper and a two game losing skid. In fact, I say that is exactly what happens. Patriots 21 Jets 17
Giants at Colts – The Manning Bowl goes down Sunday night with big brother Peyton playing the unfamiliar role of coming off of an early season loss and Eli looking hot. I have a feeling the Colts are in for a down year by their lofty standards, but I don’t think they lose their third meaningful game in a row. I’ll take the Colts and company to get it done at home. Colts 33 Giants 30
Saints at 49ers – Coach Crazy and his San Francisco 49ers are licking their wounds from opening day, but it’s not as if things are about to get easier. You lost? Here come the champs. Have fun! I’ll take the Saints to hand the Niners their second straight big loss. Saints 30 49ers 13
Giants at Colts – The Manning Bowl goes down Sunday night with big brother Peyton playing the unfamiliar role of coming off of an early season loss and Eli looking hot. I have a feeling the Colts are in for a down year by their lofty standards, but I don’t think they lose their third meaningful game in a row. I’ll take the Colts and company to get it done at home. Colts 33 Giants 30
Saints at 49ers – Coach Crazy and his San Francisco 49ers are licking their wounds from opening day, but it’s not as if things are about to get easier. You lost? Here come the champs. Have fun! I’ll take the Saints to hand the Niners their second straight big loss. Saints 30 49ers 13
Week 1: 12-4
Season to Date: 12-4
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