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Week two was another relatively successful week for Rayonsports in picking winners of the NFL’s scheduled games. I picked 11 winners out of the 16 games played, bringing the 2 week total to 23 correct and 9 wrong. Here are the week 3 picks:

New York Giants at Carolina – the Giants could easily be 0-2 to start the season, but to their credit rallied to win last week. I expect this game to be a high-scoring shootout, with Cam Newton outdueling Eli Manning and leading the Panthers to a win.

Buffalo at Cleveland – the Browns, who have been anemic on offense for a couple of years, came alive and produced some points last week in a loss to the Bengals. Despite the fact they haven’t shown much of an ability to win on the road the last 2 years, I expect the Bills’ defense will be able to confuse rookie QB Brandon Weeden enough to pull out a Buffalo victory.

St. Louis at Chicago – as expected, coach Jeff Fisher has the Rams playing competitive football, but the Bears are tough at home and will win this game with a dominant performance from their defense.

Tampa Bay at Dallas – the Buccaneers’ defense was exposed by Eli Manning last week, and the Cowboys have the weapons to do the same. Dallas should win this game, since they can be a powerhouse team when playing at home.

Jacksonville at Indianapolis – this isn’t exactly a battle of NFL titans, but rookie QB Andrew Luck has been as good as advertised and I expect him to lead the Colts to a win at home.

New York Jets at Miami – the Dolphins were dominant against the Raiders last week, and the home field advantage is big for them. However, the Jets’ defense is too good for rookie QB Ryan Tannehill to handle, and I see them being the difference in what should be a hard-fought game. New York wins on the road.

San Francisco at Minnesota – the 49ers have looked like the NFL’s best team so far this season, the main reason being the play of their tough defense. They are physical and tackle well, which is a rarity in the league today. They’ll continue their impressive start by beating the Vikings.

Kansas City at New Orleans – despite looking really bad through the season’s first 2 weeks, I’ll pick the Chiefs to rebound and pull off an upset over the Saints, who are struggling also.

Detroit at Tennessee – this looks like it will be a close game, dominated by defense, but the Lions’ passing game will be the difference and they’ll get a road win here.

Cincinnati at Washington – I really believe the Bengals, overall, are the better team in this matchup but I expect Robert Griffin III and the Redskins to rebound from a tough loss last week and win at home.

Philadelphia at Arizona – the Cardinals’ upset win over New England last week was a real eye-opener, and they should be flying high at home. I’ll pick them to hand Philly their first loss of the season.

Atlanta at San Diego – a matchup of unbeaten teams led by good quarterbacks, which looks like a shootout waiting to happen. I’ll go with the Chargers.

Houston at Denver – this is another matchup where I feel the visiting team, the Texans, are better overall but also feel that the Broncos’ home field gives them a decided edge. Denver wins at home, with Peyton Manning taking extra care to protect the football.

Pittsburgh at Oakland – the Steelers are still one of the class teams of the NFL, while the Raiders’ house-cleaning following last season appears to have backfired, as they are a club that has regressed. Pittsburgh wins easily.

New England at Baltimore – I expect the Pats to rebound after last week’s shocking loss, but the Ravens are looking to avenge their AFC title game loss to New England, a game they had a couple of chances to win but couldn’t seal the deal. Baltimore will win.

Green Bay at Seattle – the Seahawks can be a tough out at home, but I expect the Packers to be efficient on both offense and defense and outlast the home team, pulling away in the fourth quarter to grab a road win.

The Buffalo Bills’ home opener on Sunday was a complete reversal of the blowout loss they suffered to the Jets last week. Buffalo dominated play and had a 35-3 lead over visiting Kansas City before surrendering a couple of “garbage” time touchdowns to the Chiefs to earn a 35-17 win. Last Sunday, Ryan Fitzpatrick threw 3 interceptions, while this week, while still missing on a few throws early in the game, he had zero turnovers and threw a pair of impressive touchdown passes, the first an accurate over the middle toss to TE Scott Chandler, the second a quick slant to Stevie Johnson that the Bills’ top wide receiver turned into a 49 yard touchdown. Fitz’s numbers weren’t impressive, but he hit enough throws to keep drives alive and relied on his running game. That running game was keyed by a second straight monster game from C.J. Spiller, who rushed for 123 yards and 2 touchdowns. Spiller became the first back to average over 10 yards per carry for his team’s first two games of the season since Jim Brown did it for Cleveland to open the 1963 season. That’s an eye-opening stat, and Spiller is also a threat as a receiver.

The Bills’ defense, barbecued on opening day by the Jets, turned in a stellar performance, sacking Chief QB Matt Cassel 5 times, forcing 2 fumbles and intercepting Cassel on the game’s final play. Kyle Williams had 2 of the sacks, while Alex Carrington, who once was a top D-line prospect but has not shown much, came to life with a sack and forced fumble.

The special teams turned the tables this week also. After giving up a long punt return for a touchdown against the Jets, this week the Bills got one of their own, an 88 yard thing of beauty from Leodis McKelvin. McKelvin was supposed to have won the job as the third corner on defense, mostly covering the opponents’ slot receiver, but he struggled against the Jets, not so much with his coverage ability but with his inability to make any plays on the ball. Justin Rogers got a lot of action as the “slot” corner in this game, but McKelvin, to his credit, is becoming a special teams playmaker, not only on kick returns but as a gunner on kick coverage also.

Overall, it was a solid team win for the Bills, and a much needed one after the Jet game mirrored the way most of the second half of last season went. It at least temporarily righted the ship, and should be a boost of confidence for both the players and coaching staff. Now it’s on to a matchup on the road with Cleveland, which has started 0-2 and won’t be an easy out. The Bills need to now prove they can keep their composure, stay competitive in, and win a game away from the friendly confines of Ralph Wilson Stadium.

Opening weekend for the NFL was a pretty successful one for Rayonsports in picking winners, as I managed to get 12 correct out of the 16 games played. Here are my picks for the second week:

Chicago at Green Bay – the longest-running rivalry in league history continues at Lambeau Field, where Green Bay was upset by the 49ers last week. I can’t see the Packers losing again, especially at home, so I’ll pick them to knock off the Bears in this important NFC North matchup.

Kansas City at Buffalo – these 2 teams are coming off surprising blowout losses in week one. They’ll both be battling hard to avoid going 0-2, so the game will be close. I’ll pick the Bills to win at home, as their defense, humiliated last week, rebounds and keys a low-scoring victory.

New Orleans at Carolina – another matchup of teams that lost surprisingly last week, this one a battle of division rivals. Cam Newton is due to have big game, and I don’t think the Saints’ defense is strong enough to stop him from having one. The Panthers win in a high-scoring offensive game.

Cleveland at Cincinnati – the Browns’ defense kept Michael Vick in check last week, but they won’t do the same to Andy Dalton and the Bengal attack. Cincinnati wins their home opener.

Minnesota at Indianapolis – the expectation is, after cutting ties with Peyton Manning and mostly dismantling the rest of their roster also, that the Colts would be the worst team in the NFL this year. That might be the case, but I’ll pick them to get a win at home in this one.

Houston at Jacksonville –  the Texans, after making the playoffs for the first time ever in 2011, look focused to do even bigger things this year. They should win this game over a weaker division rival.

Oakland at Miami – there shouldn’t be much offense generated in this game, and the Raiders have a few more veterans on their club who should get it done, on both sides of the ball, enough to win on the road here.

Arizona at New England – Tom Brady’s practice sessions this week will be harder than this game. The Patriots put it away early and cruise to their 2nd win.

Tampa Bay at New York Giants – kudos to the Bucs for an impressive opening day win over Carolina, but they’ll be facing a buzzsaw this week against the Super Bowl champion Giants. New York rights the ship and gets their first win.

Baltimore at Philadelphia – the Eagles managed to pull off a last minute win at Cleveland last week, but the Ravens aren’t the Browns. Well, actually they are the original Browns franchise that recently deceased Art Modell moved to Baltimore, but they are looking like the class of the AFC North this year, and will outclass Vick and the Eagles and win this one.

Dallas at Seattle – that was a big win on opening night for Tony Romo and the Cowboys, and the temptation is to pick them to win this game, but the Seahawks have a way of playing big when it’s least expected, and I’ll go with them to win at home.

Washington at St. Louis – the RGIII road show continues, and the Redskins beat the Rams. Griffin has the luxury of starting his career with a team that has a competent defense in Washington, and they’ll surprise a lot of people in the NFC East race this year.

New York Jets at Pittsburgh – after dispatching their patsies – the Bills – on opening day, the Jets come back to earth this week against the homestanding Steelers. Pittsburgh gets the win.

Tennessee at San Diego – the Titans will put up much more of a fight than they did in week one in New England, but I see the Chargers winning again, giving them a rare fast start early in the season.

Detroit at San Francisco – it was a statement on how bad defense is being played in the NFL these days when the 49ers were being praised for “shutting down” Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay on opening day, as they gave up 32 points to the Pack in pulling off the upset. I do think the Niners will win this game, since the Lions are lacking a good enough running game.

Denver at Atlanta – it looks like the Falcons are determined to put their disappointing 2011 season behind them, judging by their big win in Kansas City to open this season. However, it also appears that Peyton Manning is pretty determined to put 2011 behind him also. I’ll go with the Broncos to make it 2 wins in a row.