Fresh off a pretty good week of picking winners in the toughest set of games of the season, week one, I’m primed and ready for the NFL’s second week of action. My opening week record was 10 winners and 6 wrong. Here are my week 2 picks:
Oakland at Buffalo – both of these teams started off the season with big wins, and this should be a good game. I’m going with the Bills to win at home, although the game will be extremely close and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Raiders pull off an upset.
Green Bay at Carolina – kudos to Cam Newton for a terrific debut last week, but it’ll be much tougher this Sunday against the visiting Packers, the reigning Super Bowl champs. Green Bay will win the game handily.
Kansas City at Detroit – the Lions are riding high after opening with a big win in Tampa, while the Chiefs looked awful at home against the Bills. Detroit continues to build momentum by winning this game, although the Chiefs will keep it close by regrouping and showing a much better effort this week.
Cleveland at Indianapolis – a match of 2 teams that were embarrassed on opening day, the Browns by losing at home to lowly Cincinnati and the Colts by getting pounded by division rival Houston. I believe Indy will play much better this week, especially Kerry Collins, who came out of retirement to try and somehow replace Peyton Manning, and win at home.
Tampa Bay at Minnesota – I really like the young Bucs but they will start out the 2011 season with 2 losses as the Vikings win at home behind a big effort from Adrian Peterson.
Chicago at New Orleans – the Bears have a terrific defense, but aren’t the same team on the road as they are at Soldier Field. The Saints will be motivated after getting beaten by Green Bay, and have too much firepower for Chicago to handle, and will win this game.
Jacksonville at New York Jets – this game will be no contest, as the Jags are no match for Rex Ryan’s Jets. New York wins big at home.
Seattle at Pittsburgh – another game that should be one-sided, as the Steelers will be foaming at the mouth after getting plastered by the Ravens. Combine that with Seattle’s penchant for laying eggs when they have to travel east for road games, and the result will be a big Steeler victory.
Baltimore at Tennessee – the Ravens will rack up their second win of the year against the Titans, who are in for a long, losing season.
Arizona at Washington – I still am not buying the Redskins as a viable contender in the NFC, and I’ll pick the Cardinals to pick up a big road win here.
Dallas at San Francisco – the Cowboys should have beaten the Jets on opening night, but Tony Romo pretty much handed Rex Ryan’s crew the game. That won’t happen this week. Dallas wins big on the road.
Cincinnati at Denver – a matchup of AFC pretenders who both lost last week. The Broncos will win at home helped by a big defensive effort.
Houston at Miami – the Texans may be realizing it’s now or never for them to overtake the Colts as AFC South champs. They were impressive at home on opening day, and will continue to build on that win with a close, hard-fought win over the Fish.
San Diego at New England – it’s unbelievable that the Chargers had both the top ranked offense and defense in the league last year, yet missed the playoffs. This is the type of game they need to win if they’re ever going to be considered serious title contenders, which on paper they are. The Pats don’t care about paper, however, and will win this one.
Philadelphia at Atlanta – Michael Vick’s long-awaited homecoming, and he’ll surely get pretty rough treatment. I like the Falcons to win for 2 reasons, because they need to win badly after getting clocked in Chicago in week one, and because they don’t want to be upstaged by Vick.
St. Louis at New York Giants – the young Rams still need time to develop, and this stage of Monday Night Football is a little too big for them. The veteran Giants will squeeze out a much-needed win.