NFL Week 2 Predictions
Lots of intriguing matchups in week two, including the unveiling of Jerry Jones’ new playground on national TV. Strange that Jones didn’t lobby to play a team he thought the Cowboys could beat this time. Anyway, here’s the outlook for this week’s matchups.
Houston Texans 17, Tennessee Titans 23
The Texans are reeling from an embarrassing loss to rookie Mark Sanchez’s Jets, but won’t be able to overcome the Titans’ defense that had a week and a half to rest after losing a tough road game against the Steelers.
New Orleans Saints 34, Philadelphia Eagles 28
A top-flight offense goes against a defense that generated 6 turnovers against Carolina in week one. Don’t count on Drew Brees to commit that many turnovers, and nobody has really figured out how to stop the Saints passing attack. With the probable absence of Donovan McNabb, the Eagles can’t rely on their defense to beat the Saints.
Arizona Cardinals 31, Jacksonville Jaguars 20
The Cardinals will be looking to rectify their offensive woes they showed in week 1. The Jaguars return home after losing a close one to the Colts, but are still a mess of a team after last year’s tumultuous season.
Oakland Raiders 23, Kansas City Chiefs 28
Both the Raiders and the Chiefs looked like they could be speed bumps this season instead of roadkill. However, the fact remains that this game is less relevant than print newspapers. If you’re brave you can use some of your fantasy players since both defenses are terrible, but it wouldn’t surprise anyone if this turned into a battle of ineptitude.
Cincinnati Bengals 13, Green Bay Packers 38
As the game progressed, the Packers’ offense got more into sync, capped with a long touchdown reception by Greg Jennings. Expect a big day from the Green Bay offense against a Bengals defense that hasn’t been tested.
Minnesota Vikings 41, Detroit Lions 17
Yeah… the Lions are still terrible. For some reason teams are still afraid of Brett Favre “beating” them, so they play their secondary back and let Adrian Peterson run wild. It doesn’t help that the Lions still can’t tackle; maybe we’ll get to see another nasty Adrian Peterson stiff arm.
St. Louis Rams 6, Washington Redskins 27
The Rams didn’t give us any reason to believe they’re going to be any better this season, while the Redskins are still in the basement of the NFC East unless their offense can get their act together. Jason Campbell clearly isn’t the long-term answer at quarterback for the Redskins, but sometime Dan Snyder will figure out that spending millions of dollars on every other position isn’t going to help.
New England Patriots 30, New York Jets 16
The Jets really haven’t learned, have they? Jets players have been talking up their game against the Patriots all week. Apparently they forgot that the Patriots have won the vast majority of games against the Jets in the past five seasons, and most of those games really haven’t been in doubt. Tom Brady started to get comfortable with his game late against the Bills, which should temper the Jets’ enthusiasm.
Carolina Panthers 14, Atlanta Falcons 38
The improved Falcons playing at home will be very hard to beat. Jake Delhomme is on the verge of losing his job after a miserable day against the Eagles in Carolina, and while he has done well against the Falcons in recent meetings it’s clear his confidence has been shaken. Not so with sophomore Matt Ryan, who did not put up the gaudy numbers fellow draftee Joe Flacco did in Kansas City, but guided his team to a solid victory just the same.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 21, Buffalo Bills 24
The Bills should rebound from their heartbreaking loss to the Patriots against what will probably be one of the league’s worst teams this season. Despite their preseason woes, Buffalo clearly outplayed New England for 57 minutes. If they can keep up their energy, Byron Leftwich and the Bucs shouldn’t be that big of a deal.
Seattle Seahawks 20, San Francisco 49ers 23
Want to hear something amazing? Shaun Hill is 8-3 as a starter. I like what the 49ers showed in week 1, let’s see if they can keep it up against a much-improved Seattle team.
Baltimore Ravens 24, San Diego Chargers 27
LT is injured again, but is anyone really surprised or worried? After two years of being a nonfactor, the torch is clearly being passed. It’s just a question of whether or not Darren Sproles is capable of handling 20-25 carries per game. The Ravens should be able to at least contain the Chargers running game, but their secondary (with the exception of Ed Reed) is questionable.
Pittsburgh Steelers 27, Chicago Bears 10
The Steelers should be able to kick their offense into gear against a defense that literally got its heart torn out after the announcement of Brian Urlacher’s season-ending surgery. Jay Cutler, after throwing 4 interceptions against the Packers, now gets to face the league’s best defense.
Cleveland Browns 25, Denver Broncos 17
It was hard to decide on a winner for this one, but the Broncos are truly miserable. Their miracle win against the Bengals notwithstanding, an ineffective offense plays an ineffective defense. The movable object meets the stoppable force…
New York Giants 20, Dallas Cowboys 24
The Cowboys dropped their final game in Texas Stadium to the Ravens on a long touchdown run by Le’Ron McClain. Tony Romo and his new friends will put on a show for the national audience against a hated rival.
Indianapolis Colts 26, Miami Dolphins 17
The Dolphins’ secondary is still terrible, and even sans Anthony Gonzalez the Colts are looking to avoid the slow start that almost caused their 2008 downfall. But perhaps a worse problem for Miami is the offense. 2008 was kind to them in terms of opponents, 2009 is not. Miami needs to put up more points if they want to avoid losing to quality teams like the Colts, Steelers, and Patriots.
What are your predictions? Leave a comment.
