I've always wanted to start one of these...
This should be an excellent week for football. A lot of big match-ups between probable playoff teams. Between Packers/Seahawks, Cowboys/Eagles, Bengals/Chargers, Patriots/Bills, Chiefs/Broncos, hell even Falcons/Giants, 49ers/Steelers, and Colts/Jets, good week to enjoy football.
GAME OF THE WEEK – Seattle Seahawks (0-1) at Green Bay Packers (1-0), GB by 3.5 - A lot of potential options as I stated above, but nothing matches the NFC Championship rematch between two teams that always play each other tough. Aaron Rodgers has had a lot of trouble against Seattle in the past, but this is the first time Rodgers will get them at Lambeau (at least since 2012). Seahawks aren't the same team we're accustomed to seeing when they are playing on the road. GB doesn't possess the same pass rushing talent that St. Louis does but they should still be able to take advantage of Seattle's porous offensive line. This will be a close one that could go either way, but I'm leaning towards the home team Packers here. I wouldn't be too concerned about Seahawks at 0-2, though. Both losses will have been suffered on the road, one against a stingy divisional foe and another against the Rodgers-led Packers. Packers 23, Seahawks 21
THURSDAY NIGHT - Denver Broncos (1-0) at Kansas City Chiefs (1-0), KC by 3 - Baltimore's defense is good, but Peyton Manning looked washed up on Sunday. His arm is nearly nonexistent and the Ravens didn't have an issue getting after him in the pocket. Unfortunately for the Broncos, the Chiefs have an even scarier pass rush with Justin Houston in town. Denver's defense was lights out against the Rams and they will get after Alex Smith, but Arrowhead is a difficult place for teams to play and I think that will give the Chiefs the slight edge here. Broncos are also a little dinged up. Chiefs 17, Broncos 13
New England Patriots (1-0) at Buffalo Bills (1-0), NE by 1 - Ooh, this is a toughie. Outside of 1 game in 2010 in the midst of Brady's MVP season, Rex Ryan almost always has success against Tom Brady. New England's offensive line is inexperienced and will have to deal with a returning Marcel Dareus. Bills may or may not make the playoffs, but I think they will do enough to stifle Brady in the pocket to allow Taylor, Watkins, Harvin, Woods, Clay, and McCoy to put enough points on the board to secure a win. UPSET! - Bills 26, Patriots 17
Tennessee Titans (1-0) at Cleveland Browns (0-1), CLE by 2 - I'm having a lot of trouble with this game. I watched Mariota last week and while I don't want to be "that guy" who tries to downplay his performance last week, it wasn't nearly as impressive as the numbers indicate. I said it about Griffin his rookie year and it applies with Mariota - he has to prove that he can go through his reads and succeed in this league. Rarely, if ever, in the Tampa Bay game did I see him come off his first read. It was a wonderfully called game by the Titans offensive coordinator but it's not something that can have a lot of long-term success in this league when defenses figure it out. Will Cleveland do just that and force Mariota to adjust? I'm not too sure. I'll go with the Browns here but I don't feel safe about it. Browns 24, Titans 21
Houston Texans (0-1) at Carolina Panthers (1-0), CAR by 3 - Carolina had a lot of miscues last week, including a wide open drop by Ted Ginn and an Olsen touchdown called back on a very questionable OPI call. Unfortunately for them, Kuechly will likely miss Sunday's game due to a concussion. I didn't think the Texans would win last week but their performance was very disappointing even considering. KC walked all over them for 3 quarters. I'm not sure that is a good representation of how good, or bad, they are. Mallet will likely get the start this week regardless of the mind games Bill O'Brien wants to play, and I see him doing enough to get the Texans the win against a Carolina team that is missing a lot on offense. UPSET! - Texans 26, Panthers 14
Arizona Cardinals (1-0) at Chicago Bears (0-1), ARZ by 2.5 - I figured the Bears wouldn't be as bad as people think. Despite that, they still showed the same old Bears problems last week. This could go either way, but I'm confident the Cardinals will create a lot of issues for the Bears both offensively and defensively. Cardinals 20, Bears 16
San Diego Chargers (1-0) at Cincinnati Bengals (1-0), CIN by 3.5 - I don't know how the Chargers pulled out that win last week but they did. Bengals are one of the best teams in the NFL when it comes to regular season play and even better when they are at home. I'll go with the Bengals to edge it out, but it's another game that is just hard to predict. Cincinnati Bengals 27, San Diego Chargers 21
Detroit Lions (0-1) at Minnesota Vikings (0-1), MIN by 3 - Based off what we saw from Minnesota on Monday night, LOL. UPSET! - Lions 34, Vikings 21
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-1) at New Orleans Saints (0-1), NO by 10 - LOL. Saints 34, Buccaneers 17
Atlanta Falcons (1-0) at New York Giants (0-1), NYG by 2.5 - Just as if it looked like the Falcons had turned the corner on defense, Bradford and co. shredded them in the second half with underneath throws. They employ the same Cover 3 shell defense that Seattle does, but Seattle makes it work for entire game because they have the speedy linebackers like Wagner and Wright to shut that down and a great pass rush. Atlanta's LB's aren't nearly as rangy (except maybe Durant) and pass rush almost nonexistent without blitzing. Giants didn't look so hot on defense either, but they are at home this week and Eli could light their pass defense up. Giants 31, Falcons 28
San Francisco 49ers (1-0) at Pittsburgh Steelers (0-1), PIT by 6.5 - Pittsburgh's pass defense is disgustingly bad and DeAngelo Williams won't rip the 49ers like he did the Patriots. I can't believe I'm doing this but give me the 49ers here. Torrey Smith, Anquan Boldin, and Vernon Davis are going to have a big day against that secondary. UPSET! - 49ers 28, Steelers 20
St. Louis Rams (1-0) at Washington Redskins (0-1), STL by 3 - I know they hate RG3, but he's flat out a better QB than Cousins. Good thing they aren't playing him this week, though. Rams D-Line is going to murder their offensive line. Washington will keep it close by virtue of being at home, but the Rams are just a better team and the Redskins won't have DeSean Jackson. Rams 23, Redskins 17
Baltimore Ravens (0-1) at Oakland Raiders (0-1), BAL by 7 - Usually I would say this is the kind of game the Ravens underachieve in, but not after the loss they took last week. Mack and Smith are going to hit Flacco a lot, but I can't see the Ravens dropping a game to the Raiders to fall to 0-2. Ravens 27, Raiders 20
Miami Dolphins (1-0) at Jacksonville Jaguars (0-1), MIA by 6 - It really wouldn't surprise me to see the Dolphins lose. I won't be the one to predict it though. Dolphins 23, Jaguars 17
Dallas Cowboys (1-0) at Philadelphia Eagles (0-1), PHI by 3.5 - Dallas did just about everything in their power to lose last week. They were lucky the Giants put on a display of what NOT to do with a 3 point lead in the final 2 minutes of a game. Eagles looked a lot better in the 2nd half than the 1st and I'll give them a bit of a break because playing in the Georgia Dome is not easy. Cowboys are going to be good this year, but I think Philly knocks them off here with a nice rebound game. Eagles 34, Cowboys 24
New York Jets (1-0) at Indianapolis Colts (0-1), IND by 7 - Another defense with the potential to cause a lot of problems for Luck and that offense. Looks like TY Hilton might miss the game too. I'm really iffy on this game. I don't feel confident with either pick even though the Jets QB is Ryan Fitzpatrick. With Cromartie probably out for Week 2 and Indy at home, I guess I'll go with the Colts but I really don't know. Colts 23, Jets 10
