Week 2 predictions

Time to get my week 2 picks ready to go. These Thursday games really put a strain on things, but here we go.

Green Bay vs. Chicago. In a battle of oldest of NFL rivals, the Packers and Bears will battle against each other in a very ferocious manner. Expect plenty of hard hits and maybe even some cheap shots along the way. The big concern will be whether or not Greg Jennings will be ready to go for the Packers, if he isn't then James Jones is going to have to step up in a big way. This one will come down to the running game. The Bears need to do it to keep their offense clicking and keep Aaron Rodgers on the sideline. The Packers are still trying to find anything from their running game and won't get any help from the Bears defense. I'm going to go on a big limb here, but I'm calling for the Bears to pull this one out. They will play good ball control offense and Brandon Marshall will be too much of a mismatch for the Packers secondary. In a hard fought battle, I predict the Bears will pull this one out 20-17.

Cleveland vs. Cincinnati. The Battle of Ohio once again. The Browns have a borderline great defense, but unless the defense can score points, they will continue to lose games. The Bengals failed in their first big test against the Ravens getting throttled by the Ravens offense of all things. The Bengals have a more balanced team right now and will make Brandon Weeden make mistakes and will win this one rather easily 24-10.

Oakland vs. Miami. This will not be the exciting battle of these two teams used to have in the '70's. Both franchises are in desperate rebuilding mold and the fans have had to wait for a long time. The Raiders right now have a better team than the Dolphins. The explosive Darren McFadden will find success against the Dolphins and open up Carson Palmer's deep passing game. However, I feel that Palmer will make mistakes throwing the ball and keep the Raiders from winning this game. The Dolphins will use Reggie Bush to keep the offense moving and to keep Ryan Tannehill calm. The Dolphins will end up kicking a bunch of field goals and win this one 15-7.

Houston vs. Jacksonville. The Texans will start their race to the division crown on Sunday. The Texans started slow against Miami, but turned it on late in the first half. The Jaguars do have a solid defense and a punishing ground game led by MJD, however, the Texans have to many weapons for Jacksonville to compete with. Jacksonville will keep the game closer than expected, but Houston wins 24-13 with a strong performance from Arian Foster.

Kansas City vs. Buffalo. The Chiefs and Bills both started the season on the losing end. The Chiefs put up some surprising offense against the Falcons, but in the end couldn't keep up with the firepower of the Falcons. The Bills got lit up by the Jets and lost running back Fred Jackson for a month. This has the potential to be the best game of the week. Both teams will have home run hitters in the running game with Jamaal Charles and C.J. Spiller. So, this game will come down to the quarterbacks Ryan Fitzpatrick and Matt Cassel. This game is a toss up and whoever makes the biggest mistake in the end. I'm going to pick Buffalo 24-21 in a very exciting game.

Baltimore vs. Philadelphia.  Michael Vick has to bounce back from a vicious game in the Dawg Pound. This is not going to be easy against the ravenous defense that Baltimore packs. Joe Flacco has come out strong and wants to make this a high-powered offense, if he consistently does play well, then the Ravens are going to be very difficult to beat all season long. The threat of Ray Rice always keep opposing defenses play with 8 in the box, which allows Flacco the opportunity to hit a big play over the top. I see the Ravens defense kicking in overdrive and forcing Vick into more mistakes. The Ravens are going to come out on top in this one 31-13, leaving Eagle fans wondering if their should be a 6th rookie quarterback starting.

Tampa Bay vs. New York Giants. The Giants are upset with themselves for what they feel was lettting the home opener slip away from them. Truth is the Giants are usually slow starters, it's the end of the season is when they become tough to beat. Tampa Bay defeated Carolina much to a lot of people's surprise, but not mine after all I picked the Bucs (look back at last week and you will see it). However, this one will be a little too much even for the much improved Bucs. Eli Manning will get the ball to his dynamic duo of Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz and the defense will make things rough on Josh Freeman and rookie running back Doug Martin. The Giants win convincingly 27-7.

New Orleans vs Carolina. Poor Carolina, first they get beat on opening day against Tampa Bay, now they get the Saints, who will be angry and humiliated from their opening day loss. Drew Brees will not let his team fall to 0-2, he knows that the team has to keep close to Atlanta and falling 0-2 would cripple some playoff hopes in a loaded NFC. Brees will utilize all of his weapons against a Panther defense that isn't good enough to stop this offense. The Saints defense will punish Cam Newton every chance they get and Newton will continue to struggle. The Saints will pound Carolina 31-10.

Arizona vs. New England. The question for Arizona is who will play quarterback this week. Skelton is trying to play, but right now it looks like Kevin Kolb will be the quarterback. It doesn't matter if they could bring Kurt Warner back, the Cardinals are overmatched in this one. Brady will utilize his many weapons especially Gronk and Hernandez and the improved running game of Stevan Ridley will continue to be effective for the Patriots as they win 38-10.

Minnesota vs. Indianapolis. This is going to be an interesting game. I must admit I am marvelled at how well Adrian Peterson looked last week and I expect a big week again from him. Andrew Luck is going to be a very good quarterback; he will unfortunately have to learn a lot on the job and his mistakes will be greater than successes as a rookie. I believe the Vikings will be content to ground out the game with AP and play good defense. The Vikings will win this one and be a very shocking 2-0 to start this season. Vikings 24-13.

Washington vs. St. Louis. The two teams involved in the epic RG3 trade will meet early. RG3 looked extremely impressive (much to my surprise) against the Saints in leading the Redskins to a shocking upset. The Rams almost pulled off a shocking upset over the Lions. The Rams defense was improved at making turnovers, but they still never really did stop the Lions offense; they just forced some interceptions on coverage changes. RG3 beware; the Rams defense fooled Matt Stafford, they may fool you as well. The Rams offense looked putrid for the most part and the Redskins have a good defense. Look for the Redskins to get the 2-0 start for their rookie QB; Redskins win 24-16.

Dallas vs. Seattle. Ok, this game may be my pick for blowout of the week. The hyped up Seahawks got a quick taste of reality against the Cardinals last week. The Cowboys and more importantly Tony Romo are on a mission to get a Super Bowl back to Dallas. One will see about that down the line, however, this one belongs to Dallas even in the fan crazy Quest Field. The Seahawks don't have the offense to keep up with the Cowboys and they sure don't have the defense to stop them either. Cowboys drop 48 on the Seahawks as they win 48-10.

New York Jets vs. Pittsburgh. Who's got the number 1 scoring offense, that's right it's the Jets. The team ridiculed for not being able to score in preseason opened up a big ol' can of whoop ass offense on the Bills. However, as they travel to Heinz field to play a reeling Steelers, this game has all the makings of a Jets collapse. Pittsburgh always plays well after a loss and they will have to keep pace with the division race. In a surprising upset, I look for the Steelers to pull out a close defensive battle 13-10.

Tennessee vs San Diego. Jake Locker is going to attempt to play injured in this one and that is all you need to know. san Diego will come after him and force him into some errant throws and get some turnovers for the offense. Philip Rivers knows he has to carry this offense on his throwing arm and while he may not have the weapons he once had, he still has a nice array of weapons and he will use them all to score many times on the Titans defense. Chris Johnson will have a good game for the Titans, but he will not be able to overcome the mistakes of his quarterback. Chargers win 27-17.

Detroit vs. San Francisco. Gentlemen, I want a good clean handshake with no extra mustard on it. Then go to your respective sidelines and play some football. In the rematch of the great game last year that was marred by the handshake incident, the Lions and Niners are playing each other for serious playoff positioning. Detroit needs this game more than San Francisco. The Bears and Vikings may both be 2-0 after this weekend, Detroit is going to have to go all out to win this one. San Francisco knows their strength is their defense and they will play heads up against the Lions offense. They believe they are better then the Lions and will play heads up with little scheming. Stafford is going to have to shred the defense and not make any mistakes, if they have a chance. The 49ers will pound Detroit with Frank Gore and then open up the passing game. Vernon Davis causes matchup problems for Dteroit and they will have to find a way to cover him. Even with this game being huge for Detroit, I still go with the 49ers in a close game. 49ers win 23-17.

Denver vs. Atlanta. Monday night's matchup is going to be a full blown coming out party for the Matt Ryan Express. Ryan will be going against Peyton Manning and will lead the Falcons to a victory. Ryan's new favorite Julio Jones is going to be the difference maker as Jones will continue his hot start to the season. Manning makes the Broncos better, but it is hard to win in the Georgia Dome and the Falcons have a lot that they are playing for. They want to make that run into elite team status and they have the talent to be there, they just lack the consistency. Anyway, this year's MVP Matty Ice will beat 4-time MVP Peyton Manning as the Falcons win 31-23.

Well, here's week 2's picks, hopefully I can do a little better than last week. Although, I was 10-5, I am not happy with that performance and hope this week is far better. Thanks to all of you who view my work, it is greatly appriciated.