NFL Week 2: Instant Karma's Gonna Get You

It was an ugly Week 1, but that’s not surprising. It usually takes a couple of weeks to figure out what’s going on in the NFL. The 6-9 record overall and against the spread will improve. Please don’t use the following picks for gambling purposes…you saw how well it worked out last week.

SUNDAY

Oakland Raiders (0-1) vs. Kansas City Chiefs (0-1)(-3.5)
1:00 p.m. Arrowhead Stadium
Upon further review, the Raiders may not be ready to take the leap. Other than the Rams, the most embarrassing performance of Week 1 belonged to L.A.’s other former team. JaMarcus Russell looked entirely overmatched. The secondary, one of the few strengths for Oakland, was dominated by a Broncos team missing their best receiver. Kansas City looks like a safe pick this week. I like Damon Huard starting at quarterback much more than Brodie Croyle.
Pick: Chiefs

Tennessee Titans (1-0) vs. Cincinnati Bengals (0-1)(-1.5)
1:00 p.m. Paul Brown Stadium
Even after losing to a team with a rookie coach and rookie quarterback, I’m going to give the Bengals one more try. They let me down here, and it will probably be awhile before I pick them again. Plus, losing Crazy Vince Young won’t help the Titans any.
Pick: Bengals

Indianapolis Colts (0-1)(-2) vs. Minnesota Vikings (0-1)
1:00 p.m. The Metrodome
Even though the Vikings didn’t win, they looked relatively good against a division rival on the road. As the Redskins found out, that’s never an easy way to open a season. Tarvaris Jackson did a pretty good job in the second half when the Packers finally stopped Adrian Peterson. Conversely, the Colts looked terrible in the second half of their loss to Chicago. Peyton Manning is clearly not 100% yet and the Colts offense sputtered because of his injury. It didn’t help that the Colts were gashed on the ground by a rookie running back. Facing Peterson this week won’t help.
Pick: Vikings

Green Bay Packers (1-0)(-3) vs. Detroit Lions (0-1)
1:00 p.m. Ford Field
If Week 1 taught me anything, it’s not to pick the Lions under any circumstances. If anyone can make Aaron Rodgers look like Brett Favre, it’s this defense.
Pick: Packers

Chicago Bears (1-0) vs. Carolina Panthers (1-0)(-3)
1:00 p.m. Bank of America Stadium
Jake Delhomme certainly appeared healthy. At least on that last drive. I was more impressed by Carolina’s comeback win across country than I was with the Bears win at Indianapolis against the depleted Colts. If Matt Forte goes off for another 120 yards against the Carolina defense, then I’ll start taking the Bears seriously.
Pick: Panthers

New York Giants (1-0)(-8) vs. St. Louis Rams (0-1)
1:00 p.m. Edward Jones Dome
The good news with Dallas and Philly playing later in the day, is someone other than the Redskins will have a loss in the NFC East. You know the Giants won’t have one. By the way, I know I predicted the Rams to have a bad year and go 6-10, but they have way too much talent to roll over like they did against Philadelphia.
Pick: Giants

Buffalo Bills (1-0) vs. Jacksonville Jaguars (0-1)(-6)
1:00 p.m. Alltel Stadium
Wow, did the Bills look impressive. However, they scored 21 of their 34 points on a punt return, fake field goal and defensive touchdown. So they had 13 points from their offense. I don’t think Buffalo can count on scoring like that every week (more on that when we get to the Ravens). They were also playing a team that never plays well on the road, was without three of its top four receivers and has a quarterback with a bulging disc in his back. The Bills, if they expect to be good, need to win games like that convincingly. Something tells me Jacksonville wins this game, but the touchdown spread is too high.
Pick: Jaguars, Bills cover

Atlanta Falcons (1-0) vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-1)(-8)
4:05 p.m. Raymond James Stadium
You can see how much confidence Las Vegas has in Matt Ryan’s performance against Detroit. I tend to agree with the oddsmakers on this one. Detroit may want to imitate the Tampa Cover 2, but this is the real deal Ryan faces this week.
Pick: Buccaneers

San Francisco 49ers (0-1) vs. Seattle Seahawks (0-1)(-7.5)
4:05 p.m. Qwest Field
As I mentioned, the Seahawks are a mess. Matt Hasselbeck is playing with a bad back. Mo Morris got banged up Sunday. Bobby Engram and Deion Branch won’t be playing on Sunday. Nate Burleson is out for the year. The balanced offense that was once the strength of the Seahawks is still there…both the running and passing attack have several injuries at the same time. They’ll still beat San Francisco, but it will be close.
Pick: Seahawks, 49ers cover

Miami Dolphins (0-1) vs. Arizona Cardinals (1-0)(-7)
4:15 p.m. University of Phoenix Stadium
With Seattle putting together a MASH corps on the field, early control of the West is up for grabs. We all know San Francisco isn’t going to step up, and no one has been able to locate the Rams since leaving Philadelphia. Cardinals, come on down! They could easily open up a two, three or even four game lead on the Seahawks before they get healthy. The Cardinals must win games like this.
Pick: Cardinals

New England Patriots (1-0) vs. New York Jets (1-0)(-2.5)
4:15 p.m. Giants Stadium
Look, I didn’t cheer when Tom Brady got hurt (like one of my roommates and everyone from work that isn’t a Patriots fan), but I wasn’t broken up about it either. Karma baby, karma. To say New England had it coming is an understatement. It would have been more enjoyable if this had occurred during one of the Hooded Bums patented running up the score in the fourth quarter blowouts. It would have been better if one of the AFC East teams that have been on the wrong end of those games had done it. But the timing really couldn’t be better. Right out of the gate…BLAMMO! Ok, maybe I enjoyed it a little. I’m a bad person.

Either way, we’re going to find out about Brady and Belichick. If the Pats bring in Matt Cassel, and Cassel succeeds (meaning the Pats win 10 or 11 games and maybe a playoff game) then the greatness surrounding Brady diminishes. If Cassel, a no name quarterback who hasn’t started a game since 1999, can come in and lead the Pats to the playoffs, then anyone can do it. We’ll know that Brady succeeds not because of his talent, but the talent around him. However, if the Pats season tanks, and they miss the playoffs, then it’s Belichick who will lose his luster. Then we’ll know that all of his success was based on Brady being in the lineup. Without him, Belichick is nothing. So anti-Pats fans can’t lose! Considering his failure in Cleveland during the mid-90’s and his struggles with the Patriots before Brady, I’m putting my money on the Hooded Bum being the overrated one. And I wouldn’t mind seeing the Patriots tank to prove my point.
Pick: Jets

San Diego Chargers (0-1)(-1.5) vs. Denver Broncos (1-0)
4:15 p.m. Mile High Stadium
The Chargers were up five with about a minute to go. Looked like a sure win, right? Then you remember that Norv Turner is on their sideline and John Fox, a capable coach, was on the other. Actually, a warm body on the other sideline is usually good enough. That loss was inevitable.
Pick: Broncos

Pittsburgh Steelers (1-0)(-6) vs. Cleveland Browns (0-1)
8:15 p.m. Cleveland Browns Stadium
The loser of the Vikings-Colts game finds themselves in an early 0-2 whole. Even worse is the predicament that Cleveland faces if they loses this one. They’d also be 0-2, with both loses coming at home, and one loss coming to their main competition in the AFC North. Pittsburgh would already be sitting two games up with a tie-breaker through two weeks. Hard to call it a must win this early, but the Browns really need to grab this game.

Cleveland won’t win by doing what they did last week. All I heard from CBS and FOX all day was how great the Cowboys offensive line looked and how much time Tony Romo had to throw. It’s kind of easy to look good when the Browns are only rushing three defensive linemen. Whenever the Browns sent five or more, they got to Romo relatively easily. But they didn’t do it a lot. The 3-4 defense isn’t working for the Browns, and they’re about to be gashed by the best rushing team in the league.
Pick: Steelers

MONDAY

Baltimore Ravens (1-0) vs. Houston Texans (0-1)(-5)
8:30 p.m. Reliant Stadium
Ah, Ravens fans. You can’t live with them, and you certainly don’t want to live anywhere around them. I haven’t seen them since January 2007, which was coincidently the last time the Ravens were relevant. Then they got embarrassed at home by the Colts in the playoffs. All of a sudden, the Redskins lose, the Thugs win, and they come out of whatever hole in the ground they’ve been in for the past 20 months.

Joe Flacco is not the second coming. He managed to beat one of the worst defenses in the league, at home, by seven points. 15-for-29 for 129 yards is not great. No picks, that’s a plus for sure. Good job not losing the game. But the Ravens scored their only two touchdowns on a 42-yard double-reverse and a busted play that turned into a 38-yard quarterback scramble. I wouldn’t count on that happening every week. Flacco may actually have to throw the ball more than 5 to 10 yards downfield every once and awhile. Let’s everyone settle down. He’s not Joe Montana. He’s not the next Rich Gannon. He wasn’t even the best rookie quarterback in the league last Sunday. The Ravens still have two games against Cleveland and Pittsburgh, along with games against the Redskins, Giants, Cowboys, Eagles, Colts, Jaguars and Titans. Let’s see what the record is at the end of that stretch.

It wouldn’t surprise me if the Ravens won this game and even beat Cleveland at home next week. Then things get much harder. When they play the Redskins on December 7th, if they have more than five wins, then I’ll be impressed.
Pick: Texans, Ravens cover


Philadelphia Eagles (1-0) vs. Dallas Cowboys (1-0)(-7.5)
8:30 p.m. Texas Stadium
The first of two annual “stadium collapse games”. Here’s hoping the demolition to Texas Stadium starts a bit early.
Pick: Cowboys, Eagles cover

The Redskins host the Saints this week, preview coming soon.