Week Two ATL

Not my finest predictions.

Week 2 in review.

I am going to combine my review with my picks this week, being that I will probably not have this particular posting finished until the Monday night game is over.


Clearly the biggest upset this week was the Arizona Cardinals toppling the New England Patriots at home. There were some smaller upsets, Dallas losing to Seattle, the Rams topping the Redskins at home and what was considered an upset by the odds makers but not by myself; the Dolphins over the Raiders. The upsets that happened; however surprising as they may be, are not the biggest story of the week. The replacement referees performed worse this week than they have yet to date and have to go. If it weren’t against the CBA to strike I would push for players to refuse to play until a deal is done. Alas, it looks as if we will be forced to witness this worse-than-normal NFL officiating.


So far the NFL season has been interesting to say the least. I’m already looking forward to week three.


As for my picks, same as last week, straight up picks in bold and spread in italics.


Chicago Bears @ Green Bay Packers -5.5

I am an avid Bears fan and have a burning hatred for the Packers. I have picked Green Bay against Chicago before so this was not all homerism. I saw Chicago play very well in spurts against Indianapolis and Green Bay struggle to find their flow against San Francisco. I was hoping the Pack would continue to flounder and Chicago would be able to pull out a division win here. Oops.


Kansas City Chiefs @ Buffalo Bills -3.5

Neither team looked good in Week One, but I had far more faith in Buffalo to bounce back. Also they were at home.


Cleveland Browns @ Cincinnati Bengals -6.5

I had picked the Bengals to make the playoffs prior to this season, not too confident on that pick anymore. I am however confident that they are better than the Browns, who could be the worst team this season.


Minnesota Vikings@ Indianapolis Colts +1.5

Had more faith in Adrian Peterson than I did in Andrew Luck for the Colts home opener. I paid the price.


Oakland Raiders @ Miami Dolphins +2.5

Two poor teams. I chose the more experienced and probably more talented team.


Arizona Cardinals @ New England Patriots -13.5

I figured that New England would win, but Arizona is not as terrible as most people think they are. They have a solid defense and… well that’s about it besides Larry Fitzgerald, but the team has not been able to find a way to get him the ball. I was half right this game.


Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ New York Giants -7.5

I didn’t think last year’s Superbowl champions could lose twice in a row to start the season. Tampa Bay surprised me to beat Carolina last week, but I still feel as if they’ll be the worst team in the NFC South.


Baltimore Ravens@ Philadelphia Eagles -2.5

Baltimore looked extremely solid last week, Philadelphia looked extremely shaky. The Ravens have a stronger defense overall. I thought Vick might get knocked out of this game.


New Orleans Saints @ Carolina Panthers +2.5

I thought there was no way Drew Brees loses two to start the season. Carolina lost to Tampa in week one. Did not look good for the home team.


Houston Texans@ Jacksonville Jaguars -7.5

Houston looks to be the class of the AFC while Jacksonville will be lucky to scrape together five wints this year.


Washington Redskins@ St. Louis Rams +3.5

Robert Griffin III looks to be NFL ready even in his rookie season. St. Louis almost won in week one but it was against Detroit, who has been known to have stinker games.


Dallas Cowboys@ Seattle Seahawks +3.5

Dallas looked great in week one and were playing a team that looked like they had some questions. I do know that Seattle plays very well at home, but I thought Dallas was too good to pick against.


New York Jets @ Pittsburgh Steelers -6.5

Much like the age old sports adage “no team is as good or as bad as they played in their first game” so is the story for these teams. I did think the Jets would keep it close, but the Steelers would overpower them.


Tennessee Titans @ San Diego Chargers -6.5

Neither team looked good in week one, although the Chargers did win. San Diego has a powerful offense and a serviceable defense, Tennessee does not measure up on either side of the ball. Especially with Chris Johnson still struggling to find his old ways.


Detroit Lions @ San Francisco 49ers -6.5

This game was probably the easiest for me to pick. San Francisco has an extremely talented overall team while Detroit has questions on defense and is powerful yet sporadic on offense.


Denver Broncos@ Atlanta Falcons -3.5

Atlanta looked very good in week one, against a poor team. Denver looked outstanding against a solid team. Went with the 4-time MVP.


This week I had only 7 straight up and 6 against the spread correct. This puts me at 68,334 and in the 86.5% on ESPN for straight up and at 15,816 and at 88.3% against the spread. Rough week, need to prognosticate better in week three.