NFL Week 2 Picks

2-4 vs the spread last week.  I was surprised at how bad Green Bay looked.  They were completely overmatched.  Aaron Rodgers couldn't get the ball downfield, and Green Bay's revamped defense looked just as shitty as last year.  Did the Packers look that crappy because Seattle is in a class by itself?  We'll have to see a few more games.  I was equally surprised how well the Lions played.  New offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi's passing game seemed in mid-season form from the very first series.  No turnovers?  No penalties in the second half?  Their suspect secondary never threatened?  That's not Detroit Lions football.  Of course, it helps the Lions were playing a team of the blind, the lame and the halt.  The New York Giants looked feeble, just feeble.  Last year's Lions' offensive coordinator Scott Linehan moved on to Dallas. . .and it looks like he took all Matt Stafford's INTs with him. . .ha ha. . .Tony Romo had a rough one.  The Cowboys looked like they were throwing the game in the first half.  The 49ers didn't have to do much, the last 45 minutes of the game was garbage time.

Pittsburgh +2.5 at Baltimore: The over/under for this game is 20.5.  Over or under 20 1/2 minutes telecast air time spent belaboring the Ray Rice situation.  Media feeds on scandal, and now that Rice is old news, we've seen him clock the Elevator Girl and he's been banished from the NFL, Media is on to Roger Goodell: did he or didn't he see the video?  I couldn't care less.  Goodell fucked this thing up royally, everybody agrees.  He was too soft on Rice. . .but so was everybody else!  Remember the 25000 idiots at Ravens training camp, giving this runt thug a standing ovation??  Nobody was too worked up over Rice until the elevator video came out, then, all of a sudden, Rice is Public Enemy #1.  Goodell has always checked which way the wind was blowing on these types of cases.  When the storm kicked up, he kicked out Rice.  Everybody's happy, so let's move on.  But some are saying Goodell should resign or be fired.  Please.  For crying out loud, he's the *commissioner* of a sports league, not Moses bringing down the tablets of the Law.  Roger Goodell's job is to figure out if the NFL should put a team in London, not to direct a national debate on domestic violence.  As for the game, here it is only Week 2, and the Ravens are already in a must-win game.  They already lost at home to Cincinnati, lose this one and they're behind the 8 ball in the AFC North.  Pittsburgh almost blew one to the Browns last week.  Both of these teams are Big Names from the past, but now look pretty average.  Pittsburgh has the better offensive weapons, while the Ravens have an edge on defense. And this Ray Rice cloud should have no effect on the game.  I don't think the Ravens give two shits about Rice, he's already forgotten.  I see Pittsburgh's offense making just enough plays to squeak by a declining Ravens squad.  Pittsburgh.  

Miami -1 at Buffalo: A meeting of two surprise winners from Week 1.  Miami choked Tom Brady and the Patriots at home, while Buffalo went to Chicago and stole one from Marc Trestman's pretty boy Bears.  If the Bills had a QB, they'd be a dangerous team.  And you could say the same for the Dolphins.  If Buffalo can tighten its rush defense, and force Tannehill to make some throws, the Bills will win.  Buffalo.

Dallas +3.5 at Tennessee: The Titans beat up on the crippled Chiefs, and now they get the team with the worst coaching staff in the league.  Has there ever been another team dumb enough to hire two former Lions' coaches as their coordinators??  Still, I'm not convinced the Cowboys offense is bad as it looked against the 49ers. . .unless Tony Romo is damaged goods.  I have no clue if Tennessee is any good or not.  Jake Locker a real QB?  That journeyman collection of running backs and receivers?  I'm probably taking the sucker bet, but the name players are getting 3.5.  Dallas.

New England -3 at Minnesota: Minnesota beat the shit out of the Rams with a couple end-arounds and a toss sweep to Cordarrelle Patterson.  Is Bill Belichick really going to get fooled the way Jeff Fisher was?  The Patriots couldn't stop Knowshon Moreno, now they get #28.  I thought the last couple years, the end was near for the Patriots, this year, not so.  It seemed like they had regained some toughness on defense, and there was just enough on offense for Brady to nickel and dime his way to the Super Bowl.  But maybe this really is the end.  Brady couldn't even nickel and dime the Dolphins, it was all pennies.  Am I really picking Matt Cassell over Brady?  Nah.  New England.

Atlanta +5.5 at Cincinnati: The Falcons piled up the passing yards against the Saints.  Hard to see them doing that at Cincy.  But they don't have to score 37 to beat the Bengals.  Cincinnati is not going to completely shut down Matt Ryan's stable of receivers. . .Atlanta will score a few points, plus they're getting another 5.5 against an offense that really only has one player (A.J. Green) you have to worry about.  Atlanta.

Detroit +2.5 at Carolina: The Lion offense vs the Panther defense.  Cam Newton, with a no-name collection of receivers, against the Lions no-name secondary.  Newton will be able to hit a few deep balls against the Lions spotty dbs.  And Stafford's gonna face a lot more heat than he did against the sorry Giants. Plus the Lions can't go two games in a row without a turnover.  Jim Caldwell gets his first taste of Detroit Lions football.  Carolina.

St. Louis +5.5 at Tampa Bay: Ha.  The least appealing game of the week.  Got to include it.  The Rams caught a huge break when Samantha Bradley went down. . .but then Shaun Hill doesn't even last a half!  Poor Rams.  Now they are playing somebody named Austin Davis.  Josh McCown didn't look like Marc Trestman's Josh McCown last week against the Panthers, but he didn't implode, and he got the Bucs close in garbage time.  Whoever loses this game, the 0-16 watch is on.  Tampa Bay.

New York Jets +8 at Green Bay:  Really?  Jets getting 8?  As bad as the Packers looked?  As bad as the Packers run defense looked, and the Jets can run the ball?  The Jets defense ain't Seattle's, but it's pretty solid.  I see the Jets running on the Packers, eating up the clock, keeping the game close.  New York Jets.

Chicago +7 at San Francisco:  It's already panic time in Chicago, after the Bears blew a home game to Buffalo, with Jay Cutler tossing one of his trademark dumb INTs late in the game.  The 49ers didn't have to do anything to beat Dallas last week except show up and not drop any of Tony Romo's INTs.    The Bears can move the ball on anybody.  Like most mediocre teams, it comes down to how many bonehead plays they can limit themselves to.  As hard as the Cowboys tried to give the game away, the 49ers still ended up winning by only 11.  Cutler won't be that bad.  I'll take the 7 points against the 49ers lunchpail offense.  Chicago.