We are one week into the season, and it has already been crazy.  The Jags are legit.  The Patriots lost!  The Bears and Browns nearly won!  However, in the end, I came out with a 9-6 record, better than Pete Prisco of CBS Sports.  Today we will be looking at my picks for week 2.

Note: The teams on the top in the images are the road teams, and the teams on the bottom are the home teams.  

Lock Of The Week

If I told you in 2015 that in a couple years, the Raiders would cream the Jets, you wouldn’t believe me.  The Raiders were terrible a few years back, and the Jets were turning it around with Todd Bowles taking over.  Now, the Jets offense is a complete mess and the Raiders offense is as good as ever.  What Oakland did last week shows that they’ve only gotten better.

The Jets don’t have a chance this week.  In my opinion, this will be one of the multiple blowouts this week.  The Raiders have a powerful offense and a pesky defense. The Jets entire team is falling apart as they have no QB, no receiving weapons, and no secondary.

Upset of the Week

Although the Chiefs looked good last week after schooling the Pats, I think it could be ugly this week.  They’re the kind of team that could suffer from inconsistency week to week.  The Eagles offense has definitely gotten tougher, so they should be a challenge for the Kansas City D that lost standout S Eric Berry.

In addition, Kansas City has even more of a depth problem on offense than they did last year, and that won’t help against a good Eagles defense.  The Chiefs look like the favorites at home but I believe the Eagles will surprise people this year starting with an upset against the Chiefs.
The Other Games

TNF

Both of these teams were equally bad last week.  Tom Savage looked lost and was ultimately replaced by Watson after being sacked 6 times.  The Bengals offense has not scored a point.  But this week I see Cincy winning the battle of two sub-par offenses. Without Brian Cushing and with JJ Watt a little banged up, the Houston D isn’t at full health right now.  While the Bengals defense hung in there only giving up 20 despite being on the field for 34 minutes.

The Texans offense lacks a true NFL starter so I expect Bengals D to confuse the rookie QB in his first NFL start.  Add the Bengals home crowd noise factor in prime time and I give the Bengals a slight edge.  Even though they fell flat against Baltimore, the Ravens are better than I originally predicted but the Texans might actually be worse than I originally predicted as they have already given up on “Tom’s our starter.”

Sunday’s Games

If you’re a Pats fan like me, last week was devastating to watch, especially the 21-0 4th quarter.  However, as many have noted, the Pats needed that embarrassment and better now than later in the season.  The game was a wake-up call and silenced all the talk about a 19-0 season.  As Super Bowl champs, they should expect everyone’s best and that wins will not come easy.  Pats fans take note that the team has won 3 Super Bowls in season’s in which they lost in Week 1 and have not been 0-2 since 2001.

I think this offense will be motivated to prove Pats haters wrong this week and Brady rarely has two bad performances in a row.  Brandin Cooks will also be motivated to show his former team they should not have traded him.  I don’t believe the Pats will lose 2 weeks in a row.  Although they’ve been hit hard by injuries, I think their active players are going into this game both physically and mentally prepared to play like defending champs.

The Panthers held on for a nice win last week and I think it will happen again.  The Bills do have a strong offense this season but the defense is a serious problem that the Panthers will take advantage of.

As for the Panthers D, the front seven is amazing and I don’t think LeSean McCoy will score a single TD.  However, the Panthers still need work on their secondary so the Bills will get some TDs through the air.  In the end, these two teams even out pretty closely.  I think the Panthers will win in OT.

The Browns didn’t win last week but they came close against the Steelers in Cleveland. They are definitely better this year and the Ravens aren’t as good as Pittsburgh.  But I don’t see the Browns winning a road game this season.  The Ravens looked good all-around last week and they should be able to beat Cleveland especially at home.

The Browns offense may be pesky but it’s not a problem at all for the Ravens’ strong defense.  The defense in Cleveland has many holes and lacks depth so I don’t see them having much success against the Ravens.  However, I don’t expect the Browns to go 0-16 but rather be more competitive and possibly win more than last year.  The only real candidate to go 0-16 this year is the Jets and few would argue with me on that, even Jets fans.

The Vikings have a great defense once again this year and their offense is really intriguing despite a lack of depth.  But they are no match for the Pittsburgh Steelers at home.  The Steelers have the Dream Team offense and a defense that at home can wear down almost any team.

The Steelers young secondary has begun to improve and their front seven has been great.  So I don’t expect the Minnesota Vikings to beat the Steelers, especially in Pittsburgh.  Steelers cruise to a win.

The Jags are legit.  I know they lost Allen Robinson but they have a great defense and they have depth on offense.  Look out for sleepers like Dede Westbrook to have a big game.  The Titans looked overmatched losing at home against Oakland last week.

I don’t see the Titans beating this Jaguars team in Jacksonville.   I wouldn’t be surprised if they crushed the Titans just as they did to the Texans.

Andrew Luck has been ruled out again for Week 2 but I think any QB will be better than Scott Tolzien, even inexperienced Jacoby Brissett.  The Cots have some great receivers but they need a good or at least half decent QB in order to win games for the Colts.  They will have to find someone to fill in while Luck is out.  They need a QB who can utilize the great receivers the Colts have and Jacoby will get the chance this Sunday.

The Cardinals played well last week but the offense looks washed up and losing David Johnson won’t help.  I think the Colts defense should have it easier than last week and with anyone but Scott Tolzien as the starter, the Colts should be able to win this game at home.

Expect this game to be a blowout.  The Buccaneers will open their season in Tampa and they’ll be motivated to play well for their city that was impacted by Hurricane Irma.  The Bears are simply no match for them.

The Bears are thin at WR with the loss of Kevin White last week.  The Bears defense is still a work in progress and it may be viewed that way all season.  The Bucs meanwhile are well-built all around and I expect them to do well this season.  It will all start with an easy win at home.

The Dolphins will be almost as motivated as the Bucs opening their season but they are not playing the Bears.  Although LA might not feel like home for the Chargers, the Dolphins will be far from home and I expect a loud crowd for the Chargers first home game at LA.

The Dolphins will miss Ryan Tannehill and even if the Chargers D isn’t so great.  The Miami defense is pretty good but the Chargers have a great offense this year.  If they stay healthy, they could make things tough for their AFC West division foes. What happened each of the last two years for the Chargers will not be repeated.  Chargers win their first at home in a close one.

This Broncos team just is not as good as the recent Super Bowl winner.  Some might say the Cowboys have dropped off a bit too.  But Dallas still has a strong offense in the post-Tony Romo era as Dak Prescott has been just as good if not better than Romo.  Even though Denver was able to get Brock Osweiler back, their offense has continued to struggle after the retirement of Peyton Manning.

The Broncos defense is almost as good as they were back in 2015 but the Cowboys offense is stacked.  In the end, the Cowboys will grab the win.  I don’t think the Broncos will be able to stop Dak Prescott, Zeke Elliott, and the rest of the Cowboys offense.  Dak has so many weapons and will have the time to find them to lead his team to the win.

The Rams clobbered the Colts last week so they come into this game with some momentum.  On the other hand, the Redskins experienced a rude awakening last week as they lost to Philadelphia.  Washington just doesn’t have the same kind of all-around team they had last year.  I believe their offense and defense has dropped off versus last year’s team.  Meanwhile, the Rams definitely improved on offense and their defense is just as good as last year.

One year ago I would have easily picked the Redskins in this match-up.  But the Rams have gotten significantly better and the Redskins are going in the opposite direction.  So I think this year, the Rams are definitely the team to beat in this game.  In the end, LA will come out on top led by great games by Goff, Gurley, and Watkins.

This game is expected to be a blowout like the two others I predicted this week!  This Seahawks defense is just too good for the 49ers struggling offense.  I think the Niners lack the talent on offense and don’t have a single receiver that I would consider Top 50 in the NFL.

The Niners defense isn’t that great either but they’ll at least hold a mediocre Seahawks offense to under 30 points.  The Seahawks have good pieces on their offense but they just need a couple key additions to make the offense as strong as they’ve been in recent years.  However, I still see the Seahawks winning in the end despite some offensive holes.

SNF

This is going to be a great game.  Both these teams are still top tier after facing off in the NFC Championship.  The Falcons have the same great offense and the Packers still have a strong team all-around.  I think this will come down to the final seconds.

In the end, I have the Falcons winning.  The Packers will be under a lot of pressure on Sunday Night in Atlanta.  To add to it, this is Atlanta’s first game in a new stadium.  The Falcons offense will dominate in this game and it will just be too much for Green Bay to keep up with.  This monster offense could be a dangerous weapon for the Falcons and it will carry their less than stellar defense that blew a 25 point lead in the Super Bowl.

MNF

The Giants may have gotten crushed last week but I think they have the offense and the defense to beat the Lions.  The Lions put up 35 points offensively last week but the Giants defense has emerged as one of the better defenses in the league and should be able to hold them below 20 points.

Even without OBJ (who might not play this week), the Giants receivers are still dangerous.  Brandon Marshall and Sterling Shepard should be able to play well as the top 2 receivers until OBJ comes back.  The Lions lack a strong secondary so even though Marshall struggled last week, he and Shepard should both thrive this week.  The Giants will win because they play even better complementary football than the Lions do, and it took some good complementary football for the Lions to win last week.
So that’s all for my picks this week.  Stay tuned for more football articles coming soon. Feel free to comment with your thoughts on this week’s games.  It’s going to be a crazy week so get ready for it.