NFLFan's Journal: NFL Week 2

Week 1 Recap:
My Picks(9-7)
Thursday, Sep. 8
Oakland at New England, 9:00 p.m.
New England 30 Oakland 20
Well, I took Oakland in this one. I knew it was a gutsy pick and the game ended up being a lot closer than what most people thought- I was still on the wrong end though.

I watched until Collins threw that interception. From what I saw, New England did not look good. New England had too many penalties, their run defense did not look great, and Corey Dillon struggled (and perhaps even pouting). I thought Rodney Harrison was some great tackler? He could not tackle Moss. I was disappointed to see that Sports Illustrated call this game a rout, it was not.

Sunday, Sep. 11
Chicago at Washington, 1:00 p.m.
Washington 9 Chicago 7
No real comment about this game, but I picked the Redskins! That score is correct.

Cincinnati at Cleveland, 1:00 p.m.
Cincinnati 27 Clevend 13
What's new? The Bengals looked good early in the season! Carson Palmer and Rudi Johnson had good solid games.

Denver at Miami, 1:00 p.m.
Miami 34 Denver 10
What a surprise! Well, I did say that Miami was not as bad as they looked last season but I did not think they were good enough to beat the Broncos.

Houston at Buffalo, 1:00 p.m.
Buffalo 22 Houston 7
Houston did not look good. David Carr did not look good. I do not know what is going on in Houton.

New Orleans at Carolina, 1:00 p.m.
New Orleans 23 Carolina 20
Carolina had their chances but squandered them. The way the Saints played, they deserved to win. I don't think the Saints can keep it up with Aaron Brooks at quarterback but who knows.

N.Y. Jets at Kansas City, 1:00 p.m.
Kansas City 27 New York 7
What a sloppy game for the Jets. I really don't understand why the Jets went the direction they did with their offense. I think a West Coast type offense would have made a lot more sense. Why? Because a good West Coast offense demands a lot of short accurate passes which goes with Pennington's reputation. Instead the Jets go with some vertical stretch the field offense. Okay, we saw that offense with the Titans and that got McNair rather beat up; did I mention that Pennington is not exactly the most durable guy?

Seattle at Jacksonville, 1:00 p.m.
Jacksonville 26 Seattle 14
Seattle just failed to show up on the field. What a shame.

Tampa Bay at Minnesota, 1:00 p.m.
Tampa Bay 24 Minnesota 13
Randy who? Oh wait, maybe the Vikings could of used him. I don't think that Mike Tice deserves to be a head coach and it is starting to look like he won't be much longer.

Tennessee at Pittsburgh, 1:00 p.m.
Pittsburth 34 Tennessee 7
This is the only game I watched all the way through and I think the Steelers were the most impressive team for week 1. To be fair, the Titans had a large hand in making the Steelers looking good. Considering the Titans record from last year, it is tough to say if the Steelers were making plays or if the Titans were just screwing up. It is a good thing when Rothlisberger only attempts 11 passes.

Arizona at N.Y. Giants, 4:15 p.m.
New York 42 Arizona 19
I don't know what to write here. Think the Giants can keep Plaxico interested the whole year?

Dallas at San Diego, 4:15 p.m.
Dallas 28 San Diego 24
What a game! Essentially went down to the last play of the game. Might have been a different game had Gates played for the Chargers but he didn't. I just caught the end of the game and I got the feeling that the Cowboys really did not deserve to win but they made the plays at the end.

Green Bay at Detroit, 4:15 p.m.
Detroit 17 Green Bay 3
Brett Farve will have better days; his performance will not become a norm. I understand that Green did not look good running the ball, but they still have good backups.

St. Louis at San Francisco, 4:15 p.m.
San Francisco 28 St. Louis 25
Another surprise! Don't get used to it San Francisco fans?

Indianapolis at Baltimore, 8:30 p.m.
Indianapolis 24 Baltimore 7
The Baltimore defense looked good in the first half but it was obvious that they were trying too hard and just expending energy. I am not ready to jump onto that Colts' defense wagon just yet, it was only the Ravens they stopped. The game reminded me a lot of the game these two played last year. The Ravens can't hold the Colts down.

Jamal Lewis was uneffective and Boller left early. Ogden and Suggs had too many silly penalties.

Monday, Sep. 12
Philadelphia at Atlanta, 9:00 p.m.
Atlanta 14 Philadelphia 10
Did not watch the whole thing but saw most of the scoring. I don't care if Vick is not the greatest passer, he won and that is what matters in the end. Yes Philly missed Trotter but Atlanta still had to take advantage of it; and boy did they. The Eagles could use a real running back.

Week 2 Forecast:
Baltimore at Tennessee, 1:00 p.m.
I think I have to go with the Ravens here. The Ravens looked a lot better in their lost to the Colts than the Titans did in their lost to the Steelers. Should be interesting if only to gauge how good the Steelers really are.

Buffalo at Tampa Bay, 1:00 p.m.
I like the Bills. On offense, these two teams are pretty even. The Bills probably have the better defense.

Detroit at Chicago, 1:00 p.m.
I like Detroit. While I was not impressed with Detroit's win last week, I do not think the Bears can beat them.

Jacksonville at Indianapolis, 1:00 p.m.
I like Indianpolis. How can someone really pick against the Colts right now? They have something to prove.

Minnesota at Cincinnati, 1:00 p.m.
I like the Bengals for this one. Minnesota is a team searching for an identity. Rudi and Carson will take the Bengals to another win.

New England at Carolina, 1:00 p.m.
I am going to go with the Panthers here. I don't like Patriots and think they are destined to fall this year. That opinion will probably cost me here but so be it. We get to see if the Panthers are pretenders or contenders.

N.Y. Giants at New Orleans (really at New York on Monday), 1:00 p.m.
I like the Saints for this one. The Saints showed a lot more in week 1 than the Giants did.

Pittsburgh at Houston, 1:00 p.m.
I like the Steelers. Houston did not look good in week 1 and I don't expect them to look much better against the Steelers. After week 3, Fast Willie Parker could easily have 400-500 yards rushing! Look for the Steelers to bring Bettis and Staley along slowly and this is a good thing because it has been a while since Pittsburgh has had a truly healthy starting halfback in the playoffs.

San Francisco at Philadelphia, 1:00 p.m.
I like the Eagles. The Eagles are not the Rams. I don't care if the 49ers won last week and want to make some sort of statement against T.O..

Atlanta at Seattle, 4:05 p.m.
I like the Falcons. Seattle is not bad but Atlanta is better. Atlanta will run all over Seattle just like they did to Philly last week.

St. Louis at Arizona, 4:05 p.m.
I like the Cardinals. The Rams are an enigma, they hurt me when I pick them and they hurt me when I pick against them.

Cleveland at Green Bay, 4:15 p.m.
I like the Packers. Brett Farve will be Brett Farve. The Browns are not as good as the Lions.

Miami at N.Y. Jets, 4:15 p.m.
I like the Jets! The Jets are not as bad as they looked last week, I hope. Miami may of won last week but they still have more to prove.

San Diego at Denver, 4:15 p.m.
I like the Chargers. The Chargers should be getting Gates back and that should be enough and if it is not, the Broncos still have Jake Plummer at quarterback.

Kansas City at Oakland, 8:30 p.m.
I like the Chiefs. The Raiders are looking for some sort of offensive identity.

Monday, Sep. 19
Washington at Dallas, 9:00 p.m
I like the Cowboys. The Redskins have quarterback issues again. Dallas has enough offense and defense to be relevant again.

Beware...

[Shadow Wrought]

I have been predicting NE's collapse for a couple of seasons now. No matter how aggrevating it is to watch teams collapse against them, I would be hesitant to write them off. As for the enigma of the Rams, well, as a Rams fan, I can't say they make much more sense to me. They really need to figure out how to play special teams. It costs them half of their losses every year.

Re:Beware...

[NFLFan]

The problem with my opinion of the Patriots is that I just do not like them and look for reasons why they will fail. If their division has caught up to them, like I think it has, then coupled with the Patriots' schedule and New England will be lucky to get a bye week in the playoffs!

Wow, I bet being a Rams fan is one of those frustrating yet fun things. I love to watch their offense when it is clicking but it just seems like they should win more games :( Special teams certainly cost them last week.

Re:Beware...

[Shadow Wrought]

Wow, I bet being a Rams fan is one of those frustrating yet fun things.

And you'd be right! I have seen them move down the field like they were playing against a high school junior varsity practice squad, and I've seen them play like a high school junior varsity practice squad. I think there biggest problem is that they get so caught up at the higher end of the football spectrum (e.g., all those precise timing routes that are so difficult to defend) that they forget some of the fundamentals. It wouldn'