NFL Picks – Week 2

Basically week 1 was like someone bashing my mouth repeatedly with a baseball bat.  Could I get a bounce?!  Vincent Jackson gets tackled by his shoelaces, otherwise the Bucs cover.  Eli Manning has the ball down 6 with timeouts and over 2 minutes on the clock and for once he doesn’t come through.  The Ravens are controlling their game vs the Broncos.  Dallas Clark drops a TD pass right before half, then to start the 3rd quarter Wes Welker’s drop on 3rd down goes undetected and the Broncos go on to route a game that they should have been almost out of by that point.  Nothing went right.  I’m due for a big one, hopefully this week.

Cleveland at Baltimore

Cleveland +6.5

Probably 7 or higher by the kickoff.  I’m calling Vegas BS on this one.  They want you to take the Ravens.  Cleveland looked awful last week, and now they’re on the road.  Meanwhile the defending champs looked terrible so they’ll be pissed off and just blow the doors right off the Browns right?  I’m saying its BS.  The Browns have a good defense, and while the Ravens defense will be better it won’t go from awful to the 2000 edition in a week.  It will take time.  Plus, division rivalry, these games are more often than not tighter than expected.  I think this one will be a slug fest, and the Browns keep it close.

St.Louis at Atlanta

St.Louis +6.5

Another 6.5, I feel better about this one than the Browns.  The Rams are good, and the Falcons while I have them winning the Super Bowl this season I believe will struggle in the regular season.  They should win this game, but it will be very tight if they do.  The Rams are better on the lines, better on D, and Sam Bradford has a lot of weapons to play with.  Love the Rams in this spot. If you must bet bigger on one game than the others this week, I would suggest the Rams +6.5 is the best bet.

Tennessee at Houston

Tennessee +9.5

Again, in division just like the Browns/Ravens game, and the Titans aren’t ANYTHING flashy, but they’re great on the lines and that is a big key.  They can push you around and while Jake Locker isn’t great, if a guy has time to throw he is going to make some plays.  Add to this, I don’t like Matt Schaub’s lack of killer instinct.  He isn’t the type of guy that believes in crushing a team when he has them down.  Its a lot of points to give, so take them.

Detroit at Arizona

Arizona +1.5

Colin Cowherd let it slip on yesterday’s show that this will be one of his picks today and I really agree.  The Cards are a team that a lot of people love despite there loss on the road last week.  If you read my stuff you know how high I am on the Rams so that isn’t what I personally would consider a bad loss.  I like the Lions a lot this season, but this is a spot where they haven’t shined even 2 years ago when they were a playoff team.  The Cards match the Lions talent, which few teams do.  And even though he is technically a rookie coach, I’ll take Bruce Arians at home over Jim Schwartz.  Take the points, or take the Cards outright.

San Francisco at Seattle

Seattle -2.5

I have to pick the Sunday night game don’t I?!  Heavyweight tilt, and yes I know I don’t have the Seahawks going to the playoffs.  But that doesn’t mean I don’t think they’ll be tough team, especially to start the season.  Didn’t think they would get the win in Charlotte, but Russell Wilson can cover up a LOT of warts.  With 1 big throw he took them from a loss to a BIG win when you consider how tough their schedule is early.  Less than 3 points I like the Seahawks.  Toughest place to play in the league, Kaepernick won’t be able to dominate the Hawks defense like he does the Packers, and Wilson could have a field day with the Niners secondary which of course is the weakness of their elite defense.  Could be wrong here, because I do think it will be a tight game, but I think the Seahawks win a close one by a field goal.

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