Lots of good games again this week. The first game is Oakland at Buffalo. Both teams played well last week so this will be a good chance for both teams to prove they're legit.
The next game is Green Bay at Carolina. I think Cam Newton is going to remember he's a rookie this week and I suspect Green Bay is going to punish the Panthers. Cam had a good first week, but the Packers are a better team and this will be a good test for him.
Kansas City plays Detroit. Kansas City needs to bounce back after being humilated last week, but doing it on the road against a good Detroit team is asking too much.
Cleveland plays Indianapolis in a game that both teams really need to win. Cleveland lost to Cincinnati last week and Indy got clobbered last week, so both teams need to win this week. I'm liking Colt McCoy more than Kerry Collins. It should be a fairly close game anyway. If the Colts should get blown out in this game, then they may be playing for that first overall pick in next year's draft to pick up Andrew Luck.
Next up is Tampa Bay and Minnesota. I like Tampa Bay in this game. McNabb only threw for 39 yards last week. That's an embarrassing number. He's got to pick it up this week or he'll be on the bench by halftime and out of a job next week. You've got Percy Harvin and Adrian Peterson and you only throw for 39 yards in a whole game? The Donovan McNabb experiment in Minnesota could be ending real quickly if he doesn't perform much better than that. He needs about a ten-fold increase in production this week. I don't know if his mechanics are messed up or if his arm is about to fall off, but you've got to throw for more than 39 yards in a game.
The Chicago at New Orleans game could be the best game this week. The Bears defense is going to be severely tested and this could be a playoff preview, so emotions should be pretty high for this game. The Saints looked really good on offense in week one, but they gave up a lot of points. If the Bears can slow down/stop the Saints, this could be a good game.
The Jaguars/Jets game is likely to be won by the Jets pretty easily. They're the better team by far and unless they have a big letdown they should handle the Jags pretty easily.
Both Seattle and Pittsburgh need a good game this week to erase the memory of last week's games. Seattle lost by 16, Pittsburgh lost by 28, both teams need to wake up and realise the regular season has started. I think the Steelers' pride is hurt and they'll want to take out their anger on someone and lucky for them, here comes Seattle. I don't think this will be a good game for Seattle.
Baltimore plays Tennessee in what could be a trap game for Baltimore. They were so up to play Pittsburgh last week that they'll have to be careful not to let down a bit against Tennessee. Tennessee could end up being a competitor this year. They've got some good weapons and once Hasselbeck and his receivers get in sync they could do some damage. The Ravens should still win, but I wouldn't be shocked to see this game be very close.
Arizona plays Washington and this will be a nice test for both teams. I don't think either team is all that good this year, but both are coming off first week wins. I like Arizona's talent level and I prefer Kevin Kolb as a quarterback over Rex Grosssman, so I'm leaning towards Arizona in this game. Larry Fitzgerald was pretty quiet in last week's game, so I expect to see Kevin Kolb get him the ball a bit more against Washington.
Dallas at San Franciso is an interesting game. Dallas needs a win to build confidence. Losing to the Jets isn't a big problem, a lot of teams will lose to the Jets, but how they lost hurts. San Francisco played pretty well last week and it looks like Ted Ginn may finally be living up to expectations. The 49ers have a good group of receivers and the Cowboy secondary is hurting so this could be bad for the Cowboys, but I think they'll win. They remember last year's bad start too much to allow a repeat of that against a beatable team. If the Cowboy's losse this game, then it's a really bad sign for the Cowboys.
Cincinnati at Denver is likely to be a problem for Cincy. I'm not a fan of the Broncos, but Andy Dalton (the Bengals rookie QB) has had to miss practice time with a bruised hand/wrist and for a rookie with an already abbreviated offseason every snap in practice is important. I thik Denver will win this game.
The Texans play the Dolphins and the Texans look like they're the real deal this year. Miami coming off the loss to the Patriots may be a little flat after that and I suspect the Texans will pull out the win.
The Chargers and the Patriots could be a good game, but the Patriots just look unstoppable right now. Losing their center to injury could end up being a problem, but the Patriots have shown a history of being able to plug in someone new and not miss a beat.
The Eagles play at Atlanta. This is Michael Vick's big return to Atlanta as the starting QB of the Eagles and he's going to be very amped up for the game. He may be too amped up for the game. The big weakness of the Eagles is run defense which plays right into the big strength of the Falcons with running back Michael Turner. If the Eagles can contain Turner, then they should win. If Turner runs for 150 or more yards (a very real possibility) then the game could be a problem. The Eagles are built to beat passing teams they're likely to have to beat in the playoffs (Saints, Packers, Patriots, etc.) and a running team (Falcons, Giants, Ravens) is likely to give them fits. If the Eagles can get out to a big lead early, or force the Falcons into passing situations, then the Eagles should win. A shootout strongly favors the Eagle's offensive firepower.
And finally, the Monday night game is the Rams at the Giants. Both teams are coming off bad first week performances. The Rams got physically beat up in the Eagles game while the Giants went into the Redskins game already beat up. Both teams will be missing key players for this matchup and I'm not sure how this game will play out. I think momentum will play a big role in this game's outcome. If a team can get ahead by ten or more, they're likely to win. I'm not sure either team will be able to make much of a comeback if they fall behind. If I had to give the edge to someone, I'd give it to the Giants for the homefield, but that homefield can turn on you pretty quickly in the Meadowlands if Eli throws a pick or fumbles the ball away.
Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!
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