Hello there and welcome back to Axe's NFL blog ! After a short, (11 month :) break, I am back with more NFL picks and recaps for you ! I'm sure (hope) you guys missed me and were wondering where I was. Well I was busy with my chess life and school. Also, I'm happy to say I returned to the United States 4 months ago after 4 years ! Well enough about me and time to get down to some NFL PICKS !
It's great to have the NFL back, and Week 1 was exciting with some thrilling games. On to Week 2 now, which features some promising games. Sit back, grab a snack and enjoy ;)
Taking the Pats at home on a short week is oh so tempting, but i'm going with the Jets here. Besides the bias towards my home team, the Patriots have scant offensive weapons for this game. Most of there key playmakers are out with injuries, making them vulnerable as we saw against the Bills. Geno led the Jets to an extremely lucky win, and notched up his first game winning drive, which was capped off with a clutch FG by Folk. Momentum is with the Jets and they'll be looking to make amends for last year's disaster. The key is to pressure Brady and force him into making bad decisions (like that'll ever happen). As a Jets fan with modest expectations, avoiding a buttfumble will be a victory in my eyes. Better strike while the iron's hot Rex.
Prediction: Jets 21-17
Panthers only managed to score 7 pts against the vaunted Seahawks defense. The Bills are certainly not the 'Hawks, but they gave the Pats a run for their money and more, losing a heartbreaker at the last second. They led 23-21 with under two minutes to go, but unfortunately for them, the ball was in Tom Brady's hands. Need I say more. Expect this to be a high scoring 20 point game, with Newton tossing at least 2 TD's and the Panthers taking this one as the Bills will be too dejected after Sunday's loss.
Prediction: Panthers 31-24
It'll be interesting to see how Peterson fares against the Bear's Run Defense, but I really don't see how Ponder and the rest of the offense can keep up. Peterson will rack up a 100 yards and a TD, but the Bears will just run away with this one. Bears D gets a pick and forces at least 1 fumble.
Prediction: Bears 38-21
This is gonna be a real offensive shootout at Lambeau Field, and I just can't see the Redskins pulling off the upset. Griffin struggled in the first game, but will throw for 2 TD's and over 250 yards here. Aaron Rodgers will have a Tebow-like er I mean God-Like performance with 80% pass completion and 3 TD's. Redskins will hang tough, but in the end it won't be enough, and the Packers will emerge with at victory.
Prediction: Packers 45-34
Sophomore Slump for Luck ? Keep dreaming. The young prodigy led his team to victory in Week 1, after a late touchdown run against the Raiders. Expect him to do the same this week. The Fins have talent, but Luck's experience and the Colts superior offense will prove to be the decisive edge.
Prediction: Colts 24-10
The Falcons lost a nail-biter to division rival Saints, as Matty (that's right, no "Ice" for you this week) was unable to close out the game-winning drive, throwing an interception on the game's final play. The Rams also won a nail-biter against their division rival, the Cardinals, after a big fourth quarter. But the Falcons are not the Cardinals, and this game will get ugly quickly. Falcons aren't going to lose their home opener to a sub par team.
Prediction: 31-10
The Saints and the Bucs are teams coming of two completely different results. Sean Payton returnd for the Saints, who hung on to beat the Falcons 22-17, while the Bucs, more specifically Lavonte David's, commited a foolish penalty which allowed the Jets to win at the last second. Despite their inferiority, the Bucs will play the Saints hard, but will eventually lose by a score.
Prediction: Saints 38-31
Terrel Pryor impressed last Sunday, nearly beating the Colts @ Lucas Oil. The Raiders are definitely an improved team.. The only thing improved about the Jaguars this season is their logo. Other then that, they still stink. You know things are bad, when you lose to a team that was 2-14 last season by a score of 28-2. This game has blowout written all over it. Bench Gabbert and start Henne or else ... time to start the Tebow chants !
Prediction: Raiders 27-7
Browns - Ravens @ M&T Back Stadium. Yep, nothing to see here. Ravens respond to Thursday night's embarassment with a trouncing of the Browns.
Prediction Ravens 31-7
This will be a close one, but I see too much talent on KC's roster for Dallas to overcome. Also, the game is @ the Arrowhead.Chiefs are one of my upset picks this year to make the playoffs. Reid, Smith and the Chiefs move to 2-0 after a late Cowboys collapse (deja vu) seals the game.
Prediction: Chiefs 24-21
The Titans logged a huge upset in Week 1, by not only beating, but embarassing the Steelers by a score of 16-9. That's right, Big Ben and the Steelers were held to a measly 9 points. On Monday night football, the Texans showed why they're amongst the league's best, rallying from a 21 point deficit to beat the Chargers. I'm still not sold on the Titans, so to me the Texans should win this one fairly
comfortably.
Prediction: Texans 27-13
Chip Kelly proved that his college offense system with Oregon, can work in the NFL. At least for now. The Eagles ran a staggering 53 plays in the fist half itself against the Redskins. The results were evident with the Eagles having a 26-7 lead at halftime, and holding on to win 33-27. The Chargers on the other hand ... what can I say ? Same ol', Same ol', blowing huge leads as usual. Eagles cruise in their home opener, and one of the Chargers TD's comes in Garbage Time.
Prediction: Eagles 30-21
My first thought was, Well this should be exciting. But then I noticed in Week 1, both these teams put up fairly large scores. Expect that to continue, with the Cards taking this one because of home field advantage.
Prediction: Cardinals 27-24
Man, were the Broncos smoking on opening day or what ? Peyton's Manning 7 TD's paved the way for a blowout win against the defending SuperBowl champs. The Giants on the other hand were plagued on Sunday night by turnovers, as they lost to the Cowboys. Unfortunately for Eli and Big Blue , things aren't getting any easier. Big Bro comes to town and spoils their home opener, dropping them to 0-2.
Prediction: Broncos 34-24
Wow, that Seahawks helmet looks fierce. Good thing their team is too. Although their Week 1 victory @ Carolina wasn't anything to brag about, the Seahawks return to Seattle for their home opener against divison rival 49ers. The 49ers downed Aaron Rodgers and the Packers in Week 1, behind Kaepernick's a respectable feat. But the main factor in this game is that it's in Seattle. The last time these two played @ CenturyLink Field, it was a massacre of the 49ers. It'll definitely be closer this time, but the 12th man will be too much for the 49ers too handle as they drop to 1-1.
Prediction: 31-27
Bengals coming off a close loss to the Bears, a game they should have won before turning it over in the redzone. Steelers on the other hand were thoroughly dominated by the Titans. Bengals take this at home, dropping the Steelers to 0-2.
Prediction: Bengals 24-17
Well folks, that's it for the Axe's Week 2 Picks. I hope you enjoyed this post and were entertained.
This season, I'll write every alternate week and focus only on picks, not recaps since these articles require lot of effort and time, which I'd rather pour into chess :) Thanks for reading and I'll (try to ) be back next week !
Cheers to a great Week 2 and may your favorite team win !
