Akshat's NFL Week 2 Picks

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 !

Akshat's NFL Week 4 Recap

                                                    

 Browns: 16          Ravens: 23

The Ravens move to 13-0 in their last 13 games at home.  Quite impressive.  The game against the win-less Browns didn't come easy.  The Browns were definitely in a spot to win, if only the receivers weren't allergic to the football.

Titans: 14          Texans: 38

After going into halftime only up by a score, the Texans came out firing, stepping up on defense to return an interception for a touchdown. After that the pendulum swung in Texan's favor, they raced ahead to victory.  It seems the main question is not if the Texans will win in the division, but if they can break the "Fastest Division Title" record.  P.S. couldn't get an image where the logos on the right facing left for this one and the next ones too.

49ers: 34          Jets: 0

Ground and pound, shutdown defense, Wild Cat experts.  That's what the New York Jets ... Geez, wait a sec!  That's what the San Francisco 49ers showed this weekend, pounding the Jets enroute to a 34-0 shutout.  Sanchez was dismal for a 3rd straight week, throwing for only 100 yards and 0 TD (well obviously).  The Jets didn't even bother too show up.  Great coaching by Harbaugh and overall effort by the 49ers, who are back on track as NFC Superbowl contenders.  The Jets must beat the best AFC team, the Texans Monday night to show that they can rebound after this tough loss.  Oh and Kaepernick, the 49ers back up quarterback had more rushing yards then the entire Jets team. 'Nuff said.

Seahawks: 13          Rams: 19

Any last second lucky Hail Mary calls?  We all know what the Seahawks are when Tebow, err I mean God is not on their side.  Interestingly, the Rams only TD came from the defense.

Chargers: 37          Chiefs: 20

After getting manhandled by the Falcons, the Chargers routed the Chiefs. Still, it's only the Chiefs and their real test is coming up with their next two opponents being the Saints (ey 0-4 who dat! no seriously, Breese and the offense is great. They just need to get a defence) and Broncos.

                                                       

Vikings: 20          Lions: 13

While I predicted that Ponder would ponder his passes well, I did not manage to predict that they would win! The Vikings are atop the division along with the Bears. As for the Lions, they're special teams was awful for the 2nd straight. The Vikings returned a kick off and punt for a touchdown. Another game were TD's were only generated by the defense. The Lions have  got a bye week, and they need to make use of it.

Patriots: 52          Bills: 28

52 points.  52.  You do not do that, you just don't.  Unless you're the Patriots.  After shaking of a 21-7 deficit, the Patriots smashed open the game in the 2nd half, racking up 45 points in the 2nd half, 31 in the half.  While the Bills looked like they were ready to take the Division Lead, their offense went to sleep and the defense gave up.  There were some sparks of brilliance by Fitzpatrick, but you need to be great for all 4 quarters. Better watch out Jets. Patriots are coming up fast.

Panthers: 28          Falcons: 30

This truly was a remarkable display of leadership meshed with luck and immaturity. The game seemed wrapped up with the Panthers having possession with less then 2 minutes to play. But after scrambling, Newton fumbled the ball. The Panthers got it back but had to punt, and even  downed it at the 1 yard line. But Matt Ryan and the Falcons showed why they're one of the best NFL teams, driving down the field in less then a minute to set up the winning field goal. No timeouts too. White also had a big day, having eight receptions for 169 yards. A heart breaker for the Panthers who certainly played their heart out. They should be able to compensate their record with a win against Seattle next week.

Bengals: 27          Jagaurs: 10

The Bengals coasted to an easy win at Jacksonville. That ties them at 3-1 with the Ravens. Division title is still up for grabs.

Dolphins: 21          Cardinals: 24

Another heartbreaking loss in OT for the Dolphins, who should have won the game. Unfortunately, should have doesn't cut it. Carpenter missed the game winning fieldgoal for the second straight week in regulation to send it to overtime. This time there were no more chances. While there is much speculation about how good the Cardinals really are, they are 4-0 and that's what matters.

Raiders: 6          Broncos: 37

*Yawn* Moving on.


                       

Redskins: 24          Buccaneers: 22

Down 22-21, after squandering an 18 point lead with 1:42 remaining and coolly leading the Redskins to victory was Robert Griffin III. Leading his first game winning drive, Griffing was precise, connection on all of his passes, and setting up the game winning 41 yard field goal by Billy Cundiff.  WAAITTTT a sec. Billy Cundiff?  Isn't this the guy who missed the game-tying 32 yard fieldgoal in the AFC game? Getting closer to redemption buddy.  This time Cundiff connected, to pull the Redskins back up to .500%

Saints: 27          Packers: 28

And the Packers lose for the 2nd straight week because of  bad officiating.  Well, almost!  Nearly being negated their win by a bad call (this time by the regular refs).  We want the replacements back! :)  The Packers barely managed to squeak past the Saints 28-27.  On a play where Sproles clearly fumbled, the refs ruled down by contact.  At least the Packers were on the right side of it.  Saints move to 0-4 and they're not all that bad.  I'm still not counting them out from the playoffs.





 















Giants: 17          Eagles: 19

Lawrence Tynes's  field goal sailed wide left, and Lincoln Financial field erupted in celebration. And then ... silence.  Andy Reid had called a timeout, which gave the Giants another chance. Tynes missed again though, as the kick fell short by a few feet.  I don't know if Reid would have made it out of the stadium if Tynes had made it.  Like the Dolphins last week, Reid tried to ice the kicker.  Vick expressed his disbelief  in it saying " We need to get rid of this tradition."  He's right. This one was just a regular season game.  Next time it could be the SuperBowl !  The Giants ended up being called for an offensive pass interference (after drawing a defensive one) which pushed them back to the 36 yard line.  But then it was just bad play calling by Coughlin. 3rd down, why not try a throw to the sidelines where maybe the receiver can catch it, and the clock will stop.  54 yards appeared to be a couple long of Tynes range.  0-2 in  divisional games for the Giants, but they are going to squeak into the playoffs, torch every team and win the SuperBowl right?

Bears: 34          Cowboys: 18

A great performance by the Bears defense, who smothered the Cowboys. Romo threw a career high 5 INT, although one was just desperation at the end. Cutler and the offense rolled, as the Dallas secondary got beaten several times on the long throws. And someone was butterfingers today.  That's right, I'm looking at you Dez -_-.

Well that's the NFL Recap for Week 4, brought to you by The Axe.  Stay tuned for Week 5 Picks!  Check out my Chess Blog if you have time - Quest To GM