First…
Music to listen to: The Widow by The Mars Volta
I’m two weeks away from doing my first power poll of the season and we don’t know what to make of the league. We have Kansas City and Tampa at 2-0 while San Francisco and Dallas are 0-2. If those teams played in a round-robin on a neutral field, the Cowboys and 49ers would win the majority of the time, but that’s football.
You also have New Orleans sitting at 2-0, barely winning its two contests while Houston has not only shown domination over its biggest opponent, Indianapolis, but came back on the road against a decent team, Washington, and showed a toughness that has been lacking in the franchise since its inception. However, if the Saints and Texans played today, I would take New Orleans all the way.
The point of this rant is to make an excuse for my predictions. If any of you have been making bets with my predictions, you’re probably looking for a new home because going 15-15-2 isn’t a good look. The reason for this besides my awesome prediction skills is that its hard to read how teams are going to do in the first few weeks. That’s why I didn’t want to do predictions at first.
Anyway, here are my predictions (home team in CAPS):
NY GIANTS (-3) Tennessee: This game has the makings of a 17-point victory for the Giants. New York is coming off of an embarrassing national television loss with everyone questioning if it is going to be a good team. Than you have Tennessee, whose head coach decided to bench is starting quarterback in a winnable game in the second half of the second contest of the season. Good job not showing panic. Chris Johnson can rush for 170 yards and mess this pick up but I’m taking the home team.
NEW ENGLAND (-14.5) Buffalo: I know that’s a high number but the Patriots are going to win this game easily. You have to wonder what Buffalo fans are thinking now that Trent Edwards is proving that he isn’t the answer at quarterback. The Bills could have taken Colt McCoy, Tim Tebow and especially Jimmy Clausen in this year’s draft but passed.
Cleveland (+10.5) BALTIMORE: I know that it’s the Ravens home opener and the Browns aren’t that good but I’m worried about Baltimore’s offense not being able to produce enough points to be an elite team. No one is expecting the Ravens to turn into the Saints on offense but getting more than 20 points in a contest would be appreciated.
TAMPA (+2.5) Pittsburgh: The reason that I refuse to acknowledge the “Bay” in all of the teams from Tampa that use that term is that I’ve been to Tampa and didn’t see any bays. Speaking of the Tampa Rays, did you see this story from the Tampa Tribune about the breaking up of the core of the Rays? Nice way to show encouragement for your squad before the postseason, Tampa Rays ownership.
Cincinnati (-3) CAROLINA: I can go with the Bengals on the road because they are the better team but Carolina is starting a new quarterback and may actually get competent play from the position. Take the Natti.
NEW ORLEANS (-3.5) Atlanta: Since I live in the greater Atlanta area, this game has always been an interesting one over the years. The Saints and Falcons have always been kindred spirits in the NFL for a variety of reasons. They have always been in the same division, the two cities share a variety of similarities and many people grow up in one city and move to the other, especially from the N.O. to the ATL. However, the main thing that the teams have shared is a history of losing seasons. There were years when one team knew that its best hope to get a win would be against the other. This has changed in recent years. The Falcons have been to a Super Bowl and had winning seasons. The Saints have WON a Super Bowl and were the story of the year. Now Atlanta looks and sees its chief rival as a champion but still can’t beat it. This continues on Sunday.
KANSAS CITY (+3) San Francisco: I don’t get how the 49ers are favorites on the road against a 2-0 team, even if it’s the Chiefs.
Detroit (+11) MINNESOTA: Once again, you’re telling me that the Vikings are 11 points better than the Lions, even if the contest is in Minnesota? All you needed to see was Brett Farve barely being able to walk into the stadium last week before the Dolphins game to know that this isn’t the Vikings year.
HOUSTON (-2.5) Dallas: If you looked at both team’s performances this year and eliminated the preconceived notions of the squads like one of those blind Team A vs. Team B split screens you see during sports broadcasts, wouldn’t you have the Texans favored by at least seven points? That’s what I thought.
Washington (-3.5) ST. LOUIS: This is one of those games where you take the Rams and midway through the second quarter, the Redskins are leading 17-3 and you’re kicking yourself. Not this time my friend, not this time.
Philadelphia (-2.5) JACKSONVILLE: The story of the week in the NFL has been the Mike Vick saga. Here’s my biggest issue with it, actually I have two big issues. First, what changed from Monday to Tuesday for Philadelphia head coach Andy Reid to go from Kevin Kolb to Mike Vick? You’ve publicly stated that Kolb would be the starting QB when he returned from his concussion and stuck with that on Monday. Than on Tuesday, you go with Vick. That smells of a locker room in dissention and Reid didn’t want to lose it.
The second issue is Reid putting all of his faith in Vick. Vick has looked great for six quarters so far this season but he has a history of inconsistent play. If Vick struggles at some point in this season, and he will because all quarterbacks do, what will Reid do then. Does he pull him for Kolb or stay stubborn and keep Vick in. That’s a risky game that Reid is playing. The Eagles are better than Jacksonville and should win this contest but there will be tougher contests that will test the mettle of the Eagles.
Indianapolis (-5.5) DENVER: If Indy doesn’t win this contest by at least ten points, than it will have major problems this season.
SEATTLE (+5.5) San Diego: I think things worked out a little too well for the Chargers this week against Jacksonville. The holdouts of Vincent Jackson and Marcus McNeill have to come back to haunt San Diego at some point excluding the first week loss to Kansas City. Seattle will still lose the contest but by a field goal.
ARIZONA (-4.5) Oakland: Just stick with Jason Campbell, Oakland.
MIAMI (-2) New York Jets: I’ve been waiting all season for this contest because I picked Miami to make the playoffs and the Jets to finish 7-9. New York finally showed some fortitude by beating New England. The positive from the contest is that the Jets finally opened up its offense and let Mark Sanchez operate freely. He’s going to make mistakes because he’s young. The Jets just need to accept that and let Sanchez play his game.
What you should be concerned about is the culture of the team. it’s a professional team with grown men so you shouldn’t expect a bunch of good guys but between the Hard Knocks show, the incident with the female Mexican reporter and now Braylon Edwards getting a DUI and still playing in the Miami game, this isn’t the vibe you want with your team. Some may argue that this is the vibe that the Jets want, especially Rex Ryan, but this will ultimately be the downfall of the squad. That begins on Sunday night.
Green Bay (-3) CHICAGO: How about my main Commodore Jay Cutler showing heart last week in leading the Bears to its win at Dallas. I used to do a weekly review on my other Blog during the NFL season about Cutler’s March to Canton, tracking his evolution as a quarterback that will eventually lead him to a Hall of Fame career. Than he got traded to Chicago and I stopped it because it was depressing seeing my fellow Vandy Commie struggling. I may have to bring that feature back that feature with the Bears now 2-0.
Those are my thoughts, what about yours?
Last week: 7-9-0
Season 15-15-2
The Sports Inquirer 
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