NFL Week 2 Picks and Predictions

One week of football is in the books.

There were several exciting games that had us on the edge of our seats, and there were some games that were worthy of changing the channel at halftime.

Half of the teams in the league are un-defeated, but the other half have yet to receive a win.

I will be giving my predictions for this weeks games.

Starting out with...

1. Carolina Panthers (0-1) vs. Atlanta Falcons (1-0)

The Atlanta Falcons led off the year with an impressive victory over a Dolphins team that doesn't appear to have the skills that it did last year.

Matt Ryan showed why he was the rookie of the year in 2008 with a two touchdown performance and 229 yards through the air.

As for Carolina, they suffered an embarrassing loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

When all was said and done, the Panthers lost the ball game by 28 points, 38-10.

After this loss, many Panthers fans wanted Jake Delhomme to either be traded or released whenever possible.

This week I see the Falcons picking up another big win to go 2-0.

Michael Turner will be too much for the Panthers to handle on the ground.

Falcons 27, Panthers 16

2. Minnesota Vikings (1-0) vs. Detroit Lions (0-1)

Minnesota, with high expectations, came up big in a win over the Cleveland Browns this past Sunday.

Adrian Peterson had himself one of the best games of his career with a 180 yard, 3 touchdown performance.

The Vikings went on to win the game by the score of 34-20.

Detroit lost to New Orleans on Sunday to improve their streak to 18 straight regular season losses.

That is pathetic.

Matthew Stafford showed that he truly is a rookie in his three interceptions showing vs. the Saints.

I can't see Detroit breaking their streak against one of the best teams in the league.

I see Minnesota rolling over the Lions in this one.

Vikings 31, Lions 10

3. Cincinnati Bengals (0-1) vs. Green Bay Packers (1-0)

Cincinnati was less than 30 seconds away from picking up a week one victory over the Denver Broncos, when all of the sudden Brandon Stokley caught an 85 yard pass for a touchdown.

The Bengals lost the game 12-7.

Despite the loss, Cincinnati didn't play all that terribly. Their defense looked good, but their offense looked weak.

As for the Packers, they one in a close game to the Chicago Bears.

Jay Cutler had one of the worst games of his career in his debut with Chicago.

Green Bay picked off Cutler 4 times in their 21-15 victory.

Although Cincinnati looks like a better team, Green Bay's offense will just be too much for the Bengals to control.

Packers 27, Bengals 17

4. Arizona Cardinals (0-1) vs. Jacksonville Jaguars (0-1)

Arizona did not come off of their Super Bowl loss very well.

Not expected by most, the Cardinals lost to the vastly improved, San Francisco 49'ers.

Kurt Warner recently said that he fully expects Arizona to respond to this loss very well. He appears confident that the Cardinals will beat the Jags on Sunday.

Jacksonville came up 2 points shy of coming up with an upset victory over the Indianapolis Colts.

The Jaguars look like a much better team than the team last year that only won 5 games.

Maurice Jones-Drew is the key to success if the Jags want to have a chance to win this weekend.

Arizona will not lose two straight games. It just won't happen.

Cardinals 23, Jaguars 20

5. Oakland Raiders (0-1) vs. Kansas City Chiefs (0-1)

I couldn't have been the only one who actually thought the Raiders were going to beat the Chargers, right?

Oakland came up just shy of defeating last year's AFC west champion, San Diego Chargers.

The Raiders run game is their key to success. They must utilize it all day vs. the Chiefs.

Kansas City, on the other hand, did not come that close to victory.

They were stuck with Brody Croyle tossing the pigskin, which is never good for your team.

Nonetheless, the Chiefs didn't play terrible. They lost to the Ravens 38-24.

This game will be close because both teams are average at best.

Raiders 16, Chiefs 14

6. New England Patriots (1-0) vs. New York Jets (1-0)

New England had to score 14 points in order to beat the Buffalo Bills on Monday night. It was not a good game for the Pats.

Tom Brady looked as good as ever with his 378 passing yards performance.

On defense, the Patriots looked shaky all game long. Perhaps they are missing Richard Seymour and Tedy Bruschi.

New York picked up a big win over the Houston Texans 24-7.

Mark Sanchez showed signs of a potential star in the making with his terrific debut.

The Jets defense also looks much improved with defensive guru Rex Ryan coaching the team.

This game could go down to who has the ball last. Expect a good one at noon on Sunday.

Patriots 34, Jets 27

7. New Orleans Saints (1-0) vs. Philadelphia Eagles (1-0)

Drew Brees had one of the best individual games by a quarterback in NFL history.

Brees through for a career-high 6 touchdowns in the Saints dominating victory over the Detroit Lions.

New Orleans has one of the deadliest offenses in the league. Teams better look out for the Saints this year.

Philadelphia is also a team to be reckoned with.

They crushed the Panthers last week 38-10 as I mentioned earlier.

Donovan McNabb is doubtful for this weeks game, but he appears to be getting better by the day.

Nonethless, expect Kevin Kolb to get the start this week.

Saints 31, Eagles 26

8. Houston Texans (0-1) vs. Tennessee Titans (0-1)

The Houston Texans started off the 2009 season with a disappointing loss to the New York Jets.

Houston came into this season with high expectations, but they failed to live up to them whatsoever in week 1.

The Texans must focus on taking down last years AFC South champions, Tennessee Titans.

Tennessee came up shy of defeating the Steelers in the first game of the 2009 season on Thursday, September 10th.

The Titans did not have much of an offensive impact on a tremendous Steelers defense led by James Harrison.

Look for Tennessee to have a much better game against a soft Texans defense.

Texans 22, Titans 26

9. St. Louis Rams (0-1) vs. Washington Redskins (0-1)

St. Louis was shut-out on week one by the Seattle Seahawks. As many of you know, the Rams have a terrible offense and defense.

The Rams must use Steven Jackson as much as they possibly can if they want a chance of winning this game.

Overall, don't expect a great game from the Rams. They don't seem to have the tools to succeed this season.

Washington was also on the losing side of things this past week against the New York Giants.

I caught most of this game and thought that the Redskins played a lot better than most had expected.

They have a fairly good offense when Clinton Portis is playing at his very best.

Expect a pretty good game, but Washington's offense will be too much.

Rams 13, Redskins 34

10. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-1) vs. Buffalo Bills (0-1)

Tampa Bay, a once dominant team, is now towards the bottom of the league. Sunday's performance against Dallas didn't help them any.

The Buccaneers offense looks very shaky, and their defense is missing a lot of parts that they had a couple years back.

Byron Leftwich will have to play his heart out if the Bucs want to pick up a big win on the road.

Buffalo played the Patriots on Monday night as mentioned on an earlier slide.

They almost had the game in the bag until Tom Brady and the Patriots showed why they are so great, with a late comeback win.

The Bills are missing Marshawn Lynch which seems to be hurting their running game more than people think.

Buffalo will be too much to contain at home this weekend.

Buccaneers 12, Bills 23

11. Seattle Seahawks (1-0) vs. San Francisco 49'ers (1-0)

Seattle looked like a great team with their shut-out victory over the lowly St. Louis Rams on Sunday.

Their offense looks vastly improved with a healthy Matt Hasselbeck and the new-Seahawk, T.J. Houshmandzadeh.

They should be a great match-up for San Francisco's marginal defense.

The 49'ers defeated the defending NFC champions in their week 1 game.

San Francisco's defense stepped up against one of the more deadly passing games in the league today.

They will be facing another team who likes to run the ball this week.

Seahawks 19, 49'ers 20

12. Pittsburgh Steelers (1-0) vs. Chicago Bears (0-1)

Pittsburgh showed a sign of supremacy with their victory over the Tennessee Titans on the first game of the season.

The Steelers basically shut-down the Titans on offense. As many of you know, Pittsburgh has a great defense.

As for Chicago, they lost in a nail-biting game to the Green Bay Packers.

Jay Cutler threw for a career-high 4 interceptions. It was an awful debut for the former Denver Bronco'

Expect Pittsburgh's defense to be a shut-down force this week again.

Steelers 23, Bears 16

13. Cleveland Browns (0-1) vs. Denver Broncos (1-0)

The Browns proved no match against the Minnesota Vikings in their first game of the season.

Cleveland failed to stop Adrian Peterson. We know now that Adrian rushed for 180 yards and 3 touchdowns in this game.

Cleveland will have to play a Broncos team who looks to have a much better defense than last years.

Denver, as mentioned before, won against the Cincinnati Bengals in a story-book ending.

The Broncos were mere seconds away from losing their first game of the year.

I don't see the Browns being able to stop a healthy Kyle Orton and the rest of the Broncos offense.

Browns 17, Broncos 31

14. Baltimore Ravens (1-0) vs. San Diego Chargers (1-0)

Baltimore pulled off a 38-24 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in their first game of the season.

The Ravens and Chiefs were tied up late in the game, but they went on to score two touchdowns back-to-back.

Joe Flacco appears to be a lot better than he was in his rookie season last year.

San Diego was very fortunate to pick up a win over the Raiders on Monday Night Football.

The Chargers were down late in the game, but managed to score the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter.

They must step it up big time when they play the Ravens this week.

Ravens 24, Chargers 35

15. New York Giants (1-0) vs. Dallas Cowboys (1-0)

Dallas played well in their first game with their supposed brand new offense without Terrell Owens.

The Cowboys picked up a solid win over the Buccaneers on Sunday.

Tony Romo should have a great game against a Giants secondary that will be without Aaron Ross at cornerback.

New York won against the Redskins on Sunday Night Football. But it wasn't easy.

The Giants and Washington went back and forth, but New York won it in the final trenches.

A battle of NFC East opponents. It's bound to be a great game.

Giants 27, Cowboys 31

16. Indianapolis Colts (1-0) vs. Miami Dolphins (0-1)

The Colts, as I mentioned earlier, had a tough time beating the Jaguars last week.

This week, Indianapolis will look towards defeating the Miami Dolphins.

Indianapolis' offense should have a great day against a defense that appears to be getting worse.

Miami was defeated last week 19-7 by the Atlanta Falcons anchored by Matt Ryan.

The Dolphins didn't play terrible, but their offense couldn't seem to put many points on the board.

Hopefully, for their sake, they will have a bounce-back week against the Colts. It will not be easy, though.

Colts 27, Dolphins 14