NFL Week 2 Picks: Surprise Winners That Will Fail to Match Expectations

After a wild start to the 2013 NFL regular season, the anticipation has shifted to which surprise winners will fail to meet the same expectations in Week 2.

All of the following teams walked away victorious in Week 1 but will each face a loss in their second game against superior talent. The short-lived dream ride will be over.

New York Jets

The New York Jets, led by rookie quarterback Geno Smith, stunned the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 18-17 Sunday, but the momentum will stop almost immediately as the team faces off with a New England Patriots squad looking for redemption.

New England barely squeezed by the Buffalo Bills with a score of 23-21, and the entire team will be looking for a more decisive victory.

While the Patriots have already been bitten by the injury bug (both wide receiver Danny Amendola and running back Shane Vereen are hurt), there is enough talent on both sides of the ball to decimate New York.

The Jets could only manage 214 passing yards all game, even as they struggled to come back from a deficit. The lack of consistency and talent in the pass attack will allow New England to stack the box against the run and shut New York down.

Prediction: New England 31, New York 17

Tennessee Titans

The Tennessee Titans stunned the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 1 by a score of 16-9, and despite the momentum that victory will create, it won’t be enough to lift the team past the Houston Texans this week.

After struggling to make their mark in the first three quarters of the Monday night matchup with the Chargers, the Texans destroyed San Diego to close the game and secure a victory. With Houston rounding into form, the Titans won’t stand a chance.

Tennessee only managed an abysmal 117 yards passing against the stingy Steelers defense. The Texans can be burnt in the secondary, but the lack of confidence through the air attack will hurt the Titans all day.

Expect a one-sided blowout.

Prediction: Houston 30, Tennessee 10

 

Seattle Seahawks

It wasn’t a surprise that Seattle won in Week 1, but it was stunning to see how the team was barely able to pull off a close victory against a mediocre Carolina Panthers team.

With the San Francisco 49ers coming to town, the Seahawks are in serious trouble.

The 49ers took down the mighty Green Bay Packers in a 34-28 battle that took the NFC foes to their limits. With Seattle only outscoring Carolina 12-7, the Seahawks will have a hard time mounting any offense against the vaunted San Francisco defense.

Seattle still has one of the best defensive units in the league as well, but quarterback Colin Kaepernick and the 49ers' offensive players like receiver Anquan Boldin and running back Frank Gore will score enough to hand the division rivals a loss.

This Seahawks team looked like a shell of the Super Bowl contenders they were last year in Week 1.

Prediction: San Francisco 27, Seattle 20

Full Week 2 NFL Predictions

Date	Matchup	Predicted Winner	Time (ET)	TV
Thursday, Sept. 12	NY Jets at New England	New England Patriots	8:25 p.m.	NFL Network
Sunday, Sept. 15	St. Louis at Atlanta	Atlanta Falcons	1 p.m.	Fox
Sunday, Sept. 15	Carolina at Buffalo	Buffalo Bills	1 p.m.	Fox
Sunday, Sept. 15	Minnesota at Chicago	Chicago Bears	1 p.m.	Fox
Sunday, Sept. 15	Washington at Green Bay	Green Bay Packers	1 p.m.	Fox
Sunday, Sept. 15	Miami at Indianapolis	Indianapolis Colts	1 p.m.	CBS
Sunday, Sept. 15	Dallas at Kansas City	Kansas City Chiefs	1 p.m.	Fox
Sunday, Sept. 15	San Diego at Philadelphia	Philadelphia Eagles	1 p.m.	CBS
Sunday, Sept. 15	Cleveland at Baltimore	Baltimore Ravens	1 p.m.	CBS
Sunday, Sept. 15	Tennessee at Houston	Houston Texans	1 p.m.	CBS
Sunday, Sept. 15	New Orleans at Tampa Bay	New Orleans Saints	4:05 p.m.	Fox
Sunday, Sept. 15	Detroit at Arizona	Detroit Lions	4:05 p.m.	Fox
Sunday, Sept. 15	Jacksonville at Oakland	Oakland Raiders	4:25 p.m.	CBS
Sunday, Sept. 15	Denver at NY Giants	Denver Broncos	4:25 p.m.	CBS
Sunday, Sept. 15	San Francisco at Seattle	San Francisco 49ers	8:30 p.m.	NBC
Monday, Sept. 16	Pittsburgh at Cincinnati	Cincinnati Bengals	8:30 p.m.	ESPN

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