Hello readers! Another week of National Football League action will be here before you know it. The hope and dreams of NFL fans are still there after the first week of action. The teams with a 1-0 record hope to keep up the good start while teams with an 0-1 mark hope to avoid the dreaded 0-2 record. Games that I'll be keeping an eye on this week is the Bills-Dolphins, Raiders-Ravens, Buccaneers-Lions, Bengals-Chiefs and Falcons-Eagles games. In this post I will do a preview of the week's action, the picks and the Early and Late Game TV Broadcast pairings. Let's get to work!
Week 2 Preview
The 2nd week of the National Football League's regular season will start in Miami, Florida and wrap up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Week 2 will feature a 16-game slate where all 32 teams will play. No teams are on a bye this week. There will be a Thursday night game, 10 early games, three late games, a Sunday night game and a Monday night game. FOX will have the single, regional game while CBS will carry the doubleheader this week.
Week 2 Picks
Note: All game times are in US Eastern. TW is me
Buffalo (1-0) @ Miami (1-0) (Amazon; 8:15 pm): TW: Bills
Indianapolis (0-1) @ Green Bay (0-1) (FOX; 1:00 pm): TW: Colts
The Colts and Packers lost last week as the Colts lost to the Texans and the Packers lost to the Eagles. Green Bay's loss to Philadelphia hurt but losing Jordan Love to injury will sting a bit more. The quarterback will be out for 3-4 weeks. In his place will be the 3rd year player Malik Willis out of Liberty University. The quarterback has placed in 11 career games and has yet to throw a touchdown pass in his career while tossing three interceptions. The Packers cast will need to help him a bit. Indy played well enough to almost pull off the upset against Houston. Their offense had some great signs as the deep ball worked well for them. Alec Pierce was the recipient of a successful play that resulted in 60 yards and a touchdown. It will be a tall task for the Packers defense to keep the Colts from succeeding in such ventures. I'll take the Colts.
All-time series: Colts lead 24-21-1
Cleveland (0-1) @ Jacksonville (0-1) (CBS; 1:00 pm): TW: Jaguars
The Browns lost to the Cowboys and the Jaguars lost to the Dolphins last week. Cleveland looked pretty rough around the edges without a solid offensive line and Nick Chubb around. The Brownies will need to find an answer somewhere in their offense. Pass protection broke down a lot and fortunately this week, they aren't facing Micah Parsons. Jacksonville really had Miami's number in last week's contest. Their defense kept Miami at bay and really turned their offense loose. Sadly the Jaguars let the Dolphins back in and ended up winning their game. I think the matchup will be a challenge to how good the Jaguars offense can be as the Browns defense is no slouch.
All-time series: Jaguars lead 12-7
LA Chargers (1-0) @ Carolina (0-1) (CBS; 1:00 pm): TW: Chargers
The Chargers won against the Raiders and the Panthers lost to the Saints last week. Jim Harbaugh won in his debut of head coach of the Chargers. Will there be a repeat performance? Carolina's play last week against New Orleans might point to yes as they got steamrolled. Carolina's offense turned the ball over thus giving their defense a lot of pressure and the Saints ended up scoring 17 points in the 1st quarter. A hole Carolina wouldn't get out of. Justin Herbert didn't put up numbers like some were expecting but he didn't blow it either. Passing just 144 yards with a touchdown. JK Dobbins was the one that gave this team a boost. I don't think it'll be a blowout but I think the Chargers will win by at least 10.
All-time series: Panthers lead 6-1
Las Vegas (0-1) @ Baltimore (0-1) (CBS; 1:00 pm): TW: Ravens
The Raiders and Ravens lost their games last week as the Raiders lost to the Chargers and the Ravens lost to the Chiefs. The Raiders looked like they were manhandled in the game against the Chargers. They kept it to a 12-point margin but they just got ran over. Maybe it was just JK Dobbins running all over them. Gardner Minshew did alright in his Raiders debut but he hit the lone touchdown for the Raiders and an interception in the game. Zamir White looked like he might be a decent option if he can get going. Obviously the Raiders will need to sustain drives. The reason for that is the Ravens offense looked great. They had 452 total yards of offense in the loss against Kansas City. Despite losing that game, they can feel somewhat confident that they went toe-to-toe against the two-time champs. Their offense should try to get more production out of Derrick Henry. The runner is more of a inside runner than an outside one but he can make your offense so much better. I think the Ravens will handle business at home and get to 1-1.
All-time series: Ravens lead 9-4
New Orleans (1-0) @ Dallas (1-0) (FOX; 1:00 pm): TW: Saints
The Saints beat the Panthers and the Cowboys beat the Browns last week. New Orleans looked impressive against Carolina. Granted the Panthers were god awful last year and last week. They did it on a balanced offense with running and passing the ball effectively. Turnovers played a part as well as they Saints had scored 30 points at halftime. Whether they can repeat that performance is up to them. Dallas was also a team that dismantled a team. Their offense took advantage of Browns mistakes as well and really made the Browns defense turn on its head. I'm taking the Saints as I don't trust the Cowboys enough yet and I don't like Dallas in general.
All-time series: Cowboys lead 18-13
NY Giants (0-1) @ Washington (0-1) (FOX; 1:00 pm): TW: Commanders
Both teams lost last week as the Giants lost to the Vikings and the Commanders lost to the Buccaneers. The teams come off a rough week last week. The Giants really couldn't generate anything in offense and they gave up the ball quite a few times to the Vikings, resulting in some plays as scores to the Purple Gang. They will obviously need to improve on ball protection. Washington as well had a bit of a rough game against Tampa. Despite losing to them 37-20 the Commanders showed some fight despite losing to a better team. That will give them some hope in this game against the rival Giants. I think the offense will have some success as the Giants defense is off to a rough start. I don't trust Daniel Jones I'll go with Washington.
All-time series: Giants lead 108-71-5
NY Jets (0-1) @ Tennessee (0-1) (CBS; 1:00 pm): TW: Jets
Both teams lost last week as the Jets lost to the 49ers and the Titans lost to the Bears. New York managed to get a full game out of Aaron Rodgers. About 55 minutes (of game time) more of him than they got last year. I'd say that the Jets won at least in that aspect of last week. Despite that, the Jets kind of got humiliated and run over by a backup running back. Safe to say, they do have somewhat of an easier time against Tennessee. The Titans had somewhat of a handle against the Bears. In terms of offense, the Titans had at least the better offense. The rest of the team, not so much. The Bears defense and special teams manhandled them. In general, the Jets should be able to get back to it and beat the Titans. If the Jets lose to the Titans, all bets are off.
All-time series: 25-20-1
Seattle (1-0) @ New England (1-0) (FOX; 1:00 pm): TW: Seahawks
Both teams won last week as the Seahawks beat the Broncos and the Patriots beat the Bengals last week. Seattle last week did dominate in their matchup against the Broncos. In the scoreboard not so much. They gave up two safeties but despite all that only won by six points. I guess the turnovers by Denver helped a bit. New England proved quite a few wrong (including me) in their win against the Bengals. They did it by taking the ball away and not giving the ball up to the opposition. The defense did really well and sacked Joe Burrow three times and ravaged the offensive line that was supposedly going to be great. I don't know how long the good feelings will last in New England but I think reality will fall back to them in this one.
All-time series: Seahawks lead 10-9
San Francisco (1-0) @ Minnesota (1-0) (CBS; 1:00 pm): TW: Vikings
The two teams got wins last week as the 49ers beat the Jets and the Vikings beat the Giants last week. Classic NFC matchup on CBS. The 49ers had no Christian McCaffrey in the win against the Jets. Shocking that the 49ers managed to put up 32 points in a game. The production of Jordan Mason was a big boost to the 49ers offense. It'll be a bit of a challenge this week as they go up against the Vikings defense. Minnesota really took it to the Giants and the Sam Darnold debut was a fairly successful one. The key will be the defense in putting a slow down on the 49ers offense. Assuming that Christian McCaffrey starts in Week 2, I think the Vikings will prove to the rest of the league how good they can be. Or they falter and fall back down to earth. I'll take the upset.
All-time series: 25-24-1
Tampa Bay (1-0) @ Detroit (1-0) (FOX; 1:00 pm): TW: Lions
Both teams won last week as the Buccaneers beat the Commanders and the Lions beat the Rams. Another playoff rematch in store for the Lions. Tampa looked pretty good. Baker Mayfield hit four touchdowns. Bucky Irving might be a decent addition to the Bucs running game. Detroit had at one point lead their game against Los Angeles by a 17-3 score and then all of a sudden it became 20-17. Fortunately the offense and David Montgomery stepped up in their overtime win. They will need to stay focused and keep the gravy train rolling. Tampa Bay will not show mercy as they are a good team. I'll take Detroit despite them nearly blowing it last week.
All-time series: Lions lead 33-29
LA Rams (0-1) @ Arizona (0-1) (FOX; 4:05 pm): TW: Rams
The Rams and Cardinals lost last week as the Rams lost to the Lions and the Cardinals lost to the Bills. Matthew Stafford and company nearly pulled off a win in Detroit but couldn't quite get there. The Rams did have some issue with pass protection and turning the ball over. They almost pulled off the win though. Arizona opened a few eyes last week in the loss to Buffalo. Despite losing, the Cardinals have an offense that might make opposing defensive coordinators quiver in their shoes. For the first time since they had Larry Fitzgerald, the Cardinals have a wide receiver that makes their passing game a lot better. However, Marvin Harrison's first game resulted in one catch for four yards in the loss last week. I think I'll take the Rams.
All-time series: Rams lead 50-40-2
Cincinnati (0-1) @ Kansas City (1-0) (CBS; 4:25 pm): TW: Chiefs
The Bengals lost to the Patriots and the Chiefs beat the Ravens last week. Cincy had a bit of an issue with their offense and execution against New England. They couldn't run as well as they should've and the passing game was very pedestrian. The Bengals and bad starts to a season have been hand in hand. They have a tough task as they take on rival Kansas City. The Chiefs didn't look awful but they didn't look great either last week. Patrick Mahomes passed the ball well enough despite throwing an interception. Despite the slow start, they will get better as the season comes along. Despite the defense allowing 452 yards against the Ravens, they did keep the Ravens to 20 points. I'll take the Chiefs.
All-time series: Bengals lead 18-16
Pittsburgh (1-0) @ Denver (0-1) (CBS; 4:25 pm): TW: Steelers
The Steelers beat the Falcons and the Broncos lost to the Seahawks last week. Pittsburgh didn't put up a lot of offense against the Falcons. They did enough for Chris Boswell to hit six field goals in the win. Their defense really kept the Falcons from doing anything real special in Kirk Cousins debut. Denver kind of didn't do great but they stayed with the Seahawks in the game last week. Bo Nix wasn't spectacular as a passer but he did get his first career rushing touchdown. Denver will have a big test to see how well they can play against a Steelers defense that is just that good. I don't trust the Broncos to really make an effective production on offense. I'll take the Yinzers.
All-time series: Broncos lead 20-13-1
Chicago (1-0) @ Houston (1-0) (NBC; 8:20 pm): TW: Texans
The Bears beat the Titans and the Texans beat the Colts last week. Houston would stand the big test and beat the Colts and they did it on their offense and their defense making big plays via turnovers. The Bears had to rely on defense and special teams for their scoring. Caleb Williams didn't do great but he didn't do awful either. He didn't turn the ball over in general. Williams will need to play better to defeat the Texans in this game. Stefon Diggs for Houston was a big factor in the win against Indianapolis. Their combo with Tank Dell and Nico Collins is great as well. I'll take the Texans as I don't trust the Bears to keep up with the Texans. I could be wrong.
All-time series: Texans lead 4-2
Atlanta (0-1) @ Philadelphia (1-0) (ESPN; 8:15 pm): TW: Eagles
The Falcons lost to the Steelers and the Eagles beat the Packers last week. The Kirk Cousins era started off with a dud against Pittsburgh. Granted the Steelers defense was pretty good last week. Cousins did throw two interceptions. They will need to play better and protecting the football against a good Eagles team. Atlanta did find some success in the run game. Philadelphia faced a bit of a challenge against the Packers. Despite the up and down affair, they won based on their run game and the dual-threat of Jalen Hurts as a passer and runner. Hurts did throw a couple of interceptions in the game.
All-time series: Eagles lead 21-15-1
Early & Late Game TV Broadcast Pairings
Note: Games in bold are being shown in my area, check local listings
CBS Early
Ian Eagle, Charles Davis
Kevin Harlan, Trent Green
Andrew Catalon, Tiki Barber
Chris Lewis, Jason McCourty
Joe Davis, Greg Olson
For more information on which game is being shown in your area check out: NFL 2024: Week 2 Maps
Records
Week 1: 14-2
2019: 161-94-1
2022: 166-103-2
2023: 161-111
See you all after the Monday night game for the Week # Recap! Enjoy the games!
-Tom
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