An 11-5 week was a good bounceback performance after a rough Week 1 start, bringing my two-week record to 18-14 (56%). It’s onward and upward from here with the second straight Monday-night doubleheader on tap in Week 3.
(NOTE: Unless otherwise noted, all games are scheduled for Sunday afternoon.)
San Francisco 29, New York Giants 19 (Thursday night): Two different emotions surround these teams in this short-week West Coast game. The Giants, who stayed out west after last week’s come-from-behind win at Arizona, are probably flying high and full of confidence after rallying from way back to knock off the sorry Cardinals–never mind the fact they haven’t scored in six of eight quarters and that they are playing four of five on the road. San Francisco probably wipes its brow with relief after a workmanlike win against the Rams.
Baltimore 31, Indianapolis 16: It’s rather hard to believe, but this year marks the Colts’ 40th in Indianapolis, eight more NFL seasons than they spent in Baltimore, where they visit this week. Colts’ backup quarterback Gardner Minshew has been an able backup in several cities, and he represents an upgrade over raw rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson, who suffered a concussion last week. But the Ravens, whose score I nailed on the nose last week, won a tough division road game with five key starters out, further proof (not that I needed any) that they are deep, dangerous, and legitimate Super Bowl contenders.
Tennessee 19, Cleveland 13: For all its talent, Cleveland keeps proving yearly that it is not tough or physical enough to win games like the four-lead-change, back-and-forth affair it had in Pittsburgh last Monday night. Now, they come home on a short week to play a resilient Titans bunch that unexpectedly outlasted the Chargers in overtime in the same kind of game the Browns would have certainly lost. Speaking of lost, Cleveland standout back Nick Chubb could be gone for the year with a gruesome knee injury.
New England 20, New York Jets 17: The Patriots are 0-2 for the first time since 2001, but it’s important to remember they still won the Super Bowl that year. The short trip to New Jersey represents their first road game of the year against a Jets squad that is also 0-2 but one that feels inept and desperate. New York abandoned the run too quickly against Dallas, denying it what little chance it had to win that game. Going 1-for-10 on third downs and turning the ball over four times didn’t help.
Miami 33, Denver 10: About a decade ago, Tim Tebow won a thrilling overtime game for Denver in Miami. Tebow was a guy who believed in the power of prayer. But this year’s Broncos, fresh off blowing a big lead at home to woebegone Washington, don’t have a prayer of winning this road game against Miami, a team that is off to a 2-0 start by winning road games on both coasts, which is an incredibly difficult thing to do. At least Russell Wilson opened up the Broncos’ offense a bit more last week, but it won’t be enough this time around.
Jacksonville 24, Houston 13: Through two games, the Texans have shown improvement on both sides of the ball, but improvement didn’t translate into wins. Now they go on the road to face the Jaguars, a good offensive team stifled by a rejuvenated Kansas City defense last week. That shouldn’t happen again, as Trevor Lawrence should find Christian Kirk and Calvin Ridley enough to wear down their AFC South Division rivals.
Buffalo 26, Washington 20: Washington, the home team for this game, is 2-0 for the first time in 12 years. But it’s one thing to come from 21-3 down to beat Denver, and it’s another thing to beat the Buffalo Bills. The Commanders don’t have a chance of rallying to win, and I don’t think they will win this one, especially after the Bills cut down on Week 1 mistakes vs. the Jets to overwhelm the Raiders.
Minnesota 34, Los Angeles Chargers 31: I had thought the Chargers could easily shake off a long trip and win comfortably at Tennessee, but Los Angeles continues to frustrate and underachieve. Now it’s time to sit on a plane for another marathon trip to the Twin Cities. There were plenty of close games around the league last week, and this should be another. It’s a hard game to pick between two inconsistent, hard-to-figure teams that don’t see each other that often.
Green Bay 23, New Orleans 13: Jordan Love has operated the Green Bay offense more smoothly and efficiently than Derek Carr has done in New Orleans. That simple fact alone, plus knowing that this game is at home in Lambeau Field, should serve Green Bay well as it goes into this key NFC clash. Key? Yes. The winner will get the tie-breaker in the wide-open-yet-mediocre NFC.
Detroit 27, Atlanta 17: The Falcons are 2-0 for the first time since 2017, while the Lions came up just short at home in overtime against Seattle. But Detroit has a lot of pride, and it should take care of business at home against a team that is not nearly as good as it has shown so far. Don’t look for Atlanta to sustain what it has done thus far.
Dallas 40, Arizona 6: I try to explain to people that there are no longer such things as “first-place” or “last-place” schedules because of the rotation scheduling system, and it has been that way since 2002. The Cowboys, who have shut out their opponents in seven of eight quarters so far, look like a team that could play in Las Vegas in February. On the other hand, the home-standing Cardinals look like they are in line for the first overall draft pick.
Seattle 23, Carolina 15: The Seahawks opened at home this year and were blown out by the Rams. Fresh off an uplifting overtime win at Detroit, Seattle returns home to play the underachieving Panthers. Bryce Young is slowly feeling his way through his rookie season, while ‘Hawks quarterback Geno Smith has had about a decade to get it right and finally has. (I already feel picking Carolina to win the watered-down NFC South may have been a mistake.)
Kansas City 33, Chicago 13: The Bears are in the throes of a tough road stretch, made even tougher with a loss to Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers. If Chicago couldn’t win that game – as I believed it should have – then what will it do away from home against the juggernaut Chiefs? I thought Justin Fields would lead the league’s most-improved team, but he and the Bears appear to have regressed badly.
Pittsburgh 23, Las Vegas 20 (Sunday night): The Raiders got drubbed in Buffalo last week, and they now limp back home to entertain the Steelers in what looks to be a close, entertaining game. It’s an opportunity for both squads to break out of the league’s large pack of mediocre teams. If it’s a tough and close contest, then I like the Steelers even more than I already do.
Philadelphia 27, Tampa Bay 10 (Monday night): Even though they are 2-0, I was right when I said the Eagles would take a step back because they haven’t played well offensively. Philadelphia has benefited from turnovers, but injuries (plus the 2022 starters it has lost) have hurt. The good news is that the soft part of the schedule continues with this road game under the lights. The Eagles are 15-1 when running the ball 30 or more times with Jalen Hurts at quarterback, but a troubling sign is that the Philly defense has faded in the second half for two straight weeks.
Cincinnati 34, Los Angeles Rams 23 (Monday night): The Monday Night lights will reveal the true identities of teams that aren’t where they thought they’d be going into Week 3. Cincinnati needs more ball control than it could manage against Baltimore last week, and it should achieve that objective in this game. But Joe Burrow’s tweaked calf bears watching. Even worse, Burrow has only two completions over 20 yards in two games. Could the odds-on favorite to win the NFC North start the year 0-3? I don’t think so.
