Week 2 NFL Picks 2012

posted in: 2012 NFL Picks | 0

Week 1 of football proved to be exciting giving us some answers, more questions and a lot of things that require a review as we look onto week two;

  • The replacement referees blew some important calls, most notably giving the Seahawks a 4th time out late in the 4th quarter of their game
  • Robert Griffen the third proved to be the real deal against the saints at home throwing for 320 yards and 2 TD’s leaving New Orleans to pick up the pieces and starting 0-1 for the second consecutive year.    
  • Peyton Manning looked like well…Peyton Manning. He didn’t seem to skip a beat and frankly made the Denver offense look like the Colts offense of the last ten years; only wearing Broncos jerseys
  • The Eagles have some serious problems to address, I had them covering a -9.5 spread last week and they came nowhere close to that. Vick looked awful with 4 interceptions and they struggled all day long against the god awful Browns. 
  • Atlanta’s offense was the most explosive in week 1. They scored on their first 8 possessions and like I said, Julio Jones is the real deal; it should continue this way all season. Mark my words Matt Ryan will be a top 5 QB this year in passing yards and TD’s and they are still my sneaky SuperBowl winners. 
  • Baltimore and the 49ners are still defensive monsters and teams to fear. Either one of these teams could easily finish with better records than they did last season. 
  • Miami still blows
  • What is going on with the Bills defense? Did they dish out a 6 Year 96 million dollar deal to Mario Williams for their defense to only get worse?
Looking forward to week 2 my current record is 2-2; Atlanta and Chicago both covered while the Eagles and Raiders fizzled. Here are my picks for this week. 
GAME 1 

                       OAKLAND RAIDERS (-3) VS MAIMI DOLPHINS

With both of these teams coming off a loss in week 1, I really like the raiders to bounce back and post a win this sunday in Miami. Darren McFadden was the most targeted player in the NFL last week; thats right in the entire league! Of Carson Palmers 46 attempts last week McFadden saw 18 of them and caught 13. That means 40% of Palmers passes went McFadden’s way;  clearly this guy is a safety blanket to him; expect this week to not be any different.
Miami currently ranks 12th in stopping the rush; they are in the better half of the league and faced a two headed dragon in Ben Tate and Arian Foster last week but I expect this week to be a harder challenge.
Ryan Tannenhill will continue to look like a rookie; I like for him to throw another 2 interceptions this weekend and turn the ball over in unfavourable times and important possessions. Miami has no player on offense capable of carrying this team to a win sunday. They will continue to look young and have a long way to go until they can compete with the best in the league. The only way the Dolphins pull out a win is if they can get the run game moving early with Reggie Bush; pick up yardage and scores. Somehow I tell myself this but I just can’t see this happening with the Raiders 3rd ranked rush defense. Play on the Raiders -3 in Miami this weekend.  
FINAL SCORE – RAIDERS 27 – MIAMI 14



GAME 2 



NEW YORK JETS     VS   PITTSBURGH STEELERS (-5.5) 


This divisional matchup is gonna be absolutely one of the most boring this weekend . The Jets were the highest scoring team in week 1, their offense surprised everyone after one of the worst preseasons in NFL history posting only 1 TD in 4 games. But lets face it, the Jets were playing well above their expectations and I would rather credit their high scoring total to playing at home against a Bills defense that looked awful. 
The steelers on the other hand looked only average in week 1 in a loss in Denver. They seem to be the same defensive powerhouse they always are; only now they are fighting the sands of time with age and Peyton Manning exposed that. Lets face it though Mark Sanchez will not be quite as successful. The game they lost last week was down to the wire until Big Ben threw a pick 6 to decide it. Looking back to last season the steelers lost to Baltimore in week 1 and still closed out the season with a 12-4 record. They bounced back week 2 beating the Seahawks 24-0. This game is going to be steel curtain all day; sorry folks I yet again don’t see any tebowing happening this sunday. If your still not convinced lets look at the stats; Pittsburgh is 42-28 as a home favourite against the spread directly coming off a loss in the last 10 years. As for the Jets supposed stellar defense of recent, they allowed 127 more points last season than what they did in Rex Ryan’s first year with the team; how about we put that together with the fact they missing their best defensive player Revis to a concussion. Expect Pittsburgh to come out firing and looking to avenge their loss last week in Denver, too bad for the Jets and Rex Ryan. 
FINAL SCORE – JETS 16 – PITTSBURGH 31



GAME 3 




DETROIT LIONS          VS       SAN FRANCISCO 49NERS (-7)

 This might just turn out to be the game of the weekend. This is the first matchup of these two teams since last year  when the 49ners pulled out the upset in Detroit and came through with a 25-19 win. This game could be one of the best this year. I think everyone saw the post-game “Hand-Shake” between Jim Schwartz and Jim Harbaugh replayed on sportscenter over and over again. These two guys are some of the best coaches in the league, I might actually be more excited to see what happens after the game between these two guys rather than the game itself!
This pick I think a lot would disagree with but I feel confident that the Lions we saw in week one aren’t the Lions we know. They will come out strong in this game, Matthew Stafford will look much better than he did last week and Megatron will have heads spinning in the secondary all day long. We all know Megatron is a beast; the best in the league some would say; expect the 49ners too struggle with him come sunday and the decepticon to have a strong showing. The key to this game for both teams will be defense. We all know that the 49ners had one of the best defenses in the league last year; couple that with the fact they didn’t lose one player from there defensive starting lineup in the offseason and you have one intimidating, hard-hitting defensive squad. I’m sure they will come to play but the real decider of this game will be if the Lions to stop the run and force the 49ners throw the ball. Last season Frank Gore carried 18 times for 140 yards against this Lions defense. I just don’t see that happening again this weekend. It wasn’t until the 4th quarter on 4th and 6 on the Lions goal-line that Alex Smith threw the game winning touchdown to win the game last year. I don’t expect this one to be any different. It will be a defensive struggle and a punters game all day. Look for the 49ners to squeak out the win in the final seconds again, but not by much. 
FINAL SCORE – LIONS 19 – 49NERS 20



GAME 4 





DENVER BRONCOS     VS  ATLANTA FALCONS (-3)
This monday night game is going to be a real knee slapper. It will showcase Peyton Manning and the new Broncos offense against Matt Ryan and what seems to be his endless array of weapons. Both teams are coming off wins but somebody has to lose this week; and folks thats going to be the Broncos. No matter how good Denver looked last week and how well Peyton Manning played this is a different  week. Atlanta has won their last 4 home openers and every single time have covered the spread. As for Denver they have lost their last 2 first away games of the season and I see this trend continuing. Peyton Manning did look like himself last week and some would say he has a much better record and passer rating when playing indoors; I just can’t get that gut feeling from the bottom of my stomach that the Falcons are the real deal this year. They made the Chiefs look like a bunch of juniors straight out of college last week. Expect their offense to again look unstoppable, Roddy White will be looking for his 5th straight monday night game of at least 100 yards receiving or a TD; I like those odds.
Don’t get me wrong Peyton will play well on monday indoors for the first time but I don’t think they will be able to keep up with the Falcons. Atlanta might slow this game down in an attempt to keep Peyton off the field as much as possible and will have to at some point in this game find an answer to the Broncos if they decide to go hurry up offense. Expect both these teams to crank up the pass rush in attempts to get the ball out of these guys hands. Only the Falcons will prove to be the more effective of the two. Falcons win under the monday night lights
FINAL SCORE – DENVER 35 – ATLANTA 42