Week Two NFL Picks and Predictions – Free NFL Picks
The 2009 NFL preseason is off and running and things are beginning to get interesting. Unfortuantely, my week one NFL preseason predictions were a mediocre 9-8. Call it rust, or call it the unpredicatable nature of NFL preseason picking. Whatever the case, I am just getting warmed up. Things will get better. Without further ado, lets get into the week two NFL preseason predictions and get on with the football:
THUR, AUG 20
Cincinnati at New England - This game is one that should really be a scoring fest. I expect that the Bengals are going to continue to try to see if Palmer is truly ready, and they might give him a few extra snaps. The Pats are feeling awfully good about Brady and the offense after that first week. Preseason or regular season, this one is New England all the way.
Winner – New England Patriots
Philadelphia at Indianapolis - The Eagles now have Michael Vick on board, and they surely will be tempted to sneak him in a time or two to see what he might have. That would likely be a mistake, as he barely has taken a snap in practice. The Colts are trying to figure out why they stunk so bad last week. The Eagles will win this one.
Winner – Philadelphia Eagles
FRI, AUG 21
Tennessee at Dallas – The Cowboys looked about as bad as a team can look in the preseason last week, and this week I expect them to bounce back. The Titans have been great in the preseason, but they will lose in Big D.
Winner – Dallas Cowboys
Atlanta at St. Louis – Could things get any worse for Marc Bulger and the Rams? First they lose Donnie Avery, and now they lose Marc Bulger. Atlanta will take advantage in this NFL matchup.
Winner – Atlanta Falcons
Kansas City at Minnesota - The Chiefs are going up agains the Minnesota Favres? Vikings, I mean. Brett Favre in Minnesota has the whole NFL shook up. I think it might be a big mistake in the long run. We will see. The Vikings win this one going away, however.
Winner – Minnesota Vikings
SAT, AUG 22
Detroit at Cleveland – Detroit actually looks like a team that is turning the corner. Of course when you lose every game, that corner is not hard to reach. They will steal a win against a team that is having a major identity crisis at the moment.
Winner – Detroit Lions
Carolina at Miami – The Panthers looked horrid against the Giants, but the second teamers performed well. Miami looked fairly solid. I expect that the Dolphins will run their way to a win with the Panthers sitting all their stars.
Winner – Miami Dolphins
Pittsburgh at Washington - The Steelers are serious contenders this year, and the Redskins look pretty bad on paper. The formula will hold true for this game at least.
Winner – Pittsburgh Steelers
Tampa Bay at Jacksonville – The Jaguars are going to struggle a bit this year, but it wont be because of their defense. Look for some serious excitement out of the Jags on D. This game in particular.
Winner – Jacksonville Jaguars
New Orleans at Houston – The Saints will go marching all over the Texans in this NFL Preseason matchup. It will be ugly.
Winner – New Orleans Saints
Buffalo at Green Bay – Buffalo has had their fair share of games having played two already and both games were a bit of a disappointment. Green Bay has to be ticked off about the whole Favre thing. They will take it out on Buffalo.
Winner – Green Bay Packers
NY Giants at Chicago – Chicago is excited about seeing how they stack up against the Giants. I think that if Jay Cutler just throws the ball and keeps his mouth shut, they will look pretty good. Unfortunately, I don’t see that happening after the Giant’s pass rush is all over him.
Winner – NY Giants
Oakland at San Francisco – The Raiders might just win this one if they can keep their fists out of each other’s faces.
Winner – Oakland Raiders
San Diego at Arizona – The Chargers and the Cardinals are certainly going to be a fun game to watch. The Chargers have so many weapons, and the Cardinals have the ultimate weapons on offense. Don’t expect a lot of defense, folks.
Winner – San Diego Chargers
Denver at Seattle – The Broncos are really struggling as expected given the loss of all pro quarterback Jay Cutler, and they are still taking baby steps. The Seahawks are going strong now that Matt is back full strength. This one will be a blowout.
Winner – Seattle Seahawks
MON, AUG 24
NY Jets at Baltimore – The Jets will put on a nice show with their new quarterback Mark Sanchez. Will he be able to look so good against that Raven’s defense though? I don’t think so. Not yet.
Winner – Baltimore Ravens
The NFL preseason gets into full swing this week with a full slate of games. For those of us that have been dying for some NFL action, this week is like a football dream come true. The season got off to a great start in the Hall of Fame kickoff classic with the Titans beating the Bills. (just as I picked) Here are the rest of the week one NFL preseason games along with who I predict will come away the winner:
THU, AUG 13
New England at Philadelphia
The Patriots and the Eagles are actually two of the favorites according to most NFL experts in the NFL this season. It will be interesting to see how Tom Brady looks in preseason action, though I am sure he will not play very much. As for the Eagles, they should keep Mcnabb on the bench as well as Westbrook. They are simply too fragile. I expect that the Patriots will win this preseason matchup.
Winner – New England Patriots
Washington at Baltimore
The Redskins are hoping that Portis has at least one more big season, and the Ravens are simply hoping that defense can remain as strong as usual. The Ravens are not nearly as deep as they once were on defense. I still expect they will win this preseason match up.
Winner – Baltimore Ravens
Arizona at Pittsburgh
The Cardinals take the field for the first time since the Super Bowl, and they are fired up about it. Ironically, this Super Bowl rematch is set to be pretty interesting. Both teams have some second and third string players that are looking to make a splash. This game will come down to the running game and defense which puts the win firmly with the Steelers.
Winner – Pittsburgh Steelers
Dallas at Oakland
The Cowboys take the field without Terrell Owens and they have to find a way to replace him. This game will begin to answer the questions that the Cowboys have at wide receiver. While Oakland is not exactly the greatest secondary ever, they are a solid enough group to get a feel for the Cowboys. More importantly, the Cowboys second and third string running backs are better than most team’s starters.
Winner – Dallas Cowboys
FRI, AUG 14
St. Louis at NY Jets
The Rams just found out that they are without Donnie Avery for at least four to six weeks, and this injury is going to hurt. The Rams just do not have the firepower at the position that they have been used to. The Jets are anxious to unveil new rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez. It will be a big splash for NY.
Winner – New York Jets
Minnesota at Indianapolis
The Vikings and the Colts will be a very fun game to watch simply because of the talent on the second and third teams. Both teams are pretty darn deep, and so it should be a good preseason game to watch. This one smells like a Colt win to me, however.
Winner – Indiannapolis Colts
Cincinnati at New Orleans
The Bengals are hoping for a huge return for Carson Palmer, but that likely won’t begin against the Saints in preseason. Still, there are a lot of answers to be had in this game. Can Reggie Bush play a whole game without breaking a leg? Can the Bengals play a whole game with no felonies? I mean penalties? We shall see. Either way, the Saints win this one big in preseason action.
Winner – New Orleans Saints
Denver at San Francisco
The post Cutler era in Denver gets started here and Kyle Orton has to be a bit nervous. Then again, he was a quarterback in Chicago, so he has nothing to be nervous about. All kidding aside, I think he will do quite well in Denver. He especially will do well against these 49ers in preseason action.
Winner – Denver Broncos
SAT, AUG 15
Atlanta at Detroit
The Falcons are amped up for an NFC South battle this season and the Lions are simply hoping to win a few games. While optimism is high in Detroit, the depth of this team is still very shallow. Rome was not built in a day, and neither will Detroit be.
Winner – Atlanta Falcons
Chicago at Buffalo
The Bears are anxious to see what they have with Jay Cutler under center, and the Bills are coming off an opening week loss against the Titans. While the Bears are not quite as strong as the Titans, they should still handle these Bills.
Winner – Chicago Bears
Cleveland at Green Bay
The Browns have a quarterback situation to work out. The Packers need to get a running back in order quick. This game will do little to solve either situation, but it will be a good game. The Browns will surprise an amped up Green Bay squad.
Winner – Cleveland Browns
Tampa Bay at Tennessee
The Bucs, like many other teams, need to find a quarterback. The Titans are pretty set in their lineup, and looked pretty impressive against Buffalo. I expect that the Titans will take advantage of the Bucs early growing pains.
Winner – Tennessee Titans
Houston at Kansas City
The Texans are going to be fun to watch this season. Kansas City is a team that is very much in turmoil. Expect the Texans to spring a little preseason surprise on the Chiefs.
Winner – Houston Texans
Seattle at San Diego
The Chargers and the Seahawks will be a great preseason game. The Seahawks are searching for some semblence of a running game, and the Chargers are just trying to keep LaDanian Tomlinson healthy. Expect LT to skip this one for sure, and it might be the difference.
Winner – Seattle Seahawks
MON, AUG 17
Jacksonville at Miami
The Jaguars and Miami are always a fun game with the whole intra-state rivalry thing. This game will be fun to watch as well. Expect that Miami will have a little more firepower in the backups for this one.
Winner – Miami Dolphins
Carolina at NY Giants
This game will be the ultimate expression of power struggle in the NFC. The Panthers are just too good at running back, and they should be able to handle the Giants in this one.
Winner – Carolina Panthers
Preseason Record Overall – 1 Win 0 Losses
The Tennessee Titans used a bit of trickery and a solid effort from the offense and defense in the first half to hold off a second half that was pretty much won by the Bills. Neither team played the starters for very long, and the game was pretty much what we expected it would be. The Buffalo Bills had only field goals, and was twice stopped at the goal line by the Titans defense in the first half alone.
Terrell Owens debuted as a Buffalo Bill and played only one series. In that series, he had two catches for 27 yds. Not a huge deal, but still Buffalo fans got to see their new wide receiver catch a few balls of the first time.
Another interesting storyline was the play of Titans quarterback Vince Young. He started off extremely shaky, but then did recover enough to make a nice pass for a touchdown to Paul Williams. Starter Kerry Collins was solid in limited action as was Patrick Ramsey.
Buffalo had little to feel good about on offense, with the lone exception of backup quarterback Gibron Hamden. He was extremely good under center completing 11/13 for 89 yds. Another bright spot was running back Xavier Omon. He was quite active with 36 yds rushing and 3 catches for 25 yds as well.
Preseason Season Pick Record -1 Win 0 Losses
You Must Watch The Play of The Game – The Punter Scores A Touchdown!
Tonight’s opening Hall of Fame game match up features two teams that are due to answer some questions. At the top of that list of questions is how Terrell Owens will fare in his Bill debut, and how the first team Titan defense will fare without Albert Haynesworth. Both of these questions will not likely be answered in the NFL Hall of Fame Game, but we might get a glimpse. Owens is slated to play.
Given that the teams will be using very sporadic first team players, one must look at the second units when determining the outcome. For this reason, I would go with the Titans here. The Titans do still have Vince Young at quarterback, and he is still quite talented. Not only that, he is the number two man on the totem pole now, and he will want to prove himself. Given this, he will be tough against Buffalo.
Buffalo will be facing an uphill battle with Ryan Fitzpatrick and others at the quarterback position the majority of the game. This is especially true against even the second team Titans defense. They are no slouch to be sure. It will be fun to watch Terrell even in limited action.
Titans will win.
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