Arizona Cardinals 18, San Diego Chargers 17 - When San Diego went from being down 6-3 in a low scoring game in the third, to seemingly taking over to build a very solid lead at 17-6, and owning all of the momentum, it seemed that the Chargers were well on their way to an impressive road win to start the season off right. But the Cardinals rallied in the fourth quarter, and rather impressively, I might add! They looked good, and this resembled the Cardinals that went 10-6 and should have made the playoffs last year. Humbling loss for the Chargers, and exciting win that could bode well for Arizona!
Predictions:
Pittsburgh at Baltimore - Distractions can be a killer, and right now, Baltimore has plenty of those. I think normally, the Ravens would win this game. But the Steelers can benefit by an unusually distracted Ravens team, that not only lost their divisional game to the Bengals last weekend, but then had to Ray Rice controversy pop up unexpectedly, to boot! I hate to go against the Ravens for two home losses in a row, however. They are tough, and remember, Pittsburgh looked vulnerable in the second half against Cleveland. In a tough game, I suspect that the Steelers get it done. My prediction: Steelers
Miami at Buffalo - Both teams looked really, really good last week! The Dolphins won at home against the Patriots, handing New England their first opening weekend loss since 2003, while the Bills won impressively on the road at Chicago! It might seem weird, but this is a really, really important game for Miami, because they obviously would love to start off 2-0, but the Bills swept the Dolphins last season. Also, Buffalo is a tough place to play sometimes, and last season, Miami got blanked up there, 19-0! So, the Dolphins need a strong showing. But I actually think Buffalo wins this one, in a tight affair. My prediction: Bills
Atlanta at Cincinnati - Another tough game between 1-0 teams. Atlanta looked good against New Orleans last weekend, but that was at home, against a familiar opponent. The Bengals are very good at home, and are coming off an impressive win themselves, at Baltimore. So, I like the Bengals in this one. My prediction: Bengals
New England at Minnesota - The Patriots looked uncharacteristically bad last weekend. But they are loaded with talent, and usually, find a way to get things done when they need to. Minnesota is coming off a huge win at St. Louis, getting the season started off right! But even though the Vikings are at home, the Patriots are a far tougher test for them. This may be tight, or it might be a blow out. Either way, I suspect that I know who wins this game. My prediction: Patriots
New Orleans at Cleveland - It's almost unfair that Cleveland, a team that is probably better than last year's record indicates, would start this season off with two tough games. They really should have completed their epic comeback by beating the Steelers last weekend. But New Orleans is the better team, and they will want to bounce back right after the tough loss to the Falcons last weekend. This will be a surprisingly tough game for them, but they should persevere in the end. At least, that is, if they are anywhere near as good as everyone thinks they are. My prediction: Saints
Detroit at Carolina - Both teams looked good last weekend. Cam Newton was out for Carolina, and yet they still won, mostly because of their defense. And the Lions looked great at home against the Giants. Carolina's defense is very good, and should provide Detroit's explosive offense with a tough test. But with the questions of Carolina without Newton, I see Detroit being able to take advantage and sneak off a big road win, to get their season off right! My prediction: Lions
Dallas at Tennessee - Dallas looked horrendous at home last week, and Tennessee looked very good on the road last week. I think Dallas bounces back to have a relatively decent game, and this should be a close one. But the better team wins, and I don't think it's the Boys. The Titans are moving in the right direction, and a 2-0 start would look great to them right now. I suspect they'll earn it. My prediction: Titans
Jacksonville at Washington - This sounds bad, but I feel tempted to say who cares about this game? These are two of the worst teams in the league. Haven't they both already been eliminated from playoff contention? I kid, of course. But someone will have to win this game. And I am guessing that any team that can build up a 17-0 lead on the road at Philly has enough to handle Washington, a team that showed absolutely nothing last weekend. My prediction: Jaguars
Arizona at NY Giants - I hate to say this, but the Cardinals enter this game looking like the far better team. They had a solid comeback to beat the Chargers, a playoff team from a season ago. The G-Men, on the other hand, looked horrible through and through against the Lions. Yes, the Giants have home field advantage, and that should help them. But if they look anywhere near as confused as they did last Monday night, it's hard to see them winning any game. They need to work out their kinks, while the Cardinals must surely feel that 2-0 is in their grasp. My prediction: Cardinals
Seattle at San Diego - The Seahawks looked mighty in their opener, and are on course for a serious title defense, with a realistic shot at defending. The Chargers, in the meantime, had a tough loss on the road to the Cardinals, in a game that they could have won. It should help that the game is in San Diego, but I suspect the Chargers still won't have enough to win this one. My prediction: Seahawks
St. Louis at Tampa Bay - Two teams that had a terrible debut for the 2014 season. Both were at home, and both looked miserable. But at least the Bucs came back to rally, and make a game of it. St. Louis surely is not as bad as they looked last weekend, and they will do some things right, straighten some things out. Just not enough to actually win an ugly, almost meaningless game. My prediction: Buccaneers
Kansas City at Denver - I did not believe the Chiefs were as good as their record indicated last season, and it was hard to see them being a playoff caliber team this season, for that matter. After last week's poor showing, having to go on the road to play the Broncos won't help. The Broncos had a tough opponent last weekend, but should be able to do more, and win more convincingly, this weekend. Denver simply has too much, and my guess is that this won't even be much of a game! My prediction: Broncos
NY Jets at Green Bay - Yes, the Jets looked good last weekend, but that was at home against the Raiders. Yes, the Packers looked bad last week, but that was on the road against the Seahawks. With the Packers back at home in Lambeau, they should be more comfortable. And this is the first real test for the improved Jets defense, as well as their offense, which looked thorough with a solid running and passing game last week. But Green Bay just has too much, and they will want to get that first notch in the "W" column. I don't think the Jets are going to be able to prevent them from earning it, either. My prediction: Packers
Houston at Oakland - The Texans beat a lowly Washington team on the road last weekend, to end their fourteen game losing streak dating back to last season! In the meantime, that was a tough way for the Raiders to begin their season, with a road loss to the Jets. This will be a tough game, but I think the Texans are better - and much better at that - than they showed last season. They looked fired up in that win against Washington, and they see this game as an opportunity to put last season's failure more fully behind them. My prediction: Texans
Chicago at San Francisco - So, let's see. The 49ers looked very impressive with a road win last weekend, while the Bears looked very bad with a home loss last weekend. The 49ers have a tough defense that will not help the Bears emerging offense to raise their level of play, and San Francisco has to many weapons offensively for Chicago to realistically keep them in check. My prediction: 49ers
Philadelphia at Indianapolis - In a Monday Night match-up between two division champions from last season, the Eagles are looking to stay hot, after a solid, come from behind win against Jax, while the Colts want to earn their first win, after losing a tough one at Denver. I think the Eagles are likely going to win the division, but not this game. The Colts are going to come charging out of the gates, and should win this one fairly easily, I think. My prediction: Colts
Here is a link to the latest power ratings, according to several sources. Not surprisingly, the Seahawks, 49ers, and Broncos systematically top the list:
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nfl-power-rankings-week-2-170257155.html
Also, I thought that I'd throw a link to this article in here, about some rule changes that are supposed to help offenses (as if they need more help these days) and generate more scoring, since that is apparently what fans like to see.
The thing is, defense is being so watered down lately, that it has reached a ridiculous level. And whenever a defense truly does rise up and stand out in this new era favoring offenses, such as happened with the 2000 Baltimore Ravens, the 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and last season's Seattle Seahawks, rule changes seem to follow shortly to kind of crack down on tough defenses like that. It seems almost like they are being punished for being so good, which is absurd.
In any case, here is the link to the article:
The NFL Made A Rule Tweak To Help Offenses, And Fans Are Going To Hate It Business Insider By Tony Manfred 1 hour ago
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/nfl-made-rule-tweak-help-153526855.html
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