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Wow! It's that time of the year again. Schools are open again, new academic year just begun. Pumpkin Spice is flowing again all over the place. Halloween specialty stores appear to be opening everywhere. The days are not quite as hot (at least not in the Northeastern part of the continent), and the nights are starting to feel downright cool.
A pleasant time of the year, to be sure. The weather is ideal. Soon, there will be colors on the leaves of the trees, and then the days themselves will start to grow cool and crisp, while the nights will begin to be downright chilly to even cold. Fall is here.
Of course, that also means NFL football is back. We already had the opening game, where the Bills stampeded the Rams out in what was expected to be a big showdown in Los Angeles.
Now, here come the rest of the teams, and the rest of the games. I already made my predictions for this coming season, picking each division and making my predictions for who will make it to the playoffs, and who will emerge as champions at the end. I even made my first game specific prediction, picking the Rams to beat the Bills in the season opener. Obviously, that is not the way that one went. Let's see if I am a bit more successful with my picks this time around:
Baltimore 24, NY Jets 9 - Okay, so I got some games wrong this weekend, obviously. But not this one. The Jets looked as geriatric on offense as expected. The Gang Green defense was not bad. In fact, they had some serious highlights at points, and were frustrating Baltimore, simultaneously keeping the Jets in the game. However, not being able to score a touchdown will likely catch up with you before long, and it did on this day. The Ravens were able to put the game out of reach in the second half, icing the win, despite not playing their best on this day. . My pick: Accurate
Miami 20, New England 7 - Well, the Patriots looked as suspect as everyone seemed to expect. The offense just looked flat, and were getting shut out until well into the second half. They did score a touchdown, but that was it. The Fins pretty well dominated this game, continuing their dominance over the Pats in Florida for the past decade. They also open with a win, seemingly establishing right off the bat that if the Bills will face a challenge for AFC East supremacy, it will be from Miami. As for New England, they fall to 0-1, and it does not get any easier, as they now have to go up to Pittsburgh to face the Steelers. My pick: Accurate
Pittsburgh 23, Cincinnati 20 (OT) - I will not lie. Watching the end of this game, and pulling for the Bengals, I could do little but roll my eyes and sigh when the Steelers finally wound up winning it. It seems that the Steelers always frustrate the Ohio teams, always find a way to win against the Bengals and Browns. After the amazing season that the Bengals had last year, I had hoped that there was a real shift in power in this division. But this game, despite being just one single game, felt suspiciously all too familiar. Not a good way to start the year for Cincy, but a solid win, to their credit, for Pittsburgh. My pick: Inaccurate
Cleveland 26, Carolina 24- Former Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield hoped that he would get a nice revenge on his former team. But that did not happen. It was a close game, coming right down to the wire. However, Cleveland was in position to win it with a field goal late in the game, and the attempt went through. As a result, the Browns get a rare opening game win, while the Panthers have to go back to the drawing board. My pick: Inaccurate
Indianapolis 20, Houston 20 - The Colts were disappointing in their opening game of the season. For a long time, they were showing little to nothing on offense, and their defense was not holding as well as it should. Then, they came roaring back after Houston took a 17-point lead, and forced overtime. Neither team took advantage enough in OT to win, but given their poor performance and big deficit, the Colts have some silver linings in the dark cloud of settling for a tie against one of the worst teams in the league. As for the Texans, they played well, yet still gave up a big lead and failed to win. Not a good sign.. My pick: Inaccurate
Washington 28, Jacksonville 22 - This game had several shifts in momentum. Jax jumped out to an early lead, then Washington seemed to take over with two touchdowns. But the Jaguars came roaring back and were winning by eight in the fourth quarter. Yet, Washington showed resolve themselves, scoring two late touchdowns in the final quarter for a big win to start the season off right, and avoid a huge disappointment to start the season. Nevertheless, the Jaguars played well and should take pride in how they played in this one. Definitely a good sign for both teams.. My pick: Accurate
Philadelphia 38, Detroit 35- Both teams played well and have positives to take away after this one. The Lions took the lead initially, but then Philly got hot and seemed to take over the game. Yet to their credit, Detroit did not simply give up, and got things going again. They rallied, and made a game of it, giving themselves a chance to win late in the game. Still, the Eagles were able to hold them off and notch a win to open the season. . My pick: Accurate
Chicago 19, San Francisco 10- This one did admittedly come as a surprise. Even more surprising was that the Bears won after initially falling behind, 10-0. It sure seemed to be following the script at that point, with the 49ers pounding the Bears methodically. Then, it seems that Chicago got hot, and went in a late game scoring spree after having been shit out through most of the first three quarters. They finally broke through with a touchdown with a long pass play, and it opened up a can of worms for San Fran. Three unanswered touchdowns gave the victory to Chicago.. My pick: Inaccurate
New Orleans 27, Atlanta 26 - Man, the Falcons have to learn how to hold a lead! It seems like every season since their infamous Super Bowl collapse, they seem to have games won, only to give up big leads. There they were, about to pull off one of the most impressive upsets of the weekend, and start the season off with a great and huge division win against a favored team. And then, they have another collapse, allowing the Saints to overcome a 26-10 deficit to score 17 unanswered points, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory in the finals seconds. What a win for the Saints, and what a crushing, depressing loss for the Falcons. . My pick: Accurate
NY Giants 21, Tennessee 20- Every now and then, I am glad to be wrong. As a Giants fan, I was disheartened that the General Manager and head coach seemed to agree with the prospects by almost warning fans not to expect too much. But a win on the road in Tennessee? Now that's impressive! Sa'quon Barkley showed flashes of genius once again, like he did early in his career. Daniel Jones was kind of up and down, but the G-Men pulled through, scoring a touchdown late in the fourth and then going for the two-point conversion instead of the tie, and breaking through to take the late lead. Then, the defense was good enough to hold the Titans to a field goal attempt, which obviously was missed, preserving the win for Big Blue. It was the first time in years that the Giants managed to earn a win in the season opener, and they overcame a 13-0 deficit in so doing. Impressive! My pick: Inaccurate
Minnesota 23, Green Bay 7 - Now, I predicted a Vikings win, but did not expect this. Minnesota simply dominated this game, at least where it counts the most: the points. The Vikings scored early and fairly often to take a commanding 17-point lead in the first half, then held Green Bay off in the second half to earn the victory. And this is huge, because the Pack have sported such impressive records in recent regular seasons, and have basically dominated this division. What a win for Minnesota, and clearly a disappointing result for Pack faithful.. My pick: Accurate
Kansas City 44, Arizona 21 - The Chiefs looked much like they have in recent seasons. KC's offense scored early and often, and simply overwhelmed Arizona's defense. And the Chiefs defense made the lead stand, holding the Cards to pedestrian stats. Kansas City controlled the clock, the momentum, and limited Arizona's opportunities in this one. It was nothing short of a complete game for the Chiefs. As for the Cardinals, this was a humbling loss, as they look to try and recover now. My pick: Accurate
LA Chargers 24, Las Vegas 19 - A big win for the Chargers to get their season started off right. And they will have another big showdown next week against KC, so they needed this one. Both teams showed some things, especially on offense. But three turnovers simply doomed the Raiders, who just could not close enough on the Chargers to make a close game of it, once the Chargers started to take the game over a bit. Not a blowout, but a solid win for the Chargers, who are tied atop the AFC West with the Chiefs for now, pending the big game next weekend. As for the Raiders, they will need to reign in all of those turnovers, because that really killed them.. My pick: Accurate
Sunday Night Football: Tampa Bay 19, Dallas 3 - If you are a Cowboys fan, there is one word to sum this one up: Yikes! Dallas looked lethargic and lifeless. They scored a field goal to take an early lead, then never scored again. The Bucs dominated the rest of the way, with a solid defensive performance, shutting down the hometown Cowboys and quieting often the raucous Dallas home crowd Brady was solid, and the Bucs just proved to be too disciplined for the Cowboys to get much of anything done in this game.. My pick: Accurate
Monday Night Football: Seattle 17, Denver 16 - Denver simply had too many missed opportunities in this one. It seemed that they kept getting in scoring position, only to turn the ball over and squander the opportunity each time. The Broncos squandered several chances deep in Seattle territory. So even though their defense held pretty well, and even though the Broncos were still in position to possibly win at the end with that field goal attempt, their earlier mistakes simply did them in. Not the way Denver wanted to begin a promising season, although this was a huge win for the hometown Seahawks, who booed Russell Wilson upon his return to the Emerald City. My pick: Inaccurate
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