Beating the Steelers seemed almost too easy for the Ravens on Thursday night. It's not that there weren't times where I was frustrated seeing Le'Veon Bell break evade and break tackles, and it's not that the Ravens didn't struggle again to punch the ball in on the goal line. It's that even when the Ravens made minor mistakes the Steelers simply were too inept in too many respects to take advantage the way they would have once upon a time. I don't want to speak too soon, but it appears as though Ben Roethlisberger's skills are beginning to decline. We all watched Ben miss open receivers in totally uncharacteristic fashion. During the first few years of the Flacco/Harbaugha era, Roethlisberger would have easily made such throws, and he would have done so under even more pressure. The Steelers haven't had a winning season since Todd Haley became the offensive coordinator two seasons ago. I was actually almost looking forward to a hard-fought nail-biter. I'm always thrilled to watch the Ravens beat the Steelers in every phase of a game, but it just seems too easy at this point.
I'd like to think that the Ravens finally hit their stride since the second half of the Bengals game, but it's far too early in the season to truly know of what any team is truly capable. The Patriots, for example, looked totally inept last week in the second half of their first game, and the Saints lost to one of last season's worst teams despite being thought of by many as a top 4 super bowl contender. How teams begin the season isn't irrelevant, but it's also not vitally important. Truly great teams are able to adjust as the season progresses and learn how to tweak their schemes and plays to fit the personnel they have if their original plans prove unsuccessful within the first couple of weeks.
There's no reason to place great stock in predictions of games during the first month of the season as the amount of statistics recorded simply isn't significant enough to be accurately predictive in most cases. That fact, however, won't stop us from having fun and taking a shot at weekly picks. I'm glad my Thursday night pick was correct, and now Ravens fans get to kick back, relax, and enjoy watching the rest of teams beat each other senseless. The Ravens also get a nice extra long break to rest up, get healthy, and game plan to absolutely smash the Browns and remind them that they're still just the Browns. Let's take a look at the picks for Week 2!
WEEK 2 NFL PICKS
DOLPHINS AT BILLS- Both of these teams won surprise upsets last week, and had similar statistical performances as far asIf yardage was concerned. The Bills and Dolphins rank 3rd and 4th respectively in rushing yards, and rank 10th and 11th respectively in rushing yards allowed. The Bills have the 29th ranked pass offense, and the Dolphins have the 28th ranked pass offense. The only major discrepancy is that the Dolphins rank 15th in pass defense, and the Bills rank just 28th in the same category. The Dolphins won big at home against the Patriots by nearly two touchdowns, but the Bills narrowly won in overtime on the road against the Bears. When two teams are so statistically close, I tend to go with the home team. Ryan Tannehill also has had nearly no success in Buffalo. I'm hoping the Fins will once again prove me wrong here. BUFFALO 20-17
JAGUARS AT REDSKINS- Is it possible for two teams to lose a game? If it is, I feel as though the Jags and Skins will have found a way by now. It's difficult to know which one of these teams is truly worse, but I feel as though the Skins D will shut down anything the Jags will try to get going. Jacksonville doesn't have good enough defense to win this game. REDSKINS 24-10
COWBOYS AT TITANS- There are simply too many things wrong with the Cowboys. TITANS 31-14
CARDINALS AT GIANTS- I actually saw an analyst or two pick the Giants to win this game. That begs the question of what particular strain of hydroponics they were bonging prior to writing their picks. CARDINALS 21-10
PATRIOTS AT VIKINGS- No AP, no beating the Patriots after an embarrassing loss. PATRIOTS 28-16
SAINTS AT BROWNS- The Browns managed a furious comeback last week against the Steelers that ultimately fell short. Newsflash, Cleveland:THE STEELERS WERE EXPOSED AS BEING ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE, SO WHAT DOES THAT MAKE YOU? Ok, so I fully expect Drew Brees to get into the swing of things this weekend, and the Browns couldn't even hope to keep up. SAINTS 42-19
FALCONS AT BENGALS- The Ravens gave the Falcons some good video on how to stop the Bengals offense in the second half of last week's game. I've never been blown away by Matt Ryan with his poor playoff record, but he is typically master of the regular season. This should be the game of the day for Ravens fans. FALCONS 28-24
LIONS AT PANTHERS- I love to watch Luke Kuechly, and the Panthers defense is impressive, but the Panthers don't have enough offense to keep up with Stafford and Megatron. LIONS 31-23
RAMS AT BUCCANEERS- The Rams are bad at football. BUCCANEERS 21-10
SEAHAWKS AT CHARGERS- Yes, the Seahawks looked dominant last week against a broken Packers team. No, that doesn't mean as much away from Seattle, but the Seahawks still match up quite well against the Chargers. I hope Philip Rivers shakes things up and takes the Seahawks down a peg or two in San Diego, but I don't expect them to do so. SEATTLE 33-24
TEXANS AT RAIDERS- Beating the Redskins is nothing tremendous about which any team should brag, but holding any NFL team to 6 points is a big deal. The Raiders are basically useless. TEXANS 17-10
JETS AT PACKERS- The Packers may or may not have Eddie Lacy, but they certainly still have Aaron Rodgers. The Jets currently own the first ranked defense in the league by yardage, but they still allowed the Raiders to score 14 points. Rodgers is going to get the offense going this week at home in Green Bay. The Jets will keep this one close by pounding the rock, but the Packers will be able to score quickly regardless. PACKERS 21-20
CHIEFS AT BRONCOS- The Chiefs couldn't beat the Titans IN Kansas City. There's NOOO way they beat the Broncos IN Denver. The Broncos will start slow, but expect Manning to pick apart the Chiefs defense in the second half. BRONCOS 30-21
BEARS AT 49ERS- I think a lot of people were giving the Bears FAAAR too much credit before the season began. Jay Cutler is not elite, and the Bears run defense isn't strong enough to stop the 49ers' rushing attack. 49ERS 27-23
EAGLES AT COLTS- I like what I saw from both of these teams in the second half of last week's games, but the Colts will take charge in their own house. Who needs defense when you have oodles of offense? COLTS 38-35
I hope I'm wrong about a handful of these games. Regular season football is incredibly boring if it's predictable this early in the season. Oh, and in case anyone already forgot, the Ravens beat the Steelers right out of M and T back and right back on to their loser buses. I wonder if they've realized that the Terrible Towel now truly matches their terrible team...OK OK enough fun at Pittsburgh's expense for now.
AS ALWAYS
GO RAVENS!!!
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