I sit here writing these as we watch the Browns take it to the clearly useless Bengals, and I must apologize for not having released these in time to have predicted the outcome of that game prior to it beginning. For what it's worth, I would have picked the Browns, but in a much closer game.
Cleveland's offense clicking on a short week answers some questions I had following Sunday's blowout loss to the Ravens. The Browns are, as I mentioned several days ago, absolutely loaded with top tier weapons. Kareem Hunt and Nick Chubb are two of the best backs in the league and they happen to be on the same team. Neither Odell Beckham Jr. nor Jarvis Landry needs any introduction. The question that remained after Sunday was whether or not Baker Mayfield simply isn't good enough to get these weapons the ball, or if the Ravens defensive backfield is truly as good as advertised. Considering how little pass rush the Ravens got from Matt Judon and Jaylon Ferguson, I think it's safe to say that the 83 yards that Landry and Beckham Jr. combined to total on 16 targets are a testament to the elite coverage skills of Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters--oh, and it doesn't hurt to have a healthy Tavon Young back too. That trio is easily the best group of corners in the NFL (fight me), and the fact that Hunt, Landry, Beckham Jr., and Chubb were all kept out of the end zone in a 38-6 rout last weekend means the glaring issues with the Ravens probably aren't as worrisome as I may have thought. After all, that same Browns offense is currently up 28-13 as I type this.
The Bengals are also not exactly devoid of playmakers. Joe Mixon, A.J. Green, Giovanni Bernard, Tyler Boyd, Tee Higgins, and John Ross offer a level of speed and elusiveness that on paper should scare teams. Joe Burrow has also displayed some talent despite likely going 0-2 in his first two starts. I fully expect the Bengals to find themselves at the bottom of the AFC North by the end of the season, but they've got more than enough to build around within the next few years. Bottom line: the Browns and Bengals each have a host of weapons and young talent at the quarterback position that should allow them to both prove at least solid teams this season, and the Ravens are likely just that much better.
I can't say the Texans showed much in their first game to scare the Ravens, but this Sunday's game will show how the Ravens are able to perform in their first road matchup. The Texans no longer possess one of the most explosive wide receivers in the league as DeAndre Hopkins is now an Arizona Cardinal, and his presence last year did not seem to mean much as Houston was blown out in a trip to Baltimore. That isn't to say there aren't still formidable receivers on the Texans roster. Brandin Cooks, Randall Cobb, Kenny Stills, and Will Fuller are all quality targets, but they didn't exactly light it up against a Chiefs secondary that possesses far less clout than that of Baltimore's. David Johnson had a solid performance on the ground with 77 rushing yards on 11 carries, but his yards per carry average over the past three season has been an underwhelming 3.6. The Ravens will face an unquestionably better quarterback in DeShaun Watson than they did last week with Baker Mayfield, and this will be a chance for the Ravens edge rushers to redeem themselves against an elusive target. It will also be a chance for the Ravens rushing attack to find its footing and help grind clock late if Baltimore finds itself with a lead.
The one AFC North team I have yet to mention has a good opportunity to show that it can do more than just pull away late from the rebuilding New York Giants. The Steelers host a Broncos squad that just lost a painfully close game to the Titans. This is a game the Steelers absolutely should win, but how they perform will tell us much about their potential to contend for the AFC North Crown that they relinquished two years ago. Big Ben is still a wily playmaker, and the Steelers defense may be one of the top if not the top unit in the league this season. I reserve my judgement for a larger statistical sample size before making that pronouncement because it's still the same defense that lost to the Ravens backups last year 28-10 when their playoff hopes were on the line and Baltimore rested its starters. That same Steelers defense allowed Gus Edwards to rumble for 130 yards on the ground without Lamar on the field to present a threat to run the ball himself. With that said, having Ben Roethlisberger back to sustain and finish drives does much to keep a defense rested, and James Conner and/or Benny Snell Jr. should be able to take enough pressure off Ben and help chew up clock. I can't say at first glance that I believe this Steelers team to be as explosive as it was a few years ago with Antonio Brown and Le'veon Bell, but the defense is certainly improved to the point where they appear to be getting back to the old Pittsburgh formula for success of a strong rushing attack and being hard-nosed on the other side of the ball. Not that I don't enjoy the Ravens sweeping Pittsburgh, but it honestly would be nice to see Ravens-Steelers get back to violently aggressive slugfests decided by a field goal in the waning moments. Ok, let's get to the picks!
WEEK 2 NFL PREDICTIONS
GIANTS AT BEARS- The Bears had a nice road win last week over the Lions, and Mitch Trubisky had a decent enough showing to convince me that they'll be able to grind out a solid win over the Giants this Sunday. BEARS 24-17
FALCONS AT COWBOYS- Despite having the player with the greatest name in the NFL, Younghoe Koo, the Falcons are a constant disappointment. Matt Ryan has had faaaar too many elite receiving weapons over the course of his career to be this inconsistent. The Falcons have never struck me as a team that travels particularly well, and they allowed Russell Wilson to be too successful through the air last week to let me believe they'll be able to slow down Dak and company on the Cowboys' turf. Tough to envision much defense in this matchup. COWBOYS 33-27
LIONS AT PACKERS- Aaron Rodgers appears so incredibly motivated by his franchise drafting his presumptive successor that he began the season showing why he's still unquestionably elite. The Lions are starting a 147 year old man at running back, and don't give me any reason to believe they can go into Green Bay and win this game. PACKERS 38-20
JAGUARS AT TITANS- I was rather shocked that the Titans only barely edged the Broncos last week, and though Tennessee is the overwhelming favorite to win this game, I have a feeling it'll be far closer than their fans would prefer. TITANS 20-17
VIKINGS AT COLTS- I thought the Colts might look decent with Philip Rivers out there--I was mistaken. Rivers threw a single touchdown and a pair of picks last week, and it might take him a little while to really develop chemistry with this receiving corps after spending a decade and a half with another team. The Vikings produced enough offense to win most football games last week, but they allowed a dismal 43 points. It's hard to believe how hard the Vikings defense has fallen from the scariest unit in the league only a few seasons ago to the disaster that took the field last week. Let's just have some fun and say that this is a week that Philip Rivers wins a shootout at home. COLTS 35-28
BILLS AT DOLPHINS- The Bills are too strong up front on both sides of the ball and too defensively stout to lose to a Dolphins team that managed to put up 11 points in their opener last week. BILLS 23-13
49ERS AT JETS- It's kind of difficult to know what to make of the 49ers after a season-opening loss to the Cardinals, but I also believe the Cardinals are going to be a serious Super Bowl contender this season with the addition of DeAndre Hopkins and as Kyler Murray continues to develop. The Jets simply don't have serious weapons surrounding Sam Darnold. They vastly overpaid for an overrated (that's right, I said it) aging Le'veon Bell, and their receiving corps is filled with no-name players and draft busts. 49ERS 31-14
RAMS AT EAGLES- There was a point last weekend where it looked like the Eagles were a solid team trouncing a perpetually rebuilding Washington Football Team. That simply didn't last long. Carson Wentz found himself running from his life, and it's tough to assume Aaron Donald and company won't be able to harass him to no end as well. I don't, however, expect this to be a blowout. RAMS 24-20
BRONCOS AT STEELERS- I am not nearly as high on the Steelers as some people I know, but theit defense should be able to limit the Broncos to under 20 points, and the offense will find its rhythm in the second half. Losing Von Miller was a big deal, and it likely killed any shot the Broncos had of being some kind of surprise playoff team. STEELERS 30-17
PANTHERS AT BUCCANEERS- I have made it no secret that I don't expect this group of thrown-together big names to suddenly turn into a Super Bowl contender. Tom Brady has already been on a serious decline for two years coming into this season, and that was all within a finely-tuned system with which he was familiar on an unprecedented level in football terms. Losing on the road to the Saints is no reason to hang one's head, but the WAY Brady lost was rather telling. With that said, the Panthers likely don't have the defensive clout to stop the Buccaneers from eventually getting into a rhythm and mounting 3-4 successful second half scoring drives. Allowing the Raiders to score 34 points on them at home last week didn't exactly instill confidence. BUCCANEERS 35-24
REDSKINS AT CARDINALS- The Redskins showed some impressive ability to get to the quarterback last week, but their secondary looked unimaginably bad. The Kyler Murray to DeAndre Hopkins connection should be off the charts today, and the Cardinals will further solidify their status as one of the best teams in the NFC. This doesn't mean the Redskins won't still win some games; they just happen to be traveling across country to play one of the best teams in their conference. CARDINALS 27-17
CHIEFS AT CHARGERS- The Bengals just allowed the Browns to score 35 points. The Chargers barely beat those same Bengals 13-10. The Chargers simply won't be able to hang with the Kansas City offensively. CHIEFS 42-16
RAVENS AT TEXANS- The Ravens will be seriously challenged soon, but it won't be this week. The Texans will give solid effort for about the first 3rd of this game, but they looked utterly confused facing the Ravens last season, and they haven't upgraded their roster enough to give me reason to believe they'll be any different this season. They do still have some solid receivers, but the Ravens shut down a pair of elite receivers last week. Fortunately for Baltimore, both Ronnie Stanley and Jimmy Smith returned to practice over the course of the week and appear ready to go. Coach Greg Roman was not please with the ground attack last week, and I expect him to give plenty of carries to J.K. Dobbins after the rookie scored two touchdowns in his NFL debut. We'll see how this balanced attack compares with what the Chiefs were able to do to the Texans in Week 1, but I also expect the Ravens defense to limit the Texans much more effectively than the Chiefs. RAVENS 31-13
PATRIOTS AT SEAHAWKS- Cam Newton did a nice job of getting back to winning in Week 1, but Russell Wilson has been my objective favorite quarterback in the league for years, and he has never been afraid to face the Patriots defense. This will be Wilson's 4th time facing the the mind of Bill Belichick, and Bill has only come out on top once--it just happened to be in the Super Bowl. Newton is not yet to the point in that system where he can lead several rapid scoring drives like Brady did for years. Wilson, on the other hand, is more than capable of doing exactly that at home, and he's even done it against the Patriots more than once. I don't enjoy it when the Seahawks have beaten the Ravens in the past, but I otherwise love to watch Russell Wilson play and am happy to see Lamar developing into a similar type of duel threat player. This is still a strong Patriots defense though, so I don't expect and utter blowout. SEAHAWKS 26-20
SAINTS AT RAIDERS- They may have beaten up on the Buccaneers at home, but the Saints typically struggle as a road team. The Raiders are a bit banged up with injuries to their starting right tackle and his backup. The Saints are unquestionably a better team, but they're going to struggle to pull away in this game. SAINTS 24-21
We're still in the opening month of the NFL season, and no appreciable amount of statistics currently exists to really make more educated predictions, but we'll have fun seeing which teams emerge over the next few weeks as true playoff contenders.
STAY SAFE, BALTIMORE
AS ALWAYS
GO RAVENS!!
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