The Boston Irish Week 2 NFL Picks

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Baltimore Ravens at Cincinnati Bengals
Lots and lots of people picked The Bungles to stroll into Gillette Stadium last weekend and come out with a win. Those same people are abandoning ship as fast as they can get the lifeboats off the decks after The Bungles were absolutely creamed by the Patriots. The Ravens, meanwhile, looked ferocious against the Paper Tiger Jets. The Bungles had a very poor end to ’09 and look to have carried this into ’10, while the Ravens look the real deal. This will be close as it’s a crucial game and The Bungles will be trying to show their home fans they are a legitimate team, however the Ravens will be just too strong.
Baltimore 21-17

Chicago Bears at Dallas Cowboys
Hey, the Bears close fought ‘win’ over the Lions was nothing to be ashamed about, in general. However, once Mathew Stafford left the game, the Bears still let Shaun Hill almost beat them. That’s not a good sign. Frequent readers of this site will know I am no fan of the Cowboys, however they do tend to spread their clunkers around. This week, they will look like world beaters and everyone will be fawning over them, until their next clunker.
Dallas 42-17

Jay Cutler body language - coming to a NFL stadium near you!

Arizona Cardinals at Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons almost came away from Pittsburgh with a win, against a tough ‘D’ in an imposing enemy stadium. At home in front of their brethren, with the urgency of needing that first win, they will walk all over the completely unrecognizable Cardinals.
Atlanta 30-10

Let's not count Matt Ryan out just yet

Buffalo Bills at Green Bay Packers
This could get ugly. Yes, the Packers have lost Ryan Grant for the season, however reports were that Brandon Jackson had moved into at least a tie on the depth chart with his off-season and pre-season work. Now he gets to pound the rock against an absolutely woeful Bills run defence. If the Packers score early, this could turn into an absolute white-wash, as Buffalo are ‘built’ for a run game with short passing, they simply won’t be able to keep up with Aaron Rodgers and the Packers
Green Bay 44-9

Philadelphia Eagles at Detroit Lions
It is early days yet in the career of Jahvid Best, but 14 carries for 20 yards, or 1.4 yards a carry, is not exactly Barry Sanders now, is it? Shaun Hill isn’t Mathew Stafford either. The Lions are no walk over at home though, and have one of the finest wide outs in the league in Calvin Johnson, who caught the ‘winning’ touchdown last week against the Bears. It should be noted that Shaun Hill was under center for that pass. The Lions are going to be a good team, they have too much youth and talent not to be, in fact they can be a dominant force in a few years, if they keep all the pieces together. This game, though, is too much too soon.
Philadelphia 24-21

Best

Pittsburgh Steelers at Tennessee Titans
Okay so, let’s see Dennis Dixon on the road against a superb defence. The Titans are still available at 20-1 to win the Superbowl. That won't be the case after this weekend. Vince Young looks confident, Chris Johnson will get 25 touches and close to 200 yards, and Tennessee will rubber stamp their official entry as Superbowl contenders. Remember, this team is now 9-2 their last 11 games.
Tennessee 30-10

Kansas City Chiefs at Cleveland Browns
Two teams going in very different directions. The Browns are turning to the likes of Jake Delhome, while Kansas are finally seeing the fruits of three years of stockpiling draft picks. Too much Jamaal Charles for Cleveland to handle.
Kansas 24-14

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Carolina Panthers
This could be a low scoring bruiser. Tampa will be decent in a couple of years, but on the road, against a run-heavy Carolina team, they will struggle.
Carolina 24-10

Miami Dolphins at Minnesota Vikings
Brett Favre looked rusty in the opener? Gosh, really? Did he skip training camp or something? The Vikings, however, will force Miami to throw, their huge defensive line stopping the run, and Henne will throw the ball away. Just you watch. Home field and desperation mean a Vikings win.
Minnesota 27-17

Seattle Seahawks at Denver Broncos
Seattle and Matt Hasselbeck looked very, very good last week against a highly touted 49ers team. Pete Carroll has the Hawks excited about the game of football again, and there is energy in all aspects of their play. Meanwhile, Denver are searching for an identity. Seattle to sneak in on a smash and grab and show their week one was no aberration
Seattle 27-26

St. Louis Rams at Oakland Raiders
Oh boy, what’s this, the antithesis of the Superbowl? Alabama could probably beat these two. Can they both lose?
Oakland 14-13

New England Patriots at New York Jets
How can more people not see this Jets slump coming? Remember, they quite literally snuck into the playoffs last season. Admittedly they played well when they got there, however they were very lucky to get in. Since then they have been wildly over rated. Their QB can barely throw the rock 40 yards, and have you ever heard the term 'sophomore slump'? The Patriots will stack against the run and dare the Jets to throw. Meanwhile the Brady bunch will not have it their own way against the Jets blitz and corners, but should do enough to win. The Jets arrogance will add to their demise, people will start picking those non stop blitzes up, leading to huge plays down the field.
New England 24-13



Houston Texans at Washington Redskins
Arian Foster, not a bad start eh? Foster’s stunning rookie explosion last week should have sent serious shock waves through the NFL. Houston has no problem chucking the rock downfield, the scary part for the rest of the league is, they can now run it equally well. Watch Houston's Superbowl odds tumble as they come out of Washington with the result Dallas should have, you know, if they weren’t a pack of clowns, a win. This Houston team has a serious whiff of Superbowl friskiness about it.
Houston 21-20

Jacksonville Jaguars at San Diego Chargers
The Empire strikes back. The Jaguars are going to get thumped. Two elements, traveling cross country to take on a team licking its wounds after losing a game they should have won. Rivers and the Chargers are going to come out fired up and the Jags are going to pay.
San Diego 34-13

New York Giants at Indianapolis Colts
The Colts aren’t starting the season 0-2, particularly against a team with a poor intermediate pass defense, but also with Peyton at the helm against a jittery looking Eli. This feels like an exciting shoot-out.
Indianapolis 43-38

New Orleans Saints at San Francisco 49ers
Was Mike Singletary awake on the sidelines against the Hawks last weekend? Some completely confounding coaching decisions in that one. The 49ers were a lot of peoples pre-season sleeper/darlings, the problem is San Francisco look like a potentially talented squad with no rudder to steer them. If New Orleans get an early lead, watch out, this score could get out of control.
New Orleans 36-17

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