NFL Week 2

Just how many quarterback stories did the gods of fate think we needed this week?

The biggest story of the bunch was of course Tom Brady’s knee. The New England quarterback was expected to lead the Patriots as they came back from a Super Bowl defeat with a vengeance. He had time for just seven completions before Bernard Pollard ended Brady’s season. Some, including Randy Moss, have suggested that Pollard’s tackle might not have been made in innocence, but from where I was sitting he simply battled with his blocker and the tackle was just unfortunate.

Elsewhere the Titans and Buccaneers have problems of their own. Vince Young picked up a knock on his ankle during the win over Jacksonville and had to endure the boos of his own fans during the game. Sitting head in hands on the sidelines, Young at one point looked like he didn’t want to go back on the field but was coerced into returning by Jeff Fisher. The drama continued on Monday when Vince Young went missing and Jeff Fisher called the police. He turned up and Tennessee have been making all the right noises but reports have come out that Young’s seen a therapist and mentioned suicide. How much of all this we ought to take with a pinch of salt is unclear, but Kerry Collins is starting this Sunday and it’ll be up to Young to earn his place back.

Tampa Bay’s situation is, depending on what you read or hear, either a simple case of Jeff Garcia having an ankle sprain which has seen Brian Griese be named starter, or there’s friction between Garcia and coach Gruden which has seen Garcia demoted. It seems unlikely that Garcia, a Pro Bowl selection last season, would be dropped because a shaky performance in week 1 of the season.

Week 2 Picks

New Orleans Saints vs. Washington Redskins
The suspicion that Jason Campbell would need time to settle into the new system in Washington appears to be justified based on a lacklustre display against the Giants in week 1. Whether ten days will have been enough for Washington to shake off some of the cobwebs of that first game is in question, but they’ll need a far greater sense of urgency if they’re going to keep up with the Saints. Drew Brees’ good start to the season coupled with Jim Zorn’s growing pains as a head coach put New Orleans in favour for this one.

Tennessee Titans vs. Cincinnati Bengals
There’s no guarantee that Houshmanzadeh and Chad Eight Five will be any less disinterested than they looked last week. Palmer’s a fine quarterback but after seeing how the Titans out-muscled the Jags last Sunday I get the impression he could be fighting an uphill battle. Kerry Collins is unlikely to lose the game for Tennessee and the powerful Titans running game should give him the support he needs.

Buffalo Bills vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
This is a tricky one. The Jacksonville offense is pretty beaten up at the moment as evidenced by David Garrard being put on his back seven times last week. Buffalo weren’t particularly nice to Matt Hasselbeck last week so their strength from week one up against Jacksonville’s weakness from the last game might stack things against the home team. I just don’t know if I can see the Jags being as shabby as they were last week. David Garrard will be solid if the line allows him to be and the running game will be pushing for vast improvement too. This could be an unlikely game of the week candidate, but I think the Jaguars will kick start their season with a hard-earned win.

Oakland Raiders vs. Kansas City Chiefs
The Raiders, dismantled last week by Jay Cutler and Eddie Royal, pay a visit to the Chiefs who kept it close against a Brady-lite Patriots. I expect the Chiefs to edge a low-scoring, pretty turgid game.

Indianapolis Colts vs. Minnesota Vikings
My pick in this one all comes down to what I decide was the main reason for Indy’s surprise defeat to the Bears on Sunday. The consistent scores from Chicago (seven points in each quarter aside from the third, when they got eight) suggest Indy just never got out of the blocks, and neither the passing or rushing games were as good as they could or should have been. Adrian Peterson led Minnesota’s attempts to overcome Aaron Rodgers’ Green Bay but the rest of the team didn’t quite live up to the hype. Ultimately I suspect this could come down to whether Tarvaris Jackson improves enough to build a platform for victory against Peyton Manning being his usual ruthless self. I vote for Peyton.

Chicago Bears vs. Carolina Panthers
I think I hate picking week 2 even more than week 1. Sure, week one has you weighing up what effect pre-season has had, if any. It has you trying to guess how replacements for those injured star players will get along. It has you wondering whether a team will endure a massive slump or a meteoric rise. But week 2 has you questioning every single assumption from week 1. It’s tempting to think the Bears are a force one again, but I don’t know how convinced I really am.

Green Bay Packers vs. Detroit Lions
I’m not afraid to admit I wouldn’t have expected to be this confident about Rodgers’ Packers in week 2, especially with Ryan Grant’s hamstring giving him a bit of bother. It helps of course that the Lions as usual looked poorer than they ought to last week. They won’t get the savaging that Michael Turner gave them, but Rodgers’ and Co. should get it done.

New York Giants vs. St. Louis Rams
Why do the Rams keep making me look bad? Every time I think their defense could suffer but a theoretically exciting combination of Marc Bulger and Steven Jackson will keep them gunning their way into contention. Last week it was Donovan McNabb’s turn to put the hurt on St. Louis. Eli should get it done this time even if he doesn’t equal McNabb’s level of performance.

Atlanta Falcons vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
It was nice to see fans of the Falcons get something to smile about last week but they’ll hopefully also keep it in perspective because not even defense they face will be as porous as the Lions’ last week. Sometimes you make a pick and in a strange way you’re almost certain you’ve got it wrong. But you pick it anyway, so what sense does that make? I don’t know, and yet here I am picking Tampa.

San Francisco 49ers vs. Seattle Seahawks
While the ‘Hawks have Maurice Morris sidelined, it’s not like they needed a big running game last year to dominate the division. I don’t think this’ll be the one-sided affair it has been in previous years because Frank Gore looked more solid last week and I expect Martz to try and work Vernon Davis into the passing game more. I don’t doubt a Seattle victory though.

New England Patriots vs. New York Jets
It seems harsh to reverse my pick on the basis of one player being missing, but that’s just how much Tom Brady means to the Pats. Favre started well last week with his usual bravado on full display, and he can outgun Matt Cassel even if the Patriots stand-in has better receivers to aim for. The onus will be on the Patriots running game to pile on some yards and lift pressure off the quarterback but I’ll wait until I’ve seen them do it before trusting them to do so.

San Diego Chargers vs. Denver Broncos
This should probably be in the Getting Ahead of Myself category, but Denver really did look solid last week, even if the performance of Oakland allowed them to. San Diego are looking bruised along both lines and in a few other positions while Denver will be on a high after seeing Jay Cutler play so well on Monday night. San Diego have had Denver in their pocket for a couple of years now and Mike Shanahan knows this is a huge game if he’s to keep the Broncos challenging the Chargers.

Miami Dolphins vs. Arizona Cardinals
Ultimately for me this comes down to a quarterback battle, and I choose Kurt Warner. Pennington did okay last week but I think part of that was because he was against the Jets. I say Warner takes the game for the Cards on home turf.

Baltimore Ravens vs. Houston Texans
I’m not taking too much about the Texans from their result against the Steelers. Pittsburgh hammered them with Willie Parker and Ben Roethlisberger both outstanding and I don’t expect that kind of offensive ability to be on show from their opponents this week. Not that the Baltimore were weak, in the running game they piled up a good number of yards and Joe Flacco didn’t make any major mistakes. What’s worrying about Houston is that they only really got going when Pittsburgh were winding down to close out the game. I think Houston have what they need to do well, but it’s going to be hard to pick them on the back of that drubbing by Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Cleveland Browns
The season which was meant to see the Browns enjoy success stalled during their game against Dallas last week. Whether it’s fair to judge their progress, or lack of, based on one outing against Dallas is debatable but they’ve got a very tough game ahead as they try to avoid 0-2. The Steelers looked very strong against Houston last week which will spur them on in addition to their good record against the Browns. I expect Cleveland to raise their game for this one but I think Willie Parker will be hard for them to contain and I see Pittsburgh taking this by a couple of scores.

Game of the Week
Philadelphia Eagles vs. Dallas Cowboys
This could be one of the games of the year, certainly for the NFC. Both teams have talented defences, big-play quarterbacks, strong running games and a host of playmakers on both sides of the ball. Both come into the game 1-0 off the back of strong wins. I’m going to edge this one to Dallas purely because Dallas’s win last week came against a team more expected to put up a strong resistance. This is the NFC East though and it really can go either way. Whoever wins, I expect a good one.

-Ian Hetherington