By Hot Rod! The Rowdy One
Two weeks down, fifteen more to go. The season is underway and already you have people dancing in the streets because their team or teams are 2-0.
Some 49er fans are reminiscing about the Dynasty days of the 1980s. Vikings fans are rejoicing in the street with the arrival of the Mississippi Gunslinger, and here in New York City, some Jet fans are anointing quarterback Mark Sanchez as the next Joe Willie Namath while Giants fans are slowly saying to themselves, “Plaxico who?”
While all of this early success is good for the soul, just remember this, calm down “happy”, it’s only Week 03. We still have a while to go before we start having teams fly down to Miami. That goes for all of you fans out there who have teams that are 2-0. Just take it one weekend at a time because a loss or two could turn your whole season upside-down. Let’s wait and see how the regular season turns out before we start buying tickets to Miami.
Since I went on bit of a rant last week about Michael Crabtree, I didn’t get a chance to talk about the “Game of the Week”. Therefore, this week, you’ll get two games for the price of one because I have two “Games of Week” for you. So as always, without further ado, let’s look at the picks for Week 03 in the NFL.
Sunday, 9/20/09, 1pm
Green Bay Packers (1-1) vs. St. Louis Rams (0-2)
Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, MO
My Pick: Packers
Game of the Week. Pt. 01
San Francisco 49ers (2-0) vs. Minnesota Vikings (2-0)
My Pick: Vikings
This game is all about the run. Two of the Top 5 running backs in the league, Adrian Peterson (ranked 1st) and Frank Gore (ranked 3rd) will go head to head this weekend. So who’s gonna win in the end?
I’m going with the Vikings in this game. As many of you may know, I bleed crimson and gold, but I’m also a realist and here’s my reason:
The Vikings have the fourth ranked defense in the NFL. The Niners have the seventh ranked defense in the NFL. While the Vikes rank 17th against the rush, they rank fifth against the pass. The Niners are ranked third against the run, but against the pass, they are ranked 21st.
The Vikes know that the Niners will focus on stopping the run, so if Brett Favre can limit mistakes against the Niners’ secondary, the game is won. However, this game will be close. All of you watching this game at home, I advise you to bring the refrigerator and bathroom to your couch because you may not want to get up from you seat. You may see some big plays in this game you don’t want to miss.
Atlanta Falcons (2-0) vs. New England Patriots (1-1)
My Pick: Falcons
My only interest in this game is to see how the Patriots bounce back from the loss to the New York Jets from last week.
Like last week, the Pats face another young team, with a solid running game, and a young up and coming quarterback. Fortunately, for the Pats, they’re not facing the Jets, who have the best defense in the league. Instead, they’re facing the 22nd ranked defense in the Falcons.
The reason why I’m picking the Falcons is their explosive offense. I think their offense is too much for the Patriots defense despite the fact that the Pats’ have the third best defense in the NFL.
The Pats and the Falcons will put up numbers and this will probably be a high scoring affair, but I feel this young Falcons squad has a little more in the tank than the Pats and they will walk away with the victory.
Tennessee Titans (0-2) vs. New York Jets (2-0)
Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ
My Pick: Jets
Kansas City Chiefs (0-2) vs. Philadelphia Eagles (1-1)
Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, PA
My Pick: Eagles
New York Giants (2-0) vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-2)
Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL
My Pick: Giants
Cleveland Browns (0-2) vs. Baltimore Ravens (2-0)
M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, MD
My Pick: Ravens
Jacksonville Jaguars (0-2) vs. Houston Texans (1-1)
My Pick: Texans
Washington Redskins (0-2) vs. Detroit Lions (0-2)
My Pick: Lions
Sunday, 9/20/09, 4pm
Chicago Bears (1-1) vs. Seattle Seahawks (1-1)
My Pick: Bears
New Orleans Saints (2-0) vs. Buffalo Bills (1-1)
Ralph Wilson Stadium, Buffalo, NY
My Pick: Saints
Pittsburgh Steelers (1-1) vs. Cincinnati Bengals (1-1)
Paul Brown Stadium, Cincinnati, OH
My Pick: Steelers
Miami Dolphins (0-2) vs. San Diego Chargers (1-1)
Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, CA
My Pick: Chargers
Denver Broncos (2-0) vs. Oakland Raiders (1-1)
Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, CA
My Pick: Raiders
Sunday Night Football, 9/27/09, 8:20pm
Indianapolis Colts (2-0) vs. Arizona Cardinals (1-1)
University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, AZ
My Pick: Colts
Monday Night Football, 9/21/09, 8:30pm
Carolina Panthers (0-2) Dallas Cowboys (1-1)
My Pick: Cowboys
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good piece Hot Rod!, i missed last weeks post..i’m definitely going to check it out, i hope you didn’t go in on the homie crabtree…i’ll save comments til then…..i like the skins over detroit and i think denver’s defense helps them to a victory over the raiders.
I had a few choice words for Crabtree. LOL. I think Detroit is due. The Skins been playing like crap, this is the Lions opportunity.