The first sixteen games of the season have came and went. Shocking upsets, big blowouts and some expected victories have come along. Every week there’s a game of the week, an upset to watch and games on primetime. In these weekly articles I will preview each of these games and give my score predictions for the rest. Lets kick this off with our Game of the Week.
Game of the Week: Saints (1-0) @ Rams (1-0) [Rams -2.5]
Last Weeks Results: 30-28 Saints Win; 32-28 Rams Win
A rematch of the highly controversial NFC Championship of this past NFL Season. The Rams ended up walking away with a tainted victory due to the missed call on Robey-Coleman. The Rams are favored at home, however these two teams are simply very evenly matched. Both teams barely edged out their competition in week one, but one showed me more. The Saints managed to edge out a very close game against a very good Texans team in the final seconds. They showed me that they would be able to show up and stay calm throughout everything, even terrible penalties which showed growth from last year. I think the Saints are better, hungrier and all around more prepared for this early battle for kings of the NFC.
Score Prediction: 41-38 Saints
Upset Watch: Seahawks (1-0) @ Steelers (0-1) [Steelers -4]
Last Weeks Results: 21-20 Seahawks Win; 33-3 Steelers Loss
This may be a little bit of a controversial pick. The Seahawks managed to barely edge out a fairly weak Bengals team that they were supposed to beat by around 10. But did anyone watch that Steelers game? Big Ben wasn’t making his reads, Donte Moncrief couldn’t catch, Juju didnt look like a WR1 at all. It was just an awful performance. Not to say the Steelers won’t have a good season, they just don’t seem like they’re going to perform that well to start off. The Seahawks are a team poised to make this upset happen. Despite their seemingly bad performance, you have to account for the fact that Dalton looked like an MVP. Big Ben is capable of the same but he just didn’t show me that last week. The Seahawks win this game, and at the very least cover the spread, four points is simply too much.
Score Prediction: 27-24 Seahawks
Thursday Night Football: Buccaneers (0-1) @ Panthers (0-1) [Panthers -7]
Last Weeks Results: 31-17 Buccaneers Loss; 32-28 Panthers Loss
An NFC South clash on primetime this Thursday night. You may look at the team names and immediately give the game to the Panthers but let’s remember last year. The Buccaneers beat the Panthers off the back of four interceptions from Cam Newton, no that wasn’t a typo, FOUR interceptions. This is a new year but i’m not positive the Panthers are a new team. This is a lot of the same from Carolina, Cam throwing a pick and no touchdown and McCaffrey carrying the team on his back again. With all that being said, I do believe the Panthers pull this game out, but it’ll be far closer than some people think.
Score Prediction: 20-25 Panthers
Sunday Night Football: Eagles (1-0) @ Falcons (0-1) [Falcons +1]
Last Weeks Results: 32-27 Eagles Win; 28-12 Falcons Loss
Both teams disappointed in different ways the previous week. The Falcons were massively disappointing in a much worse way. Got shut out through three quarters and couldn’t stop Dalvin Cook; on the other hand, the Eagles played the Redskins and stunk it up for a half. They let the skins jump ahead to a seventeen point lead and, to be fair to them, came back to win. Both teams need to be convincing this week to put me on their bandwagon.
That leaves the question though, who wins this game? I think the Eagles edge out a very close game despite the low level defensive performance last week, but the Falcons won’t make it easy.
Score Prediction: 35-33 Eagles
Monday Night Football: Browns (0-1) @ Jets (0-1) [Jets +2.5]
Last Weeks Results: 43-13 Browns Loss; 17-16 Jets Loss
Well wasn’t that disappointing. My upset watch turned into a flat out MASSACRE against the young and talented Browns. They just.. didn’t look good. The Jets didn’t either. The Bills gave them three turnovers and the Jets still couldn’t win the football game. Both teams are on paper brand new and should win 3-5 more games each but lost their first. However, enough about last week, let’s see what’s ahead this week.
A big thing with the Browns was, they couldn’t stop Derrick Henry. Now they face Le’Veon Bell and I don’t know what they’re gonna do about him. The Browns have an offensive line that just doesn’t look up to scratch and have to face off against Leonard and Quinnen Williams. The Browns just won’t be able to stop the playmakers on this Jets team. It will be a close affair, but they need to show me a lot more for me to pick them in any game against that quality of playmakers.
Score Prediction: 24-22 Jets
Edit: This was made prior to the announcement of Sam Darnold’s sickness. Due to this as well as CJ Mosley, Leonard Williams, and Le’Veon Bell’s questionable status on the injury report I will be changing my pick.
New Score Prediction: 14-31 Browns
Indianapolis Colts (0-1) @ Tennessee Titans (1-0) [Titans -3]
Score Prediction: 20-22 Titans
Los Angeles Chargers (1-0) @ Detroit Lions (0-0-1) [Lions +2.5]
Score Prediction: 36-26 Chargers
Buffalo Bills (1-0) @ New York Giants (0-1) [Giants +1.5]
Score Prediction: 17-29 Bills
Arizona Cardinals (0-0-1) @ Baltimore Ravens (1-0) [Ravens -13]
Score Prediction: 20-31 Ravens
New England Patriots (1-0) @ Miami Dolphins (0-1) [Dolphins +19]
Score Prediction: 43-6 Patriots
Dallas Cowboys (1-0) @ Washington Redskins (0-1) [Redskins +4.5]
Score Prediction: 38-28 Cowboys
Jacksonville Jaguars (0-1) @ Houston Texans (0-1) [Texans -8.5]
Score Prediction: 13-24 Texans
San Francisco 49ers (1-0) @ Cincinnati Bengals (0-1) [Bengals -2]
Score Prediction: 27-23 49ers
Minnesota Vikings (1-0) @ Green Bay Packers (1-0) [Packers -3]
Score Prediction: 20-27 Packers
Kansas City Chiefs (1-0) @ Oakland Raiders (1-0) [Raiders +7.5]
Score Prediction: 43-26 Chiefs
Chicago Bears (0-1) @ Denver Broncos (0-1) [Broncos +2.5]
Score Prediction: 12-9 Bears
This was an average week for picks. Going 73% on straight up winners and an even keeled 50% against the spread. Being able to see teams throughout week one should help, and I should be able to be positive against the spread this coming week.
Pick for Pick Record: 11-4-1
Cover the Spread Record: 8-8
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