Week 2 Preview:

So you think yer smaaaht, eh? Well, Week 2 presents a nice challenge for the guesstimators out there in cyberland. The big storyline heading into this week is how injuries will affect performance. Tom Brady’s situation is probably the most devastating, but there were several other key players who won’t be playing this week and those losses will have a significant impact.


At Kansas City -3.5 Oakland 36
The young Chiefs defense played pretty well against the Patriots last week on the road. Granted, Brady wasn't around for very long, but they came very close to tying the game at the very end. Brady Croyle may not be starting on Sunday, but Damon Huard is one of the best backup quarterbacks in the league. LJ will get a lot of carries on Sunday, and Huard knows how to spread around the football so everyone in the offense will get a lot of looks. Oakland has one less day to prepare, but even if they had a week to get ready it wouldn't make much difference. Overall, their performance on Monday night against the Broncos was a pretty sorry spectacle. Cutler shredded their defense and other than Fargas and McFadden who each had a few good runs, the offense didn't do much. Russell appeared particularly inept in passing situations when Denver brought the rush to bear. It's a wild stretch of the imagination to believe that the Raiders will get their act together in time for this one.

Projected Final Score: Kansas City 23, Oakland 17

At Cincinnati -1 Tennessee 37.5

Last week, the total dysfunction of the Bengals was on display for the entire football world to witness. As of week two, this is a team that needs a complete flush and hosedown. The Bengals won't have to worry about Vince Young this week (neither will the Titans for that matter). The ageless Kerry Collins will get the call and he ought to do a pretty good job handing off the football, because the Titans are going to grind it did all day long. What Cincinnati will really have to worry about is Albert Haynesworth and Coach Fisher's defense, who will be coming in to Cincinnati on a high after thumping Jacksonville looking to get an early foothold on the AFC South. It's not as if the Bengals lack offensive firepower, they have the tools. But last week against a very good defense they had trouble moving the ball. This speaks of a lack of preparedness as well as a lack of the will to succeed.

Projected Final Score: Tennessee 23, Cincinnati 21

Indianapolis -1.5 At Minnesota 43.5

For the second straight week, Indianapolis has to try to move the football against a very tough defense. Everyone expected that Manning was going to have a little rust in the opener and that key injuries to the offensive line would make things a little more problematic than what Indianapolis is generally accustomed. No one expected that the Bears to manhandle Indy in such dominant fashion. The education of Tarvaris Jackson continues at the expense of losing an opportunity to make a legitimate run at the NFC title. The window of opportunity is not indefinite, and Jackson may one day develop into a terrific quarterback. But he hasn't done much to show that he is ready to turn a corner and lead the Purple Gang into the postseason. There are still a number of quarterbacks more talented than Jackson or sitting out there at home waiting for the phone to ring. Monday night's game against the Packers was a winnable game, and with the exception of one mistake on special teams, the Vikings could have prevailed if they had a capable quarterback running the offense. Manning sticks to the short passes and Indy prevails.

Projected Final Score: Indianapolis 21, Minnesota 17

At Washington PK New Orleans 42

This ought to be an interesting game. The Redskins were awful on opening night. It wasn't just Jason Campbell; the entire team looked out of sync and overmatched against the Giants, especially in the first quarter. With the new coach and offensive schemes, it looked like Amateur Hour out there for the Burgundy and Gold. After they withstood the G-Men's initial onslaught, had the Redskins played even mediocre football they could've made a game out of it. The only advantages they have coming into this one are playing at home and having an additional three days to prepare. They still have a lot of kinks to iron out on both sides of the ball. The Saints had a big emotional win at home against Tampa Bay and ought to come into Washington feeling really good about their chances. However, Marcus Colston’s out and Brees will need to rely on his running backs and receivers to step up.

Projected Final Score: New Orleans 24, Washington 21

Green Bay -3 At Detroit 45.5

Aaron Rodgers passed his first test on Monday night leading the pack to a hard fought win against the Vikings. But the jury is still out on him, and probably will be for a while. Meanwhile, Honolulu Blue turned in one of the worst performances in week one, getting totally shredded by the Falcons (!) and Matt Ryan, making his professional debut. Coach Marinelli has to be completely bewildered. The Packers are well aware of Kitna’s flinging tendencies, so the Lions really have to hope that Rudi Johnson is up to speed with the playbook by Sunday to get some balance in their attack. The Lions gave up an astounding 474 yards on defense last week against a team in full rebuilding mode. The Packers are much further along in their development as an offense than are the Falcons because they can run or pass the ball with equal proficiency. Ryan Grant continues to have some hamstring issues which might hamper the Packers’ running game a little bit, but right now the Lions are such a mess defensively that it really may not matter all that much. For the Lions to win Kitna has to get hot and the team needs to be lucky. That may be too tall of an order at this point.

Projected Final Score: Green Bay 24, Detroit 20.

At Carolina -3 Chicago 37

Both teams are coming off surprising victories on the road, while Carolina's is more dramatic, the Bears played almost like the 1985 Monsters of the Midway. Granted, the Indianapolis O-Line was more of a hole for an actual substance, and the defense was largely responsible for the final score. The question is whether Chicago's defense can be as dominant this week. Looking at the numbers, it appears as though the Bears’ defense may be susceptible to the pass. Steve Smith is still out for Carolina but Delhomme found a way to make things work last week against a very tough defense. Matt Forte showed a lot of promise in his debut for the Bears last week, but Kyle Orton still does not strike fear in the hearts of NFL defenses.

Projected Final Score: Carolina 20, Chicago 16.

NY Giants -8.5 At St. Louis 41.5

It's going to be another long year in St. Louis. They were utterly embarrassed by the Eagles last Sunday and, with one or two more performances like that in the short run, Scott Linehan is going to be looking to hook on as a coordinator somewhere next season. The Giants may have won opening night, but they failed to deliver the knockout punch in the first quarter. It's safe to conclude that Coach Coughlin has expressed his disappointment with the team. This week, the G-Men have the good fortune of squaring off with another patsy on the schedule. If they hope to legitimately defend their title come crunch time, they need to play solid football for 60 minutes.

Projected Final Score: NY Giants 27, St. Louis 14.

At Jacksonville -5 Buffalo 37

This is one of the best games on this week's schedule. Coach Del Rio ought to have the boys sufficiently motivated after last week's tough loss in Nashville, but the Jags’ starting O-Line has been reduced to tatters. For a run-based offense, that’s not exactly a promising sign. The Bills come down to North Florida on the heels of a dominant win at home, though it was against an NFC West team. Buffalo understands that the Jaguars will fight tooth and nail regardless of who is out there on the field. It's just going to be tough for the Jags to mount any sustained offense with three of the O-Line regulars out of the lineup. The defense has to step up big and pressure Edwards all afternoon. The bills sense a rare opportunity in the AFC East with the vacuum created by Brady's injury. Chances such as these don't present themselves every year.

Projected Final Score: Buffalo 20, Jacksonville 17.

At Tampa Bay -7 Atlanta 37.5

Last week, the Falcons started off the new year in spectacular fashion while the Bucs lost a tough game on the road. This week, the Falcons have the misfortune of traveling to Raymond James Stadium where it will be hot and humid and Chuckie will be looking to put the hammer down. Ryan will found out very quickly that the Bucs are “slightly better” than the Lions. Garcia is out of this game with an ankle injury and Brian Griese gets the call. He’s an efficient veteran who looks like the guy who will carry the load from here on out.

Projected Final Score: Tampa Bay 23, Atlanta 14.

At Seattle -6.5 San Francisco 38

The Seahawks should put last week's trip east in the rearview mirror, as an out of conference loss is not the end of world to their playoff hopes. They return home, surrounded by the love and affection of the 12th Man to face a "divisional rival" (in name only). The only problem is virtually all of their offensive weapons are out of the lineup with injuries. Julius Jones didn't do much last week to make Seahawks’ fans forget the now departed Shaun Alexander. Matt Hasselbeck will be working with two untested wide receivers. And this game should have an enjoyable time erasing all of the bad memories from last week. It's hard to say how much success San Francisco will have this year. It's hard to believe, but the 49ers are actually in better shape on the offensive side of the ball. J.T. O'Sullivan acquitted himself reasonably well last week against the Cardinals and Frank Gore had a good afternoon carrying the ball. Their defense needs to take advantage of Seattle's depleted offense. This week, Seattle has to be hoping for some serious turnovers.

Projected Final Score: San Francisco 17, Seattle 16.

At Arizona -6.5 Miami 39

The Dolphins did not embarrass themselves in their opening week loss at home against the Jets. They should look at the Cardinals as a team they could beat if the O-Line can keep Pennington in one piece all afternoon. The Cards may have beaten the ‘Niners on the road but didn’t exactly set the world on fire in the process. Both teams were remarkably similar in terms of total offense and defense. The Cards are home and to have a few more seasoned horses, so they’ll win in a squeaker.

Projected Final Score: Arizona 20, Miami 17.

At NY Jets -1.5 New England 37

Which quarterback you prefer in this one? The two-time MVP who has started every game since 1992 or the one whose last start came for Chatsworth (CA) High School ten years ago? The easy choice would tend to be the former, but like Ike and Tina, “we never do anything easy". Being dispassionate about 31 of the other NFL teams is fine, but when the New York media encourages schaudenfrede among the fan base, an emotional component is included with the reasoned analysis. The Jets didn’t exactly bowl over Miami in Favre’s debut last week, and that was with the team clicking on all cylinders. Sure, Favre had a pretty good day throwing the ball (15-22-194, 2TD), but Miami’s pass defense is a work in progress whereas New England’s is better. Matt Cassel is not being asked to replace Tom Brady or be some sort of avenging angel, but will be given a game plan that Belichick and McDaniel are confident that he is able to execute (similar to the plan Brady was given when he took over for Bledsoe seven years ago). On defense, not much has changed as the Patriots will present multiple packages for Favre to ponder. Maybe Favre has a big day passing the ball and torches the Patriots’ D to the tune of 33-10 (just like in the old days with Namath). Or maybe the Patriots decide to show up and make a game of it. In many ways, the outcome of their season depends on the outcome of this game.

Projected Final Score: New England 21, NY Jets 20.

At Denver PK San Diego 46

The Chargers go Mile High looking to prevent going 0-2 while the Broncos are looking to stake in early claim when the AFC West. While this is a game that the Broncos would obviously love to win, it's also a game that the Chargers cannot afford to lose, even though it's only week 2. Now that the Merriman situation has been resolved, the Chargers will be able to move forward without any lingering questions as to his availability. The Broncos had the advantage of opening up the year with an inferior opponent. The Chargers will present a much tougher test as Cutler will find no easy pickings this week with Jammer and Cromartie and the secondary.

Projected Final Score: San Diego 27, Denver 21.

Pittsburgh -6 At Cleveland 44.5

The hatred level between these two teams and rival fan factions is about is palpable as it gets in professional sports, and it's been that way for almost 60 years. The Steelers were dominant at home last Sunday while the Browns had the misfortune of running into the Dallas buzzsaw. So the Steelers will come into Cleveland puffed up and ready to blow away the Browns. The Browns’ defensive problems have been further complicated by more injuries in the secondary, and this is a team that allowed 320 yards in the air last week. Pittsburgh is going to do what it always does best: establish the run before looking for the quick strike. Although the Browns will give Pittsburgh a considerably tougher fight, look for Big Ben & Co. to come out on top.

Projected Final Score: Pittsburgh 27, Cleveland 20