NFL WEEK 1 RECAP AND WEEK 2 PREDICTIONS

WEEK 1 RECAP:

Last Week: A very respectable 10 - 6.

The big disappointment of the week was probably the Steelers losing to the Titans at home.  I think the most surprising game was how the Jets were able to eke out a one point win over the Bucs.

DENVER (HOME TEAM IN CAPS) 30 Baltimore 24: Correct. 49 - 27.

PITTSBURGH 27 Tennessee 24: Ouch! The Steelers weren't able to do anything against the Titans defense.  9 - 16.

New England  27 BUFFALO 20: Correct. 23 - 21.

Atlanta 30 NEW ORLEANS 28: As predicted, this was one of the best Week One matchups. It was a tossup for me and I whiffed on it.  17 - 23.

Tampa Bay 24 NEW YORK JETS 17: The Jets got a gift at the end of the game, but it was still a big win.   17 - 18.

Kansas City 27 JACKSONVILLE 24: Correct. 28 - 2.

SEATTLE 30 Carolina 20: Correct. 12 - 7.

CLEVELAND 27 Miami 24: There was really no logic to this pick and it showed. 10 - 23.

DETROIT 21 Minnesota 20: Correct. 34 - 24.

INDIANAPOLIS 34 Oakland 17: Correct. 21 - 17.

CHICAGO 28 Cincinnati 27: Correct. 24 - 21.

ST. LOUIS 24 Arizona 17: Correct. 27 - 24.

SAN FRANCISCO 37 Green Bay 34: Correct. 34 - 28.

DALLAS 30 New York Giants 20: Correct. 36 - 31.

WASHINGTON 27 Philadelphia 20:  Too many turnovers hurt the 'Skins and RGIII was clearly rusty in the first half. 27 - 33.

SAN DIEGO 31 Houston 28: This one made me 0 for Monday night. New coach, same result for the Chargers. At least I got the final score right. 28 - 31.

WEEK 2 PREDICTIONS:

NEW ENGLAND   24 New York Jets  16: A couple of weeks ago, there wouldn't be much doubt as to who to pick here. But the Jets pulled off a miracle and Brady is lacking offensive weapons. If I was going to bet against the spread, I'd surely pick the Jets to cover 12 points. But I think the Patriots can confuse Geno Smith of the Jets enough to pull out a win.

GREEN BAY 28  Washington 24: As much as it pains me to do so, Washington faces a short week and having to travel to Green Bay to play a dangerous Packer offense. Unless the 'Skins defense can make some big plays, it looks like they'll fall to 0 - 2.

BALTIMORE  27 Cleveland 20: The Ravens will be smarting from the drubbing at the hands of Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos. They face a Cleveland team that is still struggling to find an offensive identity. I like the Ravens here.

ATLANTA  27 St. Louis 24: Coming off a disappointing loss in New Orleans, the Falcons come home for a critical game to keep from starting the season 0 -2. The Rams continue to improve under Jeff Fisher, but the Georgia Dome should be good to Atlanta this weekend.

PHILADELPHIA  38  San Diego  27: This could look a lot like last week, with the Eagles getting a big lead early and then holding on. The Chargers are coming off a short week and a long trip to the east.

CHICAGO  27 Minnesota 21: A big NFC North matchup, with the improved Bears looking to continue the momentum of last week's win over the Bengals. Cutler should find a way to win this one.

BUFFALO  20 Carolina 24: Both teams are coming off tough losses to elite teams. This is a tossup for me, but I'll go with Cam Newton to put this one in the W column for the Panthers.

HOUSTON  27 Tennessee  21: I like the progress the Titans are making, but I don't think they have enough on offense to win against a jubilant Texans squad that stole one from the Chargers.

INDIANAPOLIS  28 Miami 27: I'm really tempted to take the Dolphins here. They posted a good win against the Browns last week, but it's tough to go against Andrew Luck and the Colts at home.

KANSAS CITY  30 Dallas 27: Who knows the Cowboys better than Andy Reid? The Chiefs dismantled the Jags last week and I wasn't impressed with the Dallas defense Sunday night. Maybe it's wishful thinking that a 'Skins' divisional rival will drop a game, but I like Kansas City this season.

TAMPA BAY   17 New Orleans  31: The Bucs are dealing with a lot of controversy this week following their meltdown against the Jets. The Saints looked great against the Falcons, especially on defense.

ARIZONA  27  Detroit 24: Carson Palmer to Larry Fitzgerald is going to be tough to defend as the season goes on. If the Colts can defense Reggie Bush, then they can get a victory on Sunday.

NEW YORK GIANTS  30 Denver 34: Well, the easiest prediction is that a Manning will win Sunday. Seriously though, I think Denver will win a lot of football games this season, probably 13 or 14 and this will be one of them. Despite going east, the Broncos are on a mission and have the personnel, especially the QB, to pull it off.

OAKLAND  27 Jacksonville 14: The Jaguars are a train wreck and the Raiders are probably a little better than people projected, given their performance on the road against the Colts. Terrell Pryor is definitely their man at QB and they're physical enough on defense to cause teams problems.  The Jags are a train wreck and headed west, or south...

SEATTLE  20 San Francisco 28: What a matchup for week 2. The Seahawks barely beat the Panthers, looking pretty poorly offensively. The 49er's defeated a good Packers squad. To hear most pundits, these are the two best teams in the league. Despite being on the road at a very difficult place to play, I'm going with San Francisco.

CINCINNATI  21 Pittsburgh 20: It's hard to be predicting that the Steelers will drop to 0 -  2, but that's what I'm doing. I like the personnel that the Bengals have and they gave the Bears a real game on the road to begin the season.