Week 2 NFL Early Game Predictions - Live Blog

Week 1 saw a plethora of interesting games, from upsets to blowouts. Fortunately, I was able to scrape together eleven wins for a six-way tie for second place in my pick'em league. I tied for the first tiebreaker, then won the second place $40-pot outright after a one point difference on the second tiebreaker landed me in the money for the first week of the season.

• Last Week: 11-5
• Season: 12-5

Add that to being one of just ten others(out of 40 or so) who picked the Baltimore Ravens to win on Thursday Night Football and I like my chances to finish well again this week. That is, if I don't trip myself up along the way - which I am definitely feeling here today with a couple of these picks of teams I have absolutely zero trust or faith in today.

Oh well, that's the name of the game.  Bronco Mike didn't let me know he wanted to do picks too, so I apologize for the redundancy of this topic today. Here are my picks, tell us yours in the comments!

Miami Dolphins at Buffalo Bills

This is probably the game I hate picking the most, because I believe both teams are complete frauds. So who do I pick? I've switched it almost daily since the beginning, with my first intuition being to go with the Dolphins after their two touchdown beat down of Tom Brady, but the Dolphins I know would follow up that great game with a loss to an inferior opponent. Which means I'm going go with the trend until they buck that trend. Nevermind, I changed my mind again. Prediction: Dolphins 23, Bills 20.

Detroit Lions at Carolina Panthers

Now we get to a game that I was supremely confident about until I saw a retweet yesterday from Bronco Mike that pretty much amounted to peeing in my cheerios for this pick.

Yes, that is 2-27 against teams with a .500 or better record and one of those wins was against the 8-7-1 Green Bay Packers last season. The question is, will the Panthers finish above .500 in 2014? I'm not certain one way or the other, but they did go 12-4 last season so its not unreasonable they will reach at least 9 wins this season. I'm switching my pick dangit! Argh, no, I'm switching it back... Prediction: Lions 26, Panthers 20.

Atlanta Falcons at Cincinnati Bengals

Okay, I officially hate Week 2 when it comes to my pick'em league. Again, I started the week with one team, switched to the other and now am back on my original pick. I really didn't like what I saw from the Bengals in Week 1 with their struggles in the red zone, but after seeing how well that Ravens defense played the Steelers too it made me think that maybe the Bengals performance last week was more indicative of what we can expect from the Ravens defense more than an indictment on Andy Dalton and that offense.  Meanwhile, Matt Ryan and the Falcons are red hot coming off an emotional win at home against a pretty good playoff-caliber team led by Drew Brees. I've got to go with the home team here. Prediction: Bengals 27, Falcons 24.

New Orleans Saints at Cleveland Browns

Oh man, this one was a tough call. Brian Hoyer put up 27 on that vaunted Steel Curtain defense of Pittsburgh ... oh wait, this is 2014 not 2007. The Browns suck and so does their backup quarterback. The Saints on the other hand are pissed off and motivated. It won't even be close. Prediction: Saints 35, Browns 17.

New England Patriots at Minnesota Vikings

Initially, I felt this was a perfect spot for the Vikings to upset the Patriots. However, with Adrian Peterson brutalizing his own kid and subsequently getting deactivated for it, I have completely reversed course on this game. I suppose everyone deserves a second chance, but for now Peterson has some work to go on his worldview and this should be just enough of a distraction to give Tom Brady the rebound win here. Prediction: Patriots 31, Vikings 16.

Arizona Cardinals at New York Giants

Carson Palmer and the Cardinals had an impressive comeback win over the Chargers on Monday Night Football, which caused me to have to stay up an extra hour to rewrite my own power rankings for Tuesday morning. As annoying as that was, it was great to see the hearts get broken in my Charger-loving family members. It was a great team win for the Cards and I think they beat the struggling/languishing Eli Manning and Giants handily today as well. Prediction: Cardinals 27, Giants 17.

Dallas Cowboys at Tennessee Titans

And now I hate myself. Yes, I'm going to go against my gut and pick Tony Romo and the Cowboys to bounce back with a win over a Titans squad that just dominated the Chiefs in Arrowhead. Do I think the Cowboys are any good? Absolutely not, but I do think they will win a game or two this year and one of those might be today - unless Romo chokes it away. I changed my mind again, because Romo always chokes it away. Prediction: Titans 30, Cowboys 26.

Jacksonville Jaguars at Washington Redskins

If Blake Bortles was starting for the Jaguars, I would be all over them this week. However, with Chad Henne back there, how much trust can I put into them? Not quite as much as Robert Griffin III at home. Well, maybe the same amount of trust, but the game is in Washington. Meh, I wish I didn't have to pick these kinds of useless games. Prediction: Redskins 3, Jaguars 2.