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NFL craziness was back in full force; trying hard to
ruffle my feathers. Luckily for me, the Eagles didn't
flunk their week two test like the Ravens did. Read
more of my Week 2 Review to see which teams played their
part as well as those who broke my heart.
Baltimore
(-4) @ Tennessee - Lets start out with the bad
news. As they say, bad things come in threes,
why not start week 2 with three losses? Baltimore
was my first pick to fall, taking it right in
the poop in Tennessee. What does this game show
me? Coaches matter. The Tennessee Titans don't
have the personnel to win many football games,
but their coaching staff, headed by Jeff Fisher,
is as good as it gets. In a "rebuilding
year" the Titans came to play against the
"Super Bowl hopeful" Baltimore Ravens.
My ass. The Ravens can't do anything right.
Anthony Wright looked like a weak Kyle Boller,
and the defense that is supposed to lead that
team stumbled early, giving up points in all
quarters. Brian Billick isn't the offensive
genius he's touted to be, as he's proven each
and every year in Baltimore. I don't know where
the Ravens are going? New coach? I know what
they are now, 0-2. The Titans have squiggled
to 1-1, starting my week out with a loss. Baltimore
Ravens 10 - Tennessee Titans 25.
Buffalo
(+2.5) @ Tampa Bay - JP Losman set me up to
fail. He played mistake free football in week
one against the Houston Texans. He didn't have
a turnover, but hardly played mistake free.
He completed a whopping 12 of 29 passes for
the godlike total of 113 yards. Gross. The Buffalo
Bill rushing attack didn't fair much better.
Willis McGahee ran the ball 13 times for 34
yards, less than 3 yards per carry. On the other
side of the field, Cadillac Williams took it
to the top rated Buffalo defense, rushing for
128 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries. Not
only did Williams sprint his way to the early
rushing lead in the NFL, he did it in the second
half with a sprained foot. Kept out of the game
by the coaching staff, Williams finally took
his health into his own hands, running on the
field, telling Coach Gruden, "I'm going
in!" Not bad for rookie. Buffalo let me
down for my second straight loss. Buffalo
Bills 3 - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 19.
Detroit
(-1.5) @ Chicago - I seriously didn't think
the Chicago Bears would have a chance to beat
anyone besides the Packers. As it turns out,
I was dead wrong. The Bears not only beat the
Lions, they destroyed a Lion team that came
highly acclaimed after a week one stomping of
the storied Green Bay Packers. Thomas Jones,
not Cedric Benson, rushed for 139 yards on 20
carries. The 5th pick overall in this years
draft, Benson, had a measly 50 yards on 16 carries.
It's fine, I'm sure the Bears are better off
with two good backs. Either way, the Bears secondary
seemed to catch more passes than the Lion receiving
corps. Joey Harrington had 5 interceptions in
a Daunte Culpepper-esque day on the field. In
fact, those two players combined for 10 of the
26 interceptions during week 2. That NFC North
is a tough division! I can't wait to pick those
divisional games. All bets on, I was 0-3 after
three. I could only get better right? Detroit
Lions 6 - Chicago Bears 38.
Jacksonville
(+9) @ Indianapolis - The Jaguars lost by seven
points. Their loss gave me my first win of week
2. They also showed me that they are a Super
Bowl caliber team. Byron Leftwich is the kind
of quarterback that teammates rally around.
He took an eye-sickening hit late in the game
in Indy, but limped back onto the field when
it mattered most, to lead his team in a comeback
effort. Jacksonville came up short, but the
Jags will be a playoff team, I guarantee that.
Fred Taylor played well. He looks like he's
coming back to form. It was Edgerrin James,
not Peyton Manning, who led the Indianapolis
Colts to victory. Edge had 160 total yards against
a tough-nosed Jaguar defense. For the second
week in a row, it was the Colt defense that
impressed me the most. I love to see Dwight
Freeney, the young speedster out of Syracuse
who was too small to play defensive end in the
NFL, tear it up on Sundays. If anything, he's
better now than he was then. The Colts are tough,
but the Jaguars played within 9, giving me a
much needed win.
Jacksonville Jaguars 3 - Indianapolis Colts
10.
Minnesota
@ Cincinnati (-3) - The Bengals kept the wins
coming by taking it to the Minnesota Vikings
early and often. As you read earlier, Pep threw
like a practice squader, laying the ball up
for the Bengal defense 5 times. A nickel's worth.
Daunte has to be the most disappointing player
with baby-hands in the entire league. When will
Daunte turn it around? Hopefully for my fantasy
team, soon. Carson Palmer played like a number
1 overall pick, throwing for 337 yards and 3
touchdowns. Palmer also had 3 yards rushing,
eclipsing Drew Bledsoe's career numbers (white
lie). Rudi Johnson rushed for 90 yards on 22
carries, and back-up Chris Perry had 9 carries
for 47 yards. Chad Johnson took his 7 catches
for 139 yards and a 70 yard touchdown. The Bengals
took me to 2-3. How 'bout them Bengals? Minnesota
Vikings 8 - Cincinnati Bengals 37.
New England @ Carolina (+3) - As I predicted,
the Panthers ran all over the Patriots, to the
tune of three touchdowns for Steven Davis. The
yards weren't there, but the Carolina Panther's
ability to pound it out on the ground, allowed
them to pull out a much needed victory. For
me, and them. Tom Brady looked human against
one of the league's best past rushes. Corey
Dillon stumbled early, and wasn't allowed to
get on track as they Pats were down early. The
Patriots' had 4 big turnovers, proving to the
rest of the NFL that even they can play poorly.
See, Pep, everyone can have a bad day. Finally,
the Patriots followed through with my predictions,
and took the loss on Sunday. Three wins in a
row, evened me out early Sunday morning, with
more good things to come.
New England Patriots 17 - Carolina Panthers
27.
Pittsburgh
(-6) @ Houston - The Texans are bad, and the
Steelers are good... really, really good. Ben
Roethlisberger took his regular season record
to 14-0. Tough to argue with results. Hines
Ward, as I predicted, had a big day. Hines caught
6 passes for 84 yards and 2 touchdowns. Willie
Parker followed up his opening day debut with
111 yards and a touchdown. David Carr played
better, but couldn't do enough to keep his team
in the game. Dominick Davis had a couple big
runs, but the Steeler defense was too tough
for the Texans. The 27-7 domination took my
record to 4-3.
Pittsburgh Steelers 27 - Houston Texans 7.
San
Francisco @ Philadelphia (-13) "Look for
McNabb to have huge numbers throwing touchdowns
to Owens, LJ Smith, and Brian Westbrook."
(Me) It turns out I was right. Each of those
players had huge games against an inferior San
Francisco 49er team. There was a 13 point spread
for a reason. The score, (42-7) didn't even
show how much better the Eagles were than the
Niners. In fact, unless teams were allowed to
get negative points, there was no way to signify
the difference in ability between them. The
Eagles took me 2 games over .500, allowing me
to go eat some bratwursts for lunch after a
big 5-3 morning. Philadelphia Eagles 42 -
San Francisco 49ers 7.
Atlanta
(+1) @ Seattle - The Seahawks managed to play
well enough in the first half to win. Or, the
Atlanta Falcons played poor enough in the first
half to lose. I think it was a little of both.
The Falcons showed they had fight after giving
the Hawks a three touchdown cushion after 2
quarters. Mike Vick came back, rushing and tossing
balls all over the Hawks, but came up 3 points
short when all was done. The Falcons haven't
beat the Hawks in the last 5 years. You could
say that Holmgren has Vick's number. The Hawks
surprised me in more ways than one, but took
the game, and took me down to 5-4 on the day.
Seattle Seahawks 21 - Atlanta Falcons 18.
St. Louis @ Arizona (-1) - The Cardinals are
disappointing sportswriters all over the Nation.
Many had these Cards winning their weak division,
but after two sub-par performances they sit
in last place. So much for that angrier cardinal
on their helmet. These Arizona Cardinals look
like they're playing patty-cake with the Sunday
School girls. Kurt Warner looked semi-pathetic
for the second straight week, and he did nothing
to help his cause by failing to spike the ball
with 10 seconds left, instead attempting to
run a mock play, getting his team penalized,
and losing the game without a single last ditch
effort into the end zone. Good work Kurt! The
Cardinal receiving corps is awesome, but without
a signal caller to get them the ball, Arizona
will be stuck in the cellar. The Rams screwed
me again, weird. Steven Jackson had a pretty
good game, taking 18 carries for 91 yards and
a TD. Bulger looked all right, and Tory Holt
is still one of the best at his position. The
Rams took it to the Cards and brought me back
down to reality, and the .500 mark.
St. Louis Rams 17 - Arizona Cardinals 12.
Cleveland
(+6.5) @ Green Bay - Brett Favre didn't start
playing well until the game was seemingly out
of hand. Even the great Brett Favre can't make
the Packers a winning team without a good offensive
line. Trent Dilfer decided he was sick of putting
up 185 yards and a single touchdown, so he blew
up for over 300 yards passing and 3 TD's. Not
bad for an old-fart without a stellar passing
touch. Then again, this should be a common theme
against the Packer secondary. The Cleveland
defense held the Packers in check for most of
the game, giving up a few points late. The rushing
attack didn't play well, but did just enough
to keep the Browns on top. A Cleveland upset
in Green Bay took me to 6-5.
Cleveland Browns 26 - Green Bay Packers 24.
Miami
@ N.Y. Jets (-6) - The Jets didn't destroy the
Dolphins like I hoped, but they did enough to
cover, and bring me to 7-5. Chad Pennington
didn't look like he washed his hands in butter
before the game, which was a good sign after
what happened last week. He completed nearly
2/3 of his passes for two touchdowns and no
turnovers. Coles caught a big touchdown pass,
while Curtis Martin was held pretty well in
check. The Jets defense played well, holding
the Dolphins to one touchdown on the day. I
was scared for most of the 4th quarter, assuming
the Dolphins would take me out two weeks in
a row, but the Jet defense held tight at the
end. Whew!
Miami Dolphins 7 - New York Jets 17.
San
Diego (+3) @ Denver - Denver came back strong
after major screw-ups tried to pull me out victorious.
There was early celebrating nullifying a big
touchdown return, as well as many other miscues.
But the Denver Broncos did just enough to get
me my first pro push on the year. Ladainian
Tomlinson had a putrid yard per carry average
for the second straight week, but rushed for
2 touchdowns. Ron Dayne nearly led the Broncos
in rushing, carrying the ball 8 times for 44
yards. Is this the year Ron Dayne breaks out?
He had a huge carry on 3rd and 1 that sealed
the game for Denver. The Chargers need to pick
it up fast or they'll fall victim to a tough
AFC. The push took my record to 7-5-1. San
Diego 17 - Denver Broncos 20.
Kansas
City (-1) @ Oakland - Oakland played close with
a good team for the second straight week, but
Randy and his Raiders couldn't pull it out against
the Chiefs. Priest Holmes and Larry Johnson
each rushed for a score, and combined for 116
yards on 28 carries. Not too shabby against
a tough Raider run defense. Moss had his second
big night in as many weeks, but the Chiefs were
too tough when it mattered most, taking the
Raiders by 6. The Raiders are 0-2 and the Chiefs
are 2-0 going into week 3. Look for the Chiefs
to keep their winning way in tack, as the Raiders
turn things around and win a couple in a row.
This SUnday night game, brought me to 8-5-1
guaranteeing a winning week for Lucky Lester,
and a chance at 10-5. Kansas City Chiefs
23 - Oakland Raiders 17.
N.Y.
Giants @ New Orleans (+3) - The Saints played
better than the 17 point loss they suffered.
Aaron Brooks threw the ball very well, nearly
approaching the 400 yard mark. But it was funny
bounces and big penalties that finally ended
the Saints' chances. Brooks threw a ball that
bounced off his receiver's head then got intercepted.
Joe Horn made a great catch then tried to reach
the ball over the goal line for the touchdown.
He dropped the ball and it hit the end zone
cone for a fumble, and a Giant touchback. Eli
Manning also played pretty well, taking the
Giants down the field for big touchdowns. The
Saints couldn't beat the Giants in New York,
but they'll be a contender all year. This loss
dropped me to 8-6-1.
New York Giants 27 - New Orleans Saints 10.
Washington
@ Dallas (-6) - If this game would have ended after
three quarters, the Cowboys would have shut out the
Redskins. If Santana Moss would have had an average
game, the Cowboys would have come out on top. If Mark
Brunell would have been benched in the 4th for Patrick
Ramsey, Brunell would have finished with less than 160
yards, no touchdowns and 1 interception. He finished
with 291, and two TDs. If... If... If... As my Uncle
John often says, "If grandma had balls, she'd be
grandpa." The Redskins pulled a big victory right
out of their asses, making up a 13 point deficit with
11 minutes to go. This game was just as boring as any
other Redskin game until the final ticks, when Santana
Moss took over the game. On his final 70 yard touchdown,
Moss ran straight down the field, no moves, no hitches,
just the fastest 40 yard sprint this year. Brunell made
good on Gibbs decision to keep him on the field, and
pulled out a shocker in Dallas. This stunner took me
to 8-7-1, but it was well worth the look on Jerry Jones'
reconstructed cheek bones. Twelve person hot-tub this
bitch! Washington Redskins 14 - Dallas Cowboys 13.
Good Luck with your NFL Football Betting!
Lucky Lester - Free
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