NFL Week 2

So I got up at 9:00 this morning (shocking I know) to watch my California Golden Bears take on the Minnesota Golden Gophers (a golden bear would completely destroy a golden gopher in real life). They started fast and ended well, but there was some shaky play in between. Still, I'll take the 35-21 win and a 5 TD performance from RB Jahvid Best, who, by the way, has the best name ever.

I continued watching college football because both No. 1 Florida and No. 3 USC were starting their games. I didn't think Tennessee would get anywhere near Florida, but they kept it relatively close and I learned that Eric Berry is the best defensive player in the nation. The final score was 23-13 in favor of Florida. As for USC... well they lost to Washington. That's right Washington, the team that won exactly zero games last year. They just took down USC 16-13. While Washington played admirably, USC looked awful. Backup QB Aaron Corp looked like a small rabbit matched against a monster truck. It was almost sad to watch at times. If Matt Barkley hadn't been injured, the Trojans would probably have won. But that's life!

Anyways, let's move on to the big boys, the ones who play on Sunday. Let's look at the match ups for week 2 of the NFL season.

Oakland (+3) @ Kansas City
Houston (+6.5) @ Tennessee
New England (-4) @ New York Jets
Cincinnati (+9) @ Green Bay
Detroit (+10) @ Minnesota
New Orleans (Even) @ Philadelphia
Carolina (+6.5) @ Atlanta
St. Louis (+10) @ Washington
Arizona (+3) @ Jacksonville
Seattle (+1.5) @ San Francisco
Tampa Bay (+4.5) @ Buffalo
Cleveland (+3) @ Denver
Baltimore (+3) @ San Diego
Pittsburgh (-3) @ Chicago
New York Giants (+3) @ Dallas
Indianapolis (-3) @ Miami

You may be wondering why I made some of them red. I'll explain that later. But first, I'm going to explain all those crazy pluses and minuses. If you are familiar with line bets (or "the spread" as I call it) then let your mind wander for the next few minutes.

For each game, some unknown authority creates the line bets, or the spread. Basically all it is, is how much they think a team will win or lose by. Take the Monday night game, Indy @ Miami. You see that Indy is -3. That means that the odds makers think they will win by 3 points. So if you subtract 3 from their score, the game would be a tie. Make sense? If a team has a +3, like the Giants, that means they think that team will lose by 3 points, because adding 3 points to their score would make it even. Simple right?

Betting using the spread is also very simple. Let's use the Monday night game again as an example. If I think the Colts are going to win by 4 or more points, which I do, I bet on them to "cover the spread". If the final score is Indy 28 Miami 24, the Colts cover the spread and I win the bet. Same for if the score was 28-10, 36-3, or 77-0, because the Colts would have won by more than 3 in any of those scenarios. Got it? Now, if I think the Dolphins will either win the game or lose by less than 2, which I don't, I bet on the Dolphins to beat the spread. If the final score is Indy 28 Miami 27, Miami beats the spread and I win the bet. I also win that bet if Miami wins by any margin. By the way, if the game ends in a 3 point win for Indy, it is a "push" and all bets are returned. So nobody wins or loses.

That's the best way I can explain it, if you need more clarification... use the internet.

Moving on. The games I left in black are the ones in which I think the favorites will cover the spread. There is a very simple way to tell who the favorite is without having to think too hard and do complicated mathematics: If a team has a + next to it, their OPPONENT is the favorite. If a team has a - next to it, IT is the favorite. But just to make it easy this time, I have bolded all the favorites for you. So all the teams that are in bold black, I expect to win.

As for those pesky red games. Those are the games in which I think the favorites will NOT cover the spread. And I am going to take a little time to explain why.

Oakland (+3) @ Kansas City
Kansas City is listed as a 3 point favorite, but I think Oakland wins this game. I don't like the thought of it, but I'm trying to be realistic. The Raiders showed us last Monday that they have a legitimate run offense and a formidable defense. Yes, their pass offense needs a lot of work, but Kansas City seems much worse off to me. Matt Cassel is listed as questionable, but I don't think he's going to play and the defense looked dreadful against Baltimore. I think Oakland wins this one by at least a touchdown, maybe ten points.
New England (-4) @ New York Jets
This game qualifies as my "Ballsy Pick of the Week". I will try to have one every week but I can't make any promises. The Patriots stole a win from Buffalo last week, due mainly to dumb luck. Brady and the offense got off to a very sluggish start, and the defense lost Jerod Mayo, the core of their linebacker corps (haha, core of the corps...). The Jets, on the other hand, handed (I'm on fire with this double word thing!) a 24-7 loss to the Texans, in a very impressive fashion might I add. Add on the fact (Boom, three times in one paragraph) that the Jets seem ferociously set on "embarrassing" the Patriots, I'm gonna say they not only beat the spread, but they win the game too!
New Orleans (Even) @ Philadelphia
They think this game is going to be sooooo close that they couldn't even pick a favorite. They left the spread even and all you have to do for this bet is pick the winner. I'm giving Philadelphia the edge because they are at home. *Shrugs* I'm a simple man.
Arizona (+3) @ Jacksonville
I will concede that the Cardinals offense looked like Romeo Crenell on ritalin ( the joke is funny because Romeo is famous for showing NO EMOTION out there on the field, seriously, search for a picture of him yelling... there isn't one!!!) But, I know that that Superbowl caliber offense is down there somewhere, and I think a nice to trip to Jacksonville may be able to coax it out. Cardinals win 27-21
Seattle (+1.5) @ San Francisco
I think Seattle is better than San Francisco... Again, simple man.
Baltimore (+3) @ San Diego
With no LT and a banged up offensive line, I think the Ravens stuff the Chargers run game... all... day... long. Flacco showed us he could do more than just hand off to Ray Rice and the Chargers secondary definitely left the window open for the Raiders last Monday. Fortunately for us, Jamarcus Russell couldn't through a ball through an open door to save his life, let alone a window. If the Chargers play like they did last week, they lose by 30. However, I think it will be a little closer. Final Score: Ravens 49, Chargers 20.





















Nah I'm just kidding, closer than that, but I do think the Ravens win the game.

And there you have my picks for week 2. I am 100% sure that they will all be correct.