Houston looks for their first win as they visit the also win less Titans. The Texans DeShaun Watson looks to recapture last seasons form as He is back from an injury. Tennessee and QB Mariotta look to rebound from a subpar performance and the Titans will have to overcome the season ending injury to TE Delaney Walker. New Orleans hosts the Cleveland Browns. The Saints were embarrassed last Sunday by the Buccaneers at home as their defense was torched for 48 points led by Tampa Bays backup QB Ryan Fitzpatrick's 4 TD passes and over 400 yards in the air. The Saints QB Drew Brees also threw for over 400 yards and 3 TD's in the loss. The Browns tied in their first game and are still looking for their first win since 2016. Buffalo is home to the Chargers as both teams lost their openers. Buffalo was trounced by the Ravens and in an effort to resurrect a dead offense, the Bills are starting rookie QB Josh Allen. The Los Angeles Chargers were beaten by Kansas City and their 2nd year QB Patrick Mahomes and WR Tyreek Hill. The Chargers offense was good as QB Phillip Rivers threw the ball all over the field trying to comeback all game long. Indy travels to Washington to face the Redskins. The Redskins took it to the Cardinals in Arizona and blasted them in their opener. Meanwhile, the Colts will try to erase last weeks bad loss at home as they look for their first win of the season.
Two teams that most sports pundits had not winning many games face each other as the NY Jets play host to the Dolphins. Both teams look to go 2-0. The Big Apple is full of excitement as rookie QB Sam Darnold has already been labeled the new King on Broadway. Philadelphia travels to Tampa Bay as the surprising Buccaneers behind backup journeyman QB Ryan Fitzpatrick look to upset the Eagles and continue their winning ways. The Eagles will also start back QB Nick Foles as starting QB Carson Wentz is still not fully healthy from knee surgery last December.
In the NFC North, also known as the Black and Blue Division, will see the much anticipated match up between Minnesota Vikings and the Green Bay Packers. In this game Aaron Rodgers who was lost last season to a shoulder injury sustained in a game between these two foes. Rodgers led a dramatic comeback in week 1 but also injured his knee. This looks like the best game of the week between 2 rivals who do not like each other. The Chiefs travel to Pittsburgh and look to maintain momentum behind 2nd year QB Patrick Mahome. The Steelers who tied in their season opener will again be without RB Le'Veon Bell who is a holdout and also are dealing with QB Ben Roethlisberger who was a bad elbow. San Francisco will host the Lions as both teams try to right the ship with a victory. The 49ers who have sustained many injuries early in this season look to rebound after a tough loss in Minnesota while Detroit looks to play better than the way they played in getting routed on MNF at home. Arizona visits the Rams in Los Angeles in game between 2 teams going in different directions. The Rams are Division favorites with a very potent offense and tough defense vs. the Cardinals who showed no offense and little defense in their opener.
In Denver, the Broncos fresh off a tough week 1 win face the win less Oakland Raiders who are still trying to find their identity under new HC Jon Gruden. In a rematch of last years AFC Championship Game, the New England Patriots visit the Jacksonville Jaguars. Both teams won their 1st game of the year. In this game, the Patriots top 5 offense will have a hard time scoring against the Jaguars top 3 defense. This game should be a low scoring grind it out game but usually when it is forecasted like this, it becomes a shootout. This game also could be precursor for another AFC Championship game between the Patriots and the Jaguars.
The Sunday night game has the Dallas Cowboys hosting the NY Giants in a game of win less teams. Both teams struggled in their openers as they struggled to put points on the board. When these two NFC East Division teams play each other, big plays and turnovers usually decide the game. Monday night will showcase the Seattle Seahawks traveling to Chicago to play the Bears. Both teams lost close tough games last week. Chicago which made waves when they traded for Raiders Pro Bowl LB/DE Khalil Mack, have one of the top defenses but it is a very young defense full of talent and will only get better with time. The offense as we seen last week will struggle all season long as QB Mitch Trubisky gets more reps and plays better as time goes on. The Seahawks with veteran QB Russell Wilson can score points but the questions will be, can the team stay healthy? will the OL keep Wilson upright? and will the defense remain a top 10 defense or will it take a step back and be average?
New NFL rules continue to be a huge concern to the teams and players but none more then the new Helmet rule which was put in place to stop players from using their helmets on an opposing player. Players can get a 15 yd penalty all the way to an ejection if it is warranted. More lower body injuries will occur as players will go for the legs now that they can't use their helmets. I see a few games being decided with this new rule and even though the NFL is looking to cut down the concussions, it is also now taking the true physicalness out of the game. The once again redefined "what constitutes a catch" will also undoubtedly lead to allot of discussion and cost a team a game or more as well. The NFL also changed the rule on kickoffs to eliminate all the dangerous hits and injuries on kickoffs. And finally, the NFL was dealt a blow when an arbitrator ruled in favor of ex player Colin Kaepernick and his lawsuit against the NFL for Collusion. A few days after the ruling, Nike came out to the World and announced they have been paying Kaepernick and are putting his photo and brand on their product going forward. This has caused a huge uproar between the NFL and Nike, a major sponsor along with customers who now are urging others to boycott Nike.
On a side note, Le'Veon Bell will sit out the second straight week as He looks for the Steelers to renegotiate his contract. Bell who Pittsburgh franchised for the 2nd straight year, was to make over 14M this season. He is sitting out due to his belief that He should be paid as the top RB in the league. The Steelers on the other hand, do not feel this way and have also refused to budge and are now going with rookie RB Jrames Conner, who had a very nice first game as a starter. I do not see either side really giving in but Bell will come back at some point this season so that He can become an unrestricted Free Agent next season. In a strange twist, the Steelers designated NFLPA Ramon Foster and also Steelers Player Maurice Pouncey came out against LeVeon Bell and sided with Pittsburgh Steelers Management. Bell just wants to get paid like Beckham, Rodgers, Arnold and Mack all did in the last month and is also doing this to pave the way for the next generation of NFL players to get paid.
The Patriots and Eagles are the consensus picks to be win Super Bowl LIII . Each year every team and their fans are optimistic that this will be their year to win the Super Bowl. There are the contenders, the so so's and the pretenders. Contenders this season will be in the AFC; the Pats, Steelers, Jaguars and Chargers. In the NFC; Vikings, Eagles, Rams, Saints and Falcons. The pretenders will be; Bills, Raiders, Redskins, Buccaneers, and Colts. Cooper went 9-6-1 in his week 1 NFL Picks We will pick the games each week and post the previous weeks records and recap as we go forward.. Enjoy the NFL Season!!! Cooper says are ready for some Football..... twitter; @Thecupofjoeinthed email; cupofjoeinthed@gmail.com www.cupofjoeinthed.blogspot.com
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| Cooper NFL Analyst with His Week 2 Picks |
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