St. Louis @ Chicago
The Rams appear much improved under Jeff Fisher, but they’ll now make a difficult road trip to Chicago where Jay Cutler and the Bears will be in desperate need of a convincing performance after their implosion in Green Bay over a week ago.
Pick: Chicago
Buffalo @ Cleveland
Cleveland showed they aren’t completely hopeless by putting up 24 points on the Bengals, but the Bills seem to have righted the ship after a sound thrashing of the Chiefs in Week 2.
Pick: Buffalo
Tampa Bay @ Dallas
I’m not sure what happened to the Cowboys in Seattle a week ago, but they aren’t going to come out with terrible performances in consecutive weeks. The Bucs showed some nice flashes against the Giants last week, but also proved that they have a lot of work to do after allowing Eli Manning to throw for over 500 yards as Tampa Bay melted down for a loss in the fourth quarter.
Pick: Tampa Bay
Jacksonville @ Indianapolis
Andrew Luck and the Colts looked pretty good in their win over Minnesota in Week 2, while Blaine Gabbert seemed to stumble and take a step back in a loss to the Texans. I think the Colts win their second straight game at home.
Pick: Indianapolis
New York Jets @ Miami
The Dolphins looked dreadful in Week 1, but then put up 35 on the Raiders in Week 2. I think that kind of performance was a one-hit wonder against a bad team, and the Jets should bounce back from a bad loss in Pittsburgh and beat up an inferior team.
Pick: New York
San Francisco @ Minnesota
Christian Ponder and the Vikings have looked better than expected through the first two weeks, but they won’t have an answer for what could be the best team in football right now.
Pick: San Francisco
Kansas City @ New Orleans
If the Saints don’t come away with a decisive victory against the lowly Chiefs, it will be time to panic in New Orleans.
Detroit @ Tennessee
The Titans have looked just brutal through two weeks. I can’t tell you one reason that this team has to be optimistic. Chris Johnson is a non-factor every week, and Jake Locker doesn’t look like anything special. The Lions haven’t had a dominating effort yet this year, but this is a week that I think they breakthrough for more than 30 points.
Pick: Detroit
Cincinnati @ Washington
This will be an interesting game to watch. The Bengals began the year with hopes of returning to the playoffs, but they haven’t been impressive through the first two weeks. While Andy Dalton and the offense has looked decent, the Bengal defense has been a mess. I think the Redskins bounce back from a difficult road loss to the Rams and outscore Cincinnati in a shootout.
Pick: Washington
Philadelphia @ Arizona
Arizona’s defense looks pretty legitimate, and it’s the reason why this team is 2-0. They’re going to give the Eagles some problems, but I don’t think that Kevin Kolb and the rest of the offense will be able to do enough damage to win this game. I just can’t see the Cardinals going to 3-0.
Pick: Philadelphia
Atlanta @ San Diego
The Chargers will get their first real test of the year after easily disposing of the lowly Raiders and Titans to start the season. Matt Ryan and the Falcons have been brilliant so far, and look like the early favorite to win the NFC South. Even though Atlanta has to go out west on a short week, I just don’t have enough faith in the Chargers to believe that they’ll win this game.
Pick: Atlanta
Houston @ Denver
The Texans finally receive a challenging opponent after simply toying with the Dolphins and Jaguars to start the year. Peyton Manning and the Broncos didn’t look particularly impressive against Atlanta on Monday, and I don’t think they’ll respond well to one of the better defenses in the league.
Pick: Houston
Pittsburgh @ Oakland
The Raiders don’t look like a team capable of winning a football game right now. Even though the Steelers need to travel out west, this is too important a game for them to let down in.
Pick: Pittsburgh
New England @ Baltimore
Both teams look to bounce back from difficult losses. I give the edge to Baltimore at home.
Pick: Baltimore
Green Bay @ Seattle
A couple of months ago, this was to be Matt Flynn vs Aaron Rodgers. Now its Rodgers vs Russell Wilson. Green Bay wins their second straight game on the road.
Pick: Green Bay
