Week 1 NFL Picks

Record to Date – (0-1) UPDATED (Keep in mind, this is with point spreads posted on ESPN Wednesday) - 7-6-2

Denver @ Buffalo – I’ve said that my big sleeper team this year is Buffalo, and we’ll find out this weekend against the Broncos if I’m indeed right.

Philadelphia @ Green Bay – Green Bay will be improved this year, but Favre will continuously harm the team throughout the year, and week one against the Eagles is no exception.

Kansas City @ Houston – With Houston stacking the box against Larry Johnson, Houston will play well against both the run and pass squeaking out a close victory against the Chiefs.

Pittsburgh @ Cleveland – The Browns coaching staff has not shown any confidence in their quarterback Charlie Frye, stating that they’re going to take things week by week. So, playing with no margin of error and no confidence from his coaching staff, I expect Frye and the Brown offense to struggle against a tough Steelers defense.

Titans @ Jaguars – This is a very tough game to pick, but I’ll go with the superior defense and the better running back in Maurice Jones-Drew.

Atlanta @ Minnesota – The Vikings with their great offensive line and running game will make up for the ineffectiveness of second year starting quarterback Tavaris Jackson in what I think will be a very close game.

New England @ New York Jets – In a very close game I’m going to reluctantly pick the Patriots, even though both Rodney Harrison and Richard Seymour are inactive for the game today. Look out for Wes Welker and the passing game to have a big game against inexperienced cornerback Darrell Revais.

Carolina @ St. Louis – In a surprisingly low scoring game, I expect the Rams to come out victorious due to a superior offense and a few key turnovers committed by Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme. Expect to see backup Carolina quarterback David Carr in the near future.

Detroit @ Oakland – Detroit is very overrated, and Oakland is underrated. It will be exciting to see who starts for the Raiders, and I expect their defense to also play very good on Sunday defeating the Lions in another close game.

Tampa Bay @ Seattle – In the rout of the weekend, the Bucs will look extremely overmatched on both sides of the ball, and the Seahawks will look like the frontrunner in the NFC to make the Super Bowl.

Chicago @ San Diego – Rex Grossman will begin to show the world how much he is improved, and while Shawn Merriman will have a big day, the San Diego passing game will looked extremely overmatched by the Bears’ stellar back seven in one of the best games of the weekend.

New York Giants @ Dallas – Dallas is being extremely overrated by “experts” on ESPN and other websites, but the Giants are not very good. So I expect the Dallas defense to shut down the Giants offense, and subsequently win a snooze of a Sunday night game.

Baltimore @ Cincinnati - The Baltimore offense will step up and avenge a 13-7 loss at the hands of the Bengals last season.

Arizona @ San Francisco – The Arizona defense will play well, but so will San Francisco’s. The thing that tips the scales in favor of the 49ers is the home field advantage and stud running back Frank Gore.