I Predict A Riot

That's going to be the new name of the NFL predictions, I think it works.

But before we get down to business this week, I'd like to address all the members of the Rider Nation that took the time to anonymously rip me this week (see comments here). Thank you to everyone who called me a loser, an idiot and threatened to punch me in the teeth - you proved my point with a clarity that I could not have achieved without you. You've legitimized everything I've said, only with more exclamation points and spelling errors - so thank you. And you may hate me - but at least you're reading me.

I welcome everyone's comments, both positive and negative - I know not everybody is going to agree with what I have to say. But put your name on it. My name is on everything I write. Not my full name, as I'd like to keep my privacy - I don't want to wake up one morning and find somebody has dumped manure on my neighbour's driveway.

To paraphrase Coach Herm Edwards, "Put your name on it, be a man...or a woman. Put your name on it." (I'm sure he said something like that, but I can't find the quote anywhere - if someone can help me out, do so.)

Onward and upward...10-6 in the picks last week, try to do better this week.

Cincinnati @ Cleveland

So Cleveland makes Charlie Frye their Week 1 starter, lets him play one quarter against a good Pittsburgh team, then benches him and then trades him two days later. Clearly the people in charge of the Browns organization have a firm grasp on what's going on. Why not just save us all a lot of time and sarcasm and just put Brady Quinn in there now?

On the other side Cincinnati looked pretty good against Baltimore - although that game ended up being a lot closer than it probably should have been. I might slowly be becoming a Cincinnati fan - nobody brings more joy to my heart than Chad Johnson. He just seems to enjoy the game so much and has so much fun its infectious. Sure he talks a lot but its all in good fun. If you didn't see his Mic'd Up segment this week, see if you can find the video - it's fantastic.

Winner: Cincinnati


Buffalo @ Pittsburgh

Just when it seemed Buffalo would be playing with seriously heavy hearts in wake of the Kevin Everett injury last week - nothing short of a miracle happened and now it seems Everett will walk again. So I imagine the Bills will have a little extra inspiration this week. That being said, Buffalo did lose 3 defensive starters to injury last week and they are not going to be easily replaced.

Pittsburgh looked strong last week against a terrible Cleveland team. They'll get a tougher test this week, but not by much. Because I traded away "Fast" Willie Parker this week, expect him to go for about 205 and 3 touchdowns.

Winner: Pittsburgh


New Orleans @ Tampa Bay

In Week 2 it might be too early for a "must-win" game - but this is a game that New Orleans has to have. As a pre-season Super Bowl darling falling to 0-2 might be disastrous. They couldn't possibly play any worse than they did last week, could they?

Tampa sums up what it means to be a mediocre team. From what I saw last week - they're just good enough to not win games. If head coach Jon Gruden goes to 0-2 his job is in big trouble - he and Jack Del Rio might be the favorites for the first to go now - at least Tom Coughlin has the injury card to play.

Winner: New Orleans


Houston @ Carolina

If you are the gambling sort and I'm not suggesting you should be - this looks like a game to stay away from all together - because really, who knows what these teams are actually like? Houston looked pretty decent against a terrible Kansas City team and Carolina beat a St. Louis team that lost two starting offensive linemen. It's entirely possible that both of these teams are better than people originally thought they were going to be. I'm giving this one to Carolina based totally on the fact that they're at home.

Winner: Carolina


Atlanta @ Jacksonville

Since I'm sticking to my new theory of never, ever betting on Joey Harrington - especially on the road - you can pretty much guess which way I'm going on this one. I'm actually not sure which team needs this win more after both lost in Week 1. Jacksonville probably needs it more to prove they made the right decision by dumping starting quarterback Byron Leftwich a week before the season. Home losses to Tennessee and Atlanta to start the year might be enough to cost Jags head coach Jack Del Rio his job - even if he does look sharp in those new suits (he's the one on the left).

Winner: Jacksonville


Indianapolis @ Tennessee

This might be the best of the early games this week, as it's not a very strong slate. But I'm genuinely interested to watch this game. I want to see if Indy's defence is actually for real and can contain Vince Young. I'm also interested to see if Vince can throw for more than 75 yards this week - them's Nealon Greene numbers. Tennessee has always played Indy tough but I just can't see Indy going down in this one - too many weapons.

Winner: Indianapolis


San Francisco @ St. Louis

I really feel sorry for anyone who took Steven Jackson 2nd overall in Fantasy drafts. His stock is plummeting faster than my Bre-X stock did. The Rams have lost two starting offensive linemen for the year, Todd Steussie and Orlando pace, and they cannot be effectively replaced. This is going to hinder the Rams offence for the rest of the year. San Fran looked pretty terrible offensively last week but linebacker Patrick Willis looked like a destroyer of men - and appears to be a lock for Defensive Rookie of the Year. That hit he put on Matt Leinart last week was one of the hardest I've seen in a long, long time - there doesn't seem to be a You Tube clip of it but rest assured it was hard.

Winner: San Francisco


Green Bay @ NY Giants

I really, really, really hope Giants quarterback Eli Manning can't play this week because of his shoulder injury. Not because I wish any ill upon him - I just want to see Giants' backup QB Jared Lorenzen play. Take a look at this guy - I can't wait. The Giants have been just decimated by injuries on offence and defence - that's probably the only thing that's going to save head coach Tom Coughlin's job if they start 0-2 or 0-3. As long as Brett Favre reigns himself in a little bit Green Bay could be a decent team this year. Their underrated defence is probably what wins them this game.

Winner: Green Bay


Seattle @ Arizona

The battle of my two fantasy quarterbacks. The Arizona offence looked pretty anemic last week - who knows if that was due to San Francisco's defence or if the Cards are just shaky again. The Arizona defence did look strong at times last week, of course they were playing the 49er offence. Hopefully we get some questions answered this week. In any case, I suspect that Seattle is too much for Arizona, on both sides of the ball.

Winner: Seattle


Minnesota @ Detroit

If Detroit can make a stop or two on defence and score a couple of times on offence they should be able to win this game. They were able to beat a pretty decent team in Oakland last weekend. However, Minnesota's defence is a step up from Oakland's. But Minnesota's defence is built to stop the run and Detroit beats people through the air - so it'll be interesting to see how this plays out. I'm looking forward to Minnesota running back Adrian Peterson continuing on his way to the Offensive Rookie of the Year - I want to get at least one of the Rookies of the Year right.

Winner: Detroit (although I wouldn't bet on it)


Dallas @ Miami

As a proud new Marion Barber owner I'm hoping to see him run wild over Miami this weekend. Actually as long as he scores two touchdowns I don't care how many yards he runs for. Dallas' defence did look worse than Britney's dancing on Sunday but Miami doesn't have the offensive weapons that the Giants do. I don't know if there's any part of Miami's team that I like. Their running backs and wide receivers are suspect. Their quarterback is about to be concussed right out of the league. And their defence is getting older than jokes about Britney Spears' performance (actually that's not true because I will never get tired of jokes about Britney).

Winner: Dallas


NY Jets @ Baltimore

I wouldn't have picked the Jets to win this game even if they did have their #1 quarterback in the game...but they don't, so I'm definitely not picking them now. Although Baltimore's offence appears to be in shambles as well. Baltimore quarterback Steve McNair probably won't play in this game and that might actually be a good thing...well, on second thought their backup is Kyle Boller. We'll see how Jets fans feel about backup QB Kellen Clemens after he makes his first NFL start against the Ravens - especially since they cheered when starter Chad Pennington got hurt last weekend. Careful what you wish for...

Winner: Baltimore


Oakland @ Denver

Even though I'm writing waaaaay less than last week, why doesn't it seem like I am?

Winner: Denver


Kansas City @ Chicago

I think it's a bad sign when a Kansas City fan (me) starts asking people who know college football what quarterback the Chiefs should take with the #1 overall pick in next year's draft. I like Colt McKoy in Hawaii but he may just be the next Timmy Chang, who played at the same school - this has since been confirmed as a likely possibility. So now I'm rooting for John David Booty of USC. The last I checked the spread was 11.5 in this game - meaning that Chicago will only have to score 12 points to cover (a potential 12-0 final score).

Winner: Chicago


San Diego @ New England

This is the game of the week, hands down. And a potential AFC Championship preview. I would have given San Diego a chance in this game if Ladanian Tomlinson hadn't opened his mouth and talked about New England cheating. Bad move.

Winner: New England


Washington @ Philadelphia

Another prime time NFC East game - this one might not live up to the Giants/Cowboys game last week. This one will probably go the other way and end up something like 13-7.

Winner: Philadelphia


You might have noticed that I've done away with the Sport Select addition to each game - it was just too much work for what people were getting out of it - go to http://www.wclc.com/ instead.