Before we get to the picks, just a quick disclaimer. This past week was the last week my power rankings will be posted. I've had fun writing them for the better part of four years, but I need to turn my focus to writing more Bills and Sabres specific articles (since that is the focus of this site). Plus, I can only make the same jokes about Brett Favre, Ben Roethlisberger and the NFC West over and over again before they get old. Now with that out of the way, here are our picks for Week Four.

San Francisco 49ers @ Atlanta Falcons - As a Bills fan, I know that if there is one key to success in the regular season, it's firing the offensive coordinator very early into the season. If you couldn't tell, that last sentence is dripping in sarcasm. To put it lightly, the 2010 campaign for the 49ers has been a total disaster so far. They were a team picked to win the awful NFC West (crap, I did it again) and have so far failed to even appear competent in two of the three games. In fact, before the season I would've pegged them to start out 2-1, with the one loss being against New Orleans. I guess this shows how much I know about football because the game against New Orleans was the only game the 49ers even came close to winning. If San Francisco continues to lose this season, might I suggest that they finally cut ties with Alex Smith and draft a new QB this April? Word on the street is that there will be three or four good QBs available.

Atlanta comes into this game with a 2-1 record after beating the Super Bowl champs on the road. Their lone loss on the season came on the road at Pittsburgh, against a ridiculously good defense. Really, there's no shame in that. When given the opportunity against a lesser team, Atlanta throttled the Cardinals to the tune of 41-7. I don't think this game will be that big of a blowout, but I also don't think the Niners stand chance. (Atlanta)

New York Jets @ Buffalo Bills – Speaking of teams that don't stand a chance, the Bills are hosting the Jets this Sunday. I got a kick out of the news that the Jets had put a waiver claim in on Trent Edwards this week. With Kellen Clemens and Mark Brunell already on the roster, why in the world would the Jets need Trent Edwards? The answer is simple really; to get information about the Bills the week they play them. It's a sad statement for the Jets. They are clearly a better team and they shouldn't need any help beating the Bills. If anything, this kind of tells me that maybe the Jets aren't quite as good as we think they are. Then again, maybe I'm looking too much into it.

In the department of making me look like an idiot, The Sanchize has thrown for 476 yards, six touchdowns and zero interceptions in the past two weeks. Not much I can say about him this week. As my mom always told me; if you can't say anything nice to someone, don't say anything at all.
I'm lying. That's just an old saying. My mom never told me that. (NY Jets)

Cincinnati Bengals @ Cleveland Browns – The Bengals might be the least impressive 2-1 team I've seen this season. Carson Palmer has a ton of weapons on offense and has done next to nothing with them. Besides the game on opening day where Palmer racked up a ton of garbage stats, his numbers have been very Trent Edwards like in the past two weeks. I had hope for Palmer going into the season and even picked him up on a few fantasy teams as a solid #2 guy, but I'm rethinking that strategy now. In fact, if he doesn't do something impressive in the next two weeks, I'm done with him. (Cincinnati)

Detroit Lions @ Green Bay Packers – So let me get this straight. The Lions haven't won a road game since Ronald Regan was president. The Packers are one of the five best teams in the league. The Lions are still starting Shaun Hill at QB. Jahvid Best is questionable and might not even play. Yeah, this is going to end will for the Lions. (Green Bay)

Denver Broncos @ Tennessee Titans – I would probably be picking the Titans over the Broncos no matter where it was played, but having the game in Tennessee just seals the deal with me. I've never been too crazy about West Coast teams traveling east for the early game on Sunday. I know it's not a full proof theory, but I'm going with it. (Tennessee)

Seattle Seahawks @ St. Louis Rams – Just stop. I've had enough of this division. I can't take it anymore. (Seattle)

Carolina Panthers @ New Orleans Saints – The Saints should be 3-0 but I guess you're bound to lose a few games when you have a crappy kicker. All that aside, they get Carolina at home and I'm like 99.9% certain that they will take their frustrations out on Jimmy Clausen and turn this game into a 20+ point blowout. Speaking of Clausen, his debut didn't go exactly as planned as he finished 16 for 33 with no touchdowns and two interceptions. Then again, after looking at Brady Quinn's numbers; that seems to be standard for Notre Dame QBs. (New Orleans)

Baltimore Ravens @ Pittsburgh Steelers – I'm not sure what the over/under is on this game, but I would bet my life savings on the under. I can't see this game having more than 23 points total. As we saw in Week One when the Ravens faced the Jets, in a low scoring defensive game, it's the team with the better QB that usually comes out on top. For that reason, I'm picking the Ravens on the road. Joe Flacco hasn't been that impressive so far this season, but I would pick him 10 out of 10 times against Chaz Batch. (Baltimore)

Indianapolis Colts @ Jacksonville Jaguars – Finally. I've made my living as a writer constantly making fun of the Jaguars for their awful home crowds. I was starting to tire out from it and was in desperate need of some new disparaging material against Jacksonville. Then they claimed Trent Edwards off waivers. (Indianapolis)

Houston Texans @ Oakland Raiders – This has trap game written all over it. I don't need to go back and look it up but every season the Raiders steal at least one victory at home against a far superior team. Because I can't see the Texans losing another game this early and the fact that Oakland hosts Miami later in November, this probably isn't that game. Or at least I hope not. I need to keep my picks going. Did you realize last year after three weeks I was 34-14 at this point? I'm actually getting worse. What the…I thought I was getting better.  (Houston)

Arizona Cardinals @ San Diego Chargers – Arizona might be the worst 2-1 team on the planet. They beat the Rams and Sam Bradford on opening day by four points. Then they defeated Oakland at home by one point, benefitting from  Sebastian Janikowski missing THREE field goals. So in theory, they should have lost by eight points. I have little to no doubt that my favorite college team (The U) would beat Arizona by at least 20 points on the road. The only way the Chargers lose this game is if Phillip Rivers tries to play QB and WR at the same time. (San Diego)

Washington Redskins @ Philadelphia Eagles – And here we are, the game everybody will be talking. Former Eagle Artis Hicks makes his return to Philadelphia, this time as a member of the Washington Redskins. It will be very interesting to see how the fans react to his return. My guess is they will cheer. Philadelphia fans are a tough crowd, but they should appreciate his time spent in Philly and now looking back on it, they must feel a little bad about the way it ended. However, the star of this game will be Michael Vick, as he continues his impressive play. He's going to garner a lot of attention this offseason. As he was getting out of prison, I was against him coming to Buffalo because in the past I was never impressed with his overall style of QB play. But this looks like a different guy all together and I have to admit, I would be very excited if the Bills had this version of Michael Vick on their team. If I were running the Bills, one option might be signing Vick for two years and drafting a QB with the top pick and allowing him to learn the game slowly instead of throwing him to the wolves. I don't know, just an idea. (Philadelphia)

Chicago Bears @ New York Giants – I always get super irritated with the Bears. I don't know what it is about them but they bug the hell out of me. Part of it probably stems from the fact that they are the luckiest team alive. I mean seriously, they made it to the Super Bowl with Rex Grossman as their QB. Now they have Jay Cutler, who is much better than Grossman, but 10 times more unlikeable.  About the only thing I like on Chicago is Devin Hester. Partially for his name, partially because he represents The U. That's right, I got The U in this picks article twice. Get over it. (NY Giants)

New England Patriots @ Miami Dolphins – Bleh. I had the hardest time picking this game. On paper, the Patriots are the far superior team. But in the past five seasons, the Patriots are a combined 4-8 in Miami since the 1998 season. Adding that in with the atrocious New England secondary and this game is prime for a Miami upset. I still don't think they're a legit playoff contender though. (Miami)

Last Week: 10-6
Season: 30-18

Scott's Picks –
San Francisco 49ers @ Atlanta Falcons  
New York Jets @ Buffalo Bills
Cincinnati Bengals @ Cleveland Browns
Detroit Lions @ Green Bay Packers

Denver Broncos @ Tennessee Titans
Seattle Seahawks @ St. Louis Rams
Carolina Panthers @ New Orleans Saints
Baltimore Ravens @ Pittsburgh Steelers
Indianapolis Colts @ Jacksonville Jaguars
Houston Texans @ Oakland Raiders
Arizona Cardinals @ San Diego Chargers
Washington Redskins @ Philadelphia Eagles
Chicago Bears @ New York Giants
New England Patriots @ Miami Dolphins

Last Week: 10-6
Season: 27-21

Here are the updated standings for mine and Scott's fantasy bet. I'm still up in 2 of the 3 leagues, despite Scott scoring way more points than me in the BZ Staff League.  On the bright side for Scott, he pretty much has it wrapped up in his league because my team is a steaming pile of garbage.


 

 

 

1. Indianapolis Colts (4) – Through three games, Peyton Manning has thrown for 1013 yards, nine touchdowns and zero interceptions. Who loves having him on his fantasy team? This guy.

2. New England Patriots (5) – If I were a Patriots fan, I would be very worried about their defense. They pretty much made the Bills look great yesterday. They won't always have the benefit of facing the Bills so they might want to fix that real quick.

3. Pittsburgh Steelers (10) – I'm sure some will argue that the Steelers should be in the top spot since they are one of the three remaining undefeated teams, but I'll hold off on that for just a little while. Pittsburgh's defense has looked like the best in the league for sure, their offense, not so much. I know they hung 38 points on the board last week, but they were also playing Tampa Bay. Let's not kid ourselves; the Bucs really aren't that good of a team. I'm sure the offense will improve with Ben returning from his rape suspension, but again, I'll wait and see. I'm pretty sure the two teams listed above along with the one listed below are still much better overall.

4. Green Bay Packers (2) – I hate moving Green Bay down because I think they are the best team in the NFC, if not the whole league. They lost on the road by three points to a team that benefited from 18 penalties. Some of which were awful calls. The pass interference call the Bears got in the last two minutes was an absolute joke. Jay Cutler had nowhere to throw the ball so he just heaved it up Favre style into double coverage and hoped for a penalty, which he got. All this aside, the Packers coaches also dropped the ball in the last minute. Instead of stuffing Matt Forte on the one yard line and letting Chicago bleed the clock down, they should've just allowed him to score and given Aaron Rodgers 50 seconds or more to tie the game. That is where the game was officially lost.

5. New Orleans Saints (1) – The Saints have really yet to look good in the first three weeks of the season so it was only a matter of time before they lost a close one. Luckily for them, they have four cupcakes coming up on their schedule and should be able to fix things rather quickly.

6. New York Jets (7) – Here is what I find amazing about Braylon Edwards and the lack of discipline from the Jets and the NFL. Edwards was forced to miss the first 17 offensive plays for the Jets after blowing twice the legal limit early Tuesday morning and getting a DWI. Wow, what a way to send a message to the kids who follow the game. Even more so, it's impressive on Edwards' part because he's a millionaire athlete that can afford transportation, especially since it happened New York City. You know, a city notorious for having a bazillion cabs at all times. But here is the most amazing fact. Edwards drank with Donte Stallworth the night Stallworth drove drunk and killed a man crossing the street. He literally learned nothing. How is this not getting more attention in the media?

7. Houston Texans (3) – It's very possible that the Texans bought into their own hype and fell flat on their face against their in-state rivals on Sunday. That's ok; they have the Raiders coming up this week which is the perfect bounce back situation.

8. Baltimore Ravens (8) – The Ravens won at home against the Browns. In other words, business as usual. They haven't really impressed me as much as I expected this year. It will be interesting to see how they do against Pittsburgh this Sunday. If they lose and allow Pittsburgh to start 4-0 without Ben Roethlisberger, it's uh-oh time in Baltimore.

9. Philadelphia Eagles (17) – I would have to say, this blog gives me a pretty open forum to look like an idiot. Ranking the Eagles is yet another example of that. I whined and complained when I said I was already starting Michael Vick on one of my fantasy teams in week two. Since that time, Vick has lit it up to the tune of 575 yards, five passing touchdowns, one rushing touchdown and zero interceptions in the past two games. I have to be honest, I would be thrilled if he was playing for the Bills right now. Talk about a flip-flop on my part.

10. Chicago Bears (11) – I'm reluctantly moving the Bears up because I'm pretty sure they shouldn't be 3-0. They won't always get the benefit of home field refs so they should really be enjoying last night's victory. Jay Cutler was average at best and the Bears' running game was non-existent. I'm not impressed.

11. Atlanta Falcons (18) – The Falcons got a huge road win and will surely be sending their thank you cards to Garrett Hartley. If Atlanta could've mustered ONE touchdown in week one, they would be sitting at 3-0 right now.

12. Miami Dolphins (9) – So let me get this straight. Miami wins their first two games by a combined score of 29-20 against two teams with a combined record of 1-5. Then they come home and face a good team and allow Mark Sanchez to shred them 256 yards and three touchdowns. You know what we call a team like this? A pretender.

13. San Diego Chargers (6) – I can't even believe I'm putting a 1-2 team this high in the rankings. I'm giving the Bolts one more chance to prove me right. They have this habit of starting out slow before ripping off a series of wins, so I have to assume they will do the same this season. If they happen to lose in the next three weeks (Arizona, Oakland, St. Louis), I'm dropping them for the foreseeable future.

14. Cincinnati Bengals (12) – The Bengals got the win to move to 2-1 but it wasn't exactly a pretty performance. I'm not sure when exactly it happened, but Carson Palmer is looking worse as each week passes. Wasn't he elite a few years ago? What happened?

15. Tennessee Titans (14) – I know it's not normal to drop a team after a win, but at this point it's simply a numbers game. I honestly feel that the 14 teams listed above are better, regardless of what happened yesterday.

16. Minnesota Vikings (15) – While the Vikings finally ended their losing streak and into the win column, it wasn't a performance that made me think they are anywhere close to a playoff team. They beat the winless Lions at home thanks to Adrian Peterson and his 160 yard, two touchdown performance. For the season, Brett Favre has two touchdowns and six interceptions. Name me a team that can win consistently with those numbers.

17. Dallas Cowboys (21) – The Cowboys finally got a win on the road against the previously undefeated Houston Texans. Who would've seen that coming? Oh yeah, I did. Dallas still has a lot of work to do if they are going to be a playoff team but they have two weeks to build on this win before they face the Titans in their next game.

18. Washington Redskins (13) – Washington dropped the ball big time on Sunday. I wrote about it in my picks but they basically had to win the game in St. Louis (a very winnable game I might add). They are now 1-2 and have four difficult games in the next four weeks. The honeymoon might be over in Washington real quick.

19. Kansas City Chiefs (24) – I learned a few years ago when the Bills started out 4-1 not to get too hyper and overreact to good starts. This is the exact reason why I still have Kansas City at 19 in the rankings. Fact is, they've beaten three teams with a combined 1-8 record so far in the season.

20. Seattle Seahawks (20) – Sure, the Seahawks won and moved to 2-1 and first place in their division. And I really don't plan on moving them any higher. Sorry, they are an NFC West team and I refuse to give any of those teams any credit whatsoever.

21. New York Giants (16) – For two straight weeks the Giants have pretty much rolled over on Sunday. It doesn't take a genius to know that you can't win games when you lose the turnover battle 3-0.

22. Denver Broncos (19) – As each week passes, I become more and more convinced that Josh McDaniels has no idea what he is doing in Denver. But hey, don't believe me. Maybe when they start the season out 1-5 you will start listening.

23. St. Louis Rams (30) – I've been saying for the first two weeks now that the Rams really don't look that bad. They are a young team with a rookie QB learning on the job. And with all of that in mind, it's still September and they have already matched their win total from the entire 2009 season. Yes, you just read that correctly.

24. Arizona Cardinals (29) – There really isn't much I like about Arizona, except Larry Fitzgerald. I really don't even know how I bumped them up this high, seeing that they only won because the Raiders can't convert easy field goals. Nevertheless, their up in the rankings for this week (until they play San Diego next week).

25. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (22) – Thank you Tampa Bay. Because of you, Steeler fever is rampant where I live, which means I'm slowly slipping into a deep depression. For anybody that thought that Tampa Bay might be good, think again. They just made Charlie Batch look like a good QB. Yuck.

26. Jacksonville Jaguars (23) – Do you know what week I'm circling on my calendar? It's week five when Jacksonville makes a trip up to Buffalo. If the Bills play like they did on Sunday and the Jaguars play like they always do, we're looking at Buffalo's first win of the season. Book it.

27. Detroit Lions (27) – The Lions lack of running game combined with their lack of running defense is the main reason they lost this game. Detroit is making games competitive but sometimes that just isn't enough. Getting Matthew Stafford back will help, whenever that happens to be.

28. Carolina Panthers (26) – It wasn't exactly a good start to the Jimmy Clausen era in Carolina. Clausen finished 16/33, 188 yards, zero touchdowns, one interception and a 53.6 rating. I know it's one game but if that is what Carolina can expect from Clausen, then I totally understand why he dropped so far in the draft.

29. Oakland Raiders (28) – I still can't believe the Raiders lost this game. Of course, I suppose it's bound to happen when your field goal kicker goes 3/6 on the day. In an easy place to kick like Arizona, there aren't many excuses for Sea Bass on that one.

30. Cleveland Browns (31) – I'll give the Browns credit. They went on the road against one of the better teams in the league and actually had a 17-14 lead at one point. Against a top three defense in the league, Peyton Hillis ran for 144 yards and Seneca Wallace finished with 103 QB rating. There were a lot more positives than negatives for Cleveland in this game.

31. Buffalo Bills (32) – Yes, I'm moving the Bills up despite another loss to the Patriots. I'm moving them up because they finally looked like a professional football team. In the first two games, the Bills scored a combined 17 points and had 352 yards. COMBINED IN TWO GAMES. Yesterday on the road in New England, the Bills scored 30 points and had 374 yards of offense. This was due in large part to the switch at QB which really goes to show just how bad Trent Edwards is. In fact, the Bills recognized that and cut Captain Checkdown. Given the past history of the Bills, this move was actually quite a shock to most.

32. San Francisco 49ers (25) – Man, the 49ers are bad. I know they almost best the Saints at home but almost doesn't count. Truth is, the 49ers are 0-3 and have been outscored 88-38 in those three games. While winning their division is still a definite option, things aren't looking good. The team they are trailing by two games already hammered them once, 31-6. Maybe Mike Singletary isn't the great coach we all thought he was. Interesting.

I said in my picks last week that this game would be a blowout, and I was wrong. The Bills held their own on the road against a team that has dominated them in the past and only lost by eight. It was actually a pretty good game for the most part, minus the end result. But in reality, it was exactly what the Bills fans should be hoping for. A good, competitive game that is fun to watch, and the Bills still lose and keep up their pace for a top three draft pick next April. Sorry, but it's the truth. I'm not rooting for them to lose, but in the end it is the best thing for the overall franchise.

The Good – Unlike the past two weeks, there was a lot of good things in yesterday's game. The offense generated 374 total yards, including 240 in the air and 134 on the ground.

For the second straight week, Marshawn Lynch led the team in rushing and actually looked good. I have to admit, my likeness of Lynch dropped to nothing after the debacle that was the 2009 season, but Lynch has done all he can do to redeem himself. He has 156 yards through the first three games, which is far from great, but he's also splitting time and running behind an awful offensive line. Trust me when I say this; Lynch didn't look nearly this good at any point last season. He's out to prove himself, whether it's to the Bills or a team willing to trade for him.

Along with Lynch, C.J. Spiller got into the game and made an immediate impact. While a lot of fans were upset at the Bills for drafting him, I was thrilled because Spiller is a playmaker, something the Bills have lacked for the past decade. I know they needed help on the offensive and defensive line, but they also needed a player who can simply make players. Spiller showed some of that yesterday and I look forward to more in the upcoming weeks. Spiller only had four carries, but gained 29 yards on those (7.3 yards per carry) and caught another three passes, including his first career touchdown. Oh yeah, he also chipped in with a 95 yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

The wide receivers in general were also good, besides David Nelson. Roscoe Parrish had five receptions for 83 yards. Yes, you read that correctly. Besides a game back in 2006 where he had four receptions for 104 yards, it was the most productive game of his NFL career. While that doesn't say much for Parrish overall, it goes to show that if you use him correctly, he can be an asset.

Lee Evans also contributed five receptions and was targeted eight times. As you know by now, that is a far cry from last week when Trent Edwards only went his way one time in the entire game. Stevie Johnson also made his mark grabbing three passes, including a 37 yard touchdown and an awesome touchdown celebration. I hate that the refs penalized him for it, but hey, they aren't called the No Fun League for nothing. No props, nothing excessive and totally original. Again, you can lose; just entertain me a little bit.

All of the above wouldn't have been made possible without Ryan Fitzpatrick. For the first time all season, the Bills finally had a QB in the game who knew how to avoid pressure, wasn't afraid to take some shots downfield and knew how to convert 3^rd down passes. It was refreshing in every sense of the word. In fact, Fitz was in position to finally ended the Bills now 57 game streak of passing for less than 300 yards. He won't break the streak this week against the Jets, but I wouldn't be shocked to see it go down against the Jags in week five.

Oh, and the Bills cut ties with Trent Edwards. I've been pretty hard on Edwards for the better part of the past three weeks and I don't regret it one bit. He is terrible and I'm thrilled that the Bills are done with him. Good riddance. Our trash will eventually be someone else's trash.

The Bad – The worst part of the game had to be the fact that the Patriots won again against the Bills. Tom Brady is now 16-1 in his career against the Bills. It's getting to be a bit much. At some point the tide has to turn. This can't go on forever.

While I was thrilled by the play of Fitzpatrick, his two interceptions were pretty bad. The first one was bad overthrow and honestly, he had Parrish wide open across the middle and it would've been a touchdown. The other was also another overthrow, but I contend that David Nelson could have done a little more to knock the pass down and keep the drive alive. Either way, I know Fitzpatrick isn't a great QB and he is going to be shaky here and there. I'm willing to deal with that because he brings a lot of good things to the offense that weren't there the past two weeks. It is what it is really.

The Ugly – Both defensive efforts were ugly. I'm not shocked that Tom Brady burnt Donte Whitner and the rest of the secondary, but I was a little surprised that the Patriots totaled 200 yards on the ground yesterday. It was one of the most frustrating things throughout the afternoon.

As each week passes, I grow more and more excited at the thought that Whitner's contract will soon be up and he'll be off the Bills. Then I caught wind of the news that the Bills are working on a contract extension for another useless player, Chris Kelsay.

It doesn't get any more ugly than that.

Overall, there was more good than bad in this game. True, the Bills didn't win the game, but they hung in there with the Pats and made something of it. There isn't one Bills fan that thought they would win this game, but most also thought it would be a demolition. Hey, I know I did. If the Bills play like they did yesterday, I could see them finishing with three or four wins, which is a lot more than I thought at this time last week.


 

 

San Francisco 49ers @ Kansas City Chiefs – After their loss to New Orleans on Monday, Frank Gore came out and said that the Saints couldn't hang with them. Those are some pretty big words considering the defending champs are 2-0 and the Niners are 0-2. I halfway agree with him because the Saints barely pulled it out and the Niners shot themselves in the foot several times throughout the game. Nevertheless, good teams don't make those mistakes, the Niners did and quite frankly, they aren't that good. Put them in any other division besides the NFC West and I think that would become evident. That being said, this game is very winnable for them.

The Chiefs have had some breaks go their way to far. For one, the schedule. They could very well be 3-0 at the bye week or at worst, 2-1. Still remaining on their schedule are games against Jacksonville, Buffalo, Oakland (2x), Arizona, Seattle and St. Louis. I wouldn't be shocked at all if they finished the season 9-7 or 10-6 with a slate of games like that.

I'm going with the 49ers but I'm very hesitant to do so. San Francisco struggled on the road in Week One because Alex Smith couldn't get the plays in time due to Seattle's insanely loud crowd. Arrowhead is just as difficult to play in and it will present the same challenges. It was reported on Monday night that he is now wearing a wristband with the plays on it, but who knows if it will make a difference. I guess we'll find out Sunday. (San Francisco)

Cleveland Browns @ Baltimore Ravens – I was going to write this long paragraph about how the Ravens only lost to the Bengals by five points, despite losing the turnover battle 4-0. But honestly, it's not needed. It's their home opener and they are playing the Browns. Unless Josh Cribbs contributes 21 points by himself, the Browns are losing this game. (Baltimore)

Dallas Cowboys @ Houston Texans – This would be the pick of the week where you'll read this and think I'm crazy. Dallas is going to win. They have their backs against the wall and it's the week before their bye week. That would indicate to me that if Dallas doesn't win, Wade Phillips might want to start packing his bags. This is meant as no disrespect towards Houston, they are a very good team, but this game has upset written all over it. (Dallas)

Detroit Lions @ Minnesota Vikings – In the immortal words of Dennis Green, Brett Favre is who we thought he was. He's a turnover machine and unless every circumstance is absolutely perfect (like it was last season), he's going to struggle big time. On top of that, he doesn't even look like he wants to be playing at this point. You can see that much on his face. He and the Vikings get a break with Detroit this week and an early bye next week, but then the season pretty much comes crumbling down. (Minnesota)

Buffalo Bills @ New England Patriots – This game is going to be such a blowout that I don't even need to discuss it. At the very least, barring injury, I won't be subjected to three hours of Trent Edwards this Sunday. That's the highlight for me. Hey, maybe they'll even score some points and make things exciting for two or three quarters. It's about all I can hope for anymore. (New England)

Atlanta Falcons @ New Orleans Saints – The Falcons looked pretty bad on the road in Pittsburgh and pretty good at home against Arizona. I see a developing trend with this. If they want to prove that theory wrong, they might want to play well and beat the Saints. It would go a long way in proving themselves as a legit contender. Unfortunately for the Falcons, I don't see it happening.

The Saints have been less than spectacular during their two wins this season, but still, they are winning those games. If the Saints can get past Atlanta, they could very well be 8-1 heading into the bye. Not a bad situation to be in if you're the defending champs. (New Orleans)

Tennessee Titans @ New York Giants – Not that I'm a huge fan of Vince Young, but he and the Titans should be able to bounce back and get the win in Jersey. The Giants allowed 160 yards on the ground last week to the Colts, including over four yards per carry from Joseph Addai and Donald Brown. Both running backs are good, but neither is in the class of Chris Johnson. That sound you hear is Johnson's fantasy owners drooling over this matchup. (Tennessee)

Pittsburgh Steelers @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Going into the season, a 2-2 start would've been ideal for Pittsburgh. At this rate, not only are they going to start at least 3-1 or maybe even 4-0, but Dennis Dixon got himself injured and there won't be one single Pittsburgh fan disappointed with the return of Ben Roethlisberger. The Steelers offense in general has been less than impressive which should be great news for Ben, but they are winning the games because they don't have to play from behind and their defense is just that good. It's the perfect storm in Pittsburgh right now. I'm going to go pour myself a drink. (Pittsburgh)

Cincinnati Bengals @ Carolina Panthers – The Bengals offense hasn't been very good so far, which is slightly surprising considering the weapons they have at their disposal. They have three easy games coming up though, and should be able to work out the kinks in time for the important games. For Carolina, it's already the start of the Jimmy Clausen era. It looks like it will be an ugly year for the Panthers which probably means late season speculation on John Fox's job and whether or not Bill Cowher will return to coaching. I can't wait. (Cincinnati)

Philadelphia Eagles @ Jacksonville Jaguars – The Eagles made waves this week by announcing that Michael Vick will be the starter, despite the health of Kevin Kolb. Part of me applauds the decision because if Vick is playing well, he should stay in the game and give the Eagles the best chance to win. The other part feels that Kolb is getting shafted. After being handed the keys to the Eagles offense, he barely got time to drive before getting kicked out. Losing your job to injury is always tough. I have a feeling that we haven't seen the last of him this season though. (Philadelphia)

Washington Redskins @ St. Louis Rams – If the Redskins want to make a push for the playoffs this season, they need to take advantage and win games like this one. For instance, after this week, Washington faces Philadelphia, Green Bay and Indianapolis in consecutive weeks. See what I mean? (Washington)

Indianapolis Colts @ Denver Broncos – The Colts got back on track last week and should continue rolling right through Denver. At this point, there isn't much that impresses me about Denver. I made fun of the Bills and their usage of C.J. Spiller so far, but the Broncos shouldn't be exempt from the same treatment. They blew a first round pick on Tim Tebow and so far he has had zero pass attempts and two carries for two yards. Considering the fact that he wasn't drafted to necessarily be the next franchise QB, one can only assume that picking him where they did was an awful use of a draft pick. (Indianapolis)

Oakland Raiders @ Arizona Cardinals – Wow. Nothing about this game seems even remotely appealing. (Oakland)

San Diego Chargers @ Seattle Seahawks – Sometimes I wish the Bills played more late afternoon games so I wouldn't be subjected to so many NFC West teams. Unless Seattle is playing one of their division rivals, I have a hard time picking them. (San Diego)

New York Jets @ Miami Dolphins – Tough game to pick. On one side, the Jets are supposed to be really good and showed that last week by beating down on the Patriots. On another side, the Jets still have Mark Sanchez and regardless of one game, I still think he sucks.

For Miami, they looked more than mediocre in their opening day win at Buffalo and I'm not sure they looked any better against Minnesota. They got a turn of turnovers courtesy of Brett Favre and still almost found a way to lose. On the other hand, they are 2-0 and both games were played on the road. That isn't an easy thing to do in the NFL, regardless of who you're playing.

I've got to go with the Jets though. Their defense is still really good and should be able to shut down the vaunted Dolphins offense, led by future Hall of Famer Chad Henne. The Dolphins defense is good but unless they plan on shutting out the Jets, I don't think it will be enough to get the win. (NY Jets)

Green Bay Packers @ Chicago Bears – I realize people want to jump on the Chicago bandwagon after their 2-0 start, but I urge you to think about it first. So far this season, Chicago has defeated teams that are a combined 0-4. On top of that, their leading rusher, Matt Forte, has a total of 71 yards rushing in the two games.

Now to be fair, the Packers opponents have been 1-3, including the worst team in the league last week. However, it's my picks article and I don't have to be fair.

I guess my whole point here is that the Packers are looking like the team we thought they were and I really don't think the Bears are for real. (Green Bay)

Last Week: 11-5

Season: 20-12


 
Scott's Picks –

San Francisco 49ers @ Kansas City Chiefs

Cleveland Browns @ Baltimore Ravens

Dallas Cowboys @ Houston Texans

Detroit Lions @ Minnesota Vikings

Buffalo Bills @ New England Patriots

Atlanta Falcons @ New Orleans Saints

Tennessee Titans @ New York Giants

Pittsburgh Steelers @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Cincinnati Bengals @ Carolina Panthers

Philadelphia Eagles @ Jacksonville Jaguars

Washington Redskins @ St. Louis Rams

Indianapolis Colts @ Denver Broncos

Oakland Raiders @ Arizona Cardinals

San Diego Chargers @ Seattle Seahawks

New York Jets @ Miami Dolphins

Green Bay Packers @ Chicago Bears


 
Last Week: 8-8

Season: 17-15


 
As always, here is the updated standings for mine and Scott's fantasy bet. I had a pretty good week and I'm now up in 2 of the 3 leagues. Maybe it's time to go jersey shopping.


 

 

1. New Orleans Saints (1) – It won't always be pretty, but it doesn't have to be when you're the defending champs. It will be interesting to see how much they miss Reggie Bush in the next six weeks.

2. Green Bay Packers (3) – There might be some people doubting this because at halftime against Buffalo, it was only a 13-7 lead. Trust me; the Bills were never once in the game. The Packers just toyed with them a little bit before putting the hammer down. If it wasn't for a big Charles Woodson pass interference penalty, the Packers would've easily shut out the Bills. After seeing what their running game looks like without Ryan Grant, the Packers might seriously want to consider trading for Marshawn Lynch. Trading Lynch would make so much sense for both teams, but like usual, I expect the Bills to not do it for that very reason.

3. Houston Texans (6) – At one point on Sunday I thought the Texans bandwagon was veering off the road and headed for a cliff, but Matt Schaub and Andre Johnson quickly got it back on track. Houston needs to keep things in perspective but at this point; they look like the real deal, and have a handful of winnable games before their rematch with Indianapolis in Week Eight.

4. Indianapolis Colts (5) – For those people that might've thought they Colts were on the decline (Bill Simmons), they pretty much put that theory to bed Sunday night against the Giants. At one point, the Giants didn't even look like they belonged on the same field. I honestly thought Archie was going to come down on the field and ask Peyton to stop picking on his little brother.

5. New England Patriots (2) – I know the logic doesn't necessarily make sense, having the Patriots ranked ahead of the Jets even after they lost head-to-head, but hear me out. Last week I had New England at the two spot and still picked the Jets to win. The Patriots are still the better team but this game had Patriots loss written all over it. Now that the Patriots are nice and mad, they get to host the Bills in Week Three. Awesome.

6. San Diego Chargers (7) – I was in and out of the Chargers and Jaguars game but I swear every time RedZone cut it for an update, they were showing another turnover by either team. The score indicates a huge blowout but it was a lot uglier than that. The Chargers have some work to do.

7. New York Jets (9) – I was very impressed with the catch the slouch had on Revis Island. Of course, Revis immediately cried about his hamstring and ran off the field. Those seeds were planted early enough in the week though, so we pretty much all saw that one coming. Assuming his injury is legit, he deserves it for skipping out on training camp and all of the preseason.

8. Baltimore Ravens (4) – The Ravens are going to drop out quickly if they can't muster some sort of competent offense. Joe Flacco has been downright awful in the first two games. I chalked the first game up to him facing the Jets tough defense, but I'm not sure what his excuse was for yesterday. Throwing four interceptions is expected from someone like Brett Favre, not so much from Flacco. Through the two games, Flacco has one touchdown, five interceptions and a 41.2 rating. That is actually worse than Trent Edwards, if you can believe that.

9. Miami Dolphins (12) – Miami benefitted from Favre being Favre on Sunday, despite their best efforts in losing the game. The highlight for me had to be Tony Sparano wearing sunglasses for a game being played in the dome. We'll find out a lot about the Dolphins in the next two weeks and if they are for real or not. I still have my doubts.

10. Pittsburgh Steelers (15) – Pittsburgh is in the perfect situation right now. They'll be looking at 3-1 or even 4-0 when Ben Roethlisberger returns, but his replacement(s) have been so mediocre that he'll still be welcomed back with open arms. I'm pretty much in sports hell right now.

11. Chicago Bears (17) – I'm sure to me and everyone else outside of Chicago, the Bears 2-0 start has been a very big surprise. Even if they are for real, I see no way that they are going to beat Green Bay next Monday night.

12. Cincinnati Bengals (19) – Cincy got a big win on Sunday and now have a real good shot at running off three straight wins at the very least and having a nice 4-1 start to the season. This is all despite Carson Palmer's attempt to play like absolute crap even with Chad Ochocino and T.O. lining up for him. And here I thought he would be a decent sleeper in fantasy for my backup QB spot.

13. Washington Redskins (13) – I almost feel bad for the Redskins, who basically lost the game on a hokey timeout by Houston. I hate how they can call the timeout as the ball is being snapped, but hey, I guess rules are rules. Washington still finds themselves tied for first place so they aren't in bad shape by any stretch. They might want to look at their pass defense though.

14. Tennessee Titans (10) – The Titans had every chance in the world to win the game on Sunday and still found a way to lose. Tennessee turned the ball over seven times and still had a shot at the end of the game to tie. This was a textbook example of simply giving away the game. Awful effort by the Titans.

15. Minnesota Vikings (8) – Speaking of awful, Brett Favre ladies and gentlemen! His four turnovers yesterday were directly responsible for the loss and the Vikings 0-2 start. Favre has started the season off with one touchdown, four interceptions and a 56.1 rating. It's good to see things back to normal for the NFL's interception king.

16. New York Giants (11) – Granted I feel asleep for a bit of the first, second, third and fourth quarter; I never once saw a moment when the Giants were in the game. Their defense was chewed up by Peyton and the Colts' running game. I'm hoping the Giants and their fans are enjoying the Perry Fewell era so far.

17. Philadelphia Eagles (21) – The Eagles let Detroit hang around way too long and got chewed up by Jahvid Best and Shaun Hill, but they still got the win and should be encouraged by Michael Vick. Seeing that Vick is a free agent at the end of the season, they might want to consider trading him before the deadline to cash in on their investment. Of course, they'll need to know for sure that Kevin Kolb is healthy and not going to suck first.

18. Atlanta Falcons (20) – The Falcons took their opening day loss out on the lowly Cardinals to the tune of 41-7. Before we get too excited, please remember, they only beat up on Arizona. Their first real test will come next week at New Orleans.

19. Denver Broncos (23) – Wow. I hope Denver enjoyed their victory next week because the next four games are against Indianapolis, Tennessee, Baltimore and the Jets. That has 1-5 written all over it.

20. Seattle Seahawks (16) – Yesterday's loss to Denver was so predictable. After their opening day blowout of San Francisco, people were piling on Seattle, almost forgetting that they are still an NFC West team. I'll be shocked if anything better than 7-9 wins that division. I wish the Bills could make the switch.

21. Dallas Cowboys (14) – After seeing the Cowboys for the first two weeks, I'm fully convinced that people picked them for the Super Bowl strictly because they are hosting it this year. They have looked awful so far and I'm not sure if they'll get any better.

22. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (26) – Since Tampa Bay was expected to be one of the worst teams in the league, I couldn't be more thrilled with the fact that they are 2-0 to start out the season. I'm pretty sure the Bills won't even get two wins, so that is just one less team competing with them for the first overall pick.

23. Jacksonville Jaguars (18) – With a handful of QBs playing horribly yesterday, David Garrard did his best to get into the action by playing like his usually horrendous self. Sometimes I'm baffled how the NFL, the most elite football league on the planet, can't even find 32 good QBs to start for each team. It's amazing.

24. Kansas City Chiefs (28) – What I said about Tampa Bay goes just as well for Kansas City. I just glanced at their upcoming schedule and realized they play Buffalo on Halloween. Talk about scary.

25. San Francisco 49ers (24) – All is not lost with the 0-2 start by the Niners assuming seven wins takes the West. To their credit, they lost in the last seconds to the top team and basically only lost because they repeatedly shot themselves in the foot with turnovers.

26. Carolina Panthers (25) – That took a long time. The Jimmy Clausen era is already set to begin this week. Kudos to Carolina for pulling the trigger early.

27. Detroit Lions (27) – I've gotta hand it to the Lions, even with them sucking, at least they are putting points on the board and keeping the games relatively close. If they are going to disappoint the fans, at least give them a show first. Jahvid Best has pretty much wrapped up the offensive rookie of the year award after only two weeks.

28. Oakland Raiders (29) – It's only two weeks into the season and Jason Campbell was already benched. Remember when I wanted Buffalo to trade for him? Yikes. Maybe I should stop talking.

29. Arizona Cardinals (22) – If Larry Fitzgerald needs any advice on what it's like to play for a garbage QB, I'm sure he can give Lee Evans a phone call. At least Fitz had the opportunity to play with Kurt Warner before being bombarded with garbage.

30. St. Louis Rams (30) – I need the Rams to get a win or two so that Buffalo can lock up the first overall pick. Luckily they do play in the NFC West so there is plenty of opportunities to get a win. At least there is promise in St. Louis with Sam Bradford. Must be nice.

31. Cleveland Browns (31) – I honestly see three wins at best for Cleveland this season, which isn't good news for the Bills. Luckily one of those three wins is against Buffalo so not only will it give Cleveland the victory, but also in the tie-breaker in the scenario where they both finish with the same record. Of course, that would be assuming that the Bills can even must one win at this point. And that leads us to….

32. Buffalo Bills (32) – I was watching an episode of Family Guy this weekend, the one with the android Miley Cyrus destroying all of Quahog. At one point, the Evil Monkey runs out and says, "Ms. Cyrus, I ask you to stop what you're doing. I don't just mean this, I mean everything: the show, the music--it's all just awful."

That about sums up my feeling on the Bills right now.

(Additional post-Edwards benching note: I give 10/10 stars to Chan Gailey for this move. Fitzpatrick isn't necessarily an upgrade, but Gailey recognized that Edwards was horrendous the first two games and made the decision quickly. This is a decision that would've taken Dick Jauron weeks or a decision he wouldn't have made it all. Cheers to being on the Chanwagon.)

As I said in my picks late last week, the game at Green Bay was going to be a massacre. And man, saying it was a massacre is putting it nicely.

The Bills went into halftime and found themselves only down 13-7, but honestly, they were never in the game. The Packers got the game to start out and promptly marched down the field for an opening field goal. This game reminded me of one of those games I play on Xbox; meaning I know I'm gonna win so I just relax and it ends up taking longer to put away the other team. At one point it looked like Green Bay wasn't even trying. Although to be fair, the Bills have looked like that for two straight weeks.

The Good: The Bills running game looked decent. It was even better if you consider the fact that without a competent passing game, teams can stack up against the run, and yet the Bills still had mild success.

They finished with 124 total, with 64 coming from Marshawn Lynch. One has to assume the Bills were showcasing him a bit. It's become evident through two games that the crowded backfield is a problem, not a blessing. In the first week it was Lynch who suffered with minimal opportunities and this week it was Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller. Even if they can only get a 3^rd or 4^th round pick for him, they need to pull the trigger sooner rather than later.

If the Bills are actually serious about keeping all three backs for the season, they need to figure out a way to get them all significant playing time. There is no way Spiller should see such limited action during a game. I would actually endorse the wildcat at this point if it got all three backs on to the field at the same time. Plus, the wildcat would get Edwards off the field. Sounds like a win-win situation to me.

The Bad: Along those lines, the Bills should also explore the possibility of trading Lee Evans. For one, Evans has been surrounded by garbage for his entire tenure in Buffalo. He deserves more from the franchise and they should grant him his. The Bills are clearly playing a throwaway season so there really is no point in keeping Evans as their start #1 receiver. There are teams out there, like Minnesota, that are in desperate need of a big play receiver. If the Bills are rebuilding, go all out and stock pile as many draft picks as possible. Through two games, Evans has been targeted seven times with four receptions. This includes yesterday's double zero outing.

The Bills offense is actually so anemic that during their first possession, I was with a group of friends at my house watching the game and we tried to guess what the play was going to be. I ended up being right when I said "a sack."

During Week One I would've argued that Edwards really didn't have time to get set before he had someone in his face. Yesterday, it looked totally different to me. There were several times where he got sacked and he could've gotten rid of the ball. Instead, he hung on to it for far too long, mostly because he's afraid to take any chances down the field.

The Ugly: Trent Edwards. Friday night while I was out to dinner, I noticed via a retweet from Kawika Mitchell, that Donte Whitner was running his mouth on Twitter again. It was something to the effect of, "Every year there are 6 or 7 new playoff teams, why not us?" I promptly replied, "Two words. Trent Edwards."

Of course, thanks to Mitchell I'm still subjected to Whitner's garbage tweets. He quickly blocked me last year when I kindly reminded him of his career interception total, and the total that Jairus Byrd had at the current time.

But enough about Whitner and his nonsense, this section is dedicated to Captain Checkdown.

Trent Edwards couldn't play any worse if he wore a blindfold and threw the ball left handed. I'm so disgusted with him right now that the mere sight of him on the sidelines pisses me off. I can't even believe for a second that I thought he was going to evolve into the Bills' franchise QB. There is no way you can ever convince me that he is better right now that J.P. Losman ever was. At the very least, Losman wasn't afraid to throw the ball further than three yards. Edwards is a joke.

It seems to me that for every Edwards hater, there is at least one person claiming that "he hasn't had a chance yet" or "he has no offensive line." Blah blah blah. This is Edwards fourth season in the NFL now and besides a 4-0 start against four mediocre teams in 2008, he has done nothing to show he should be starting in this league. Nothing.

So far in 34 career games, he has 25 touchdowns, 27 interceptions and a 76.8 QB rating for his career. At what point are people ready to pull the cord? In a similar amount of time (43 games), Losman had 33 touchdowns, 34 interceptions and a 75.6 QB rating. Yet somehow everybody was cool with cutting Losman (not saying they are wrong) but they want to hang on to Edwards to give him a chance?

I also find it worthwhile to point out that during that 4-0 start, he had to come back during three of those games because he played pretty average for the first two or three quarters. Only one of those wins was a complete domination and this biggest highlight of that game was a Roscoe Parrish punt return and Brian Moorman tossing a touchdown on a fake field goal. Neither play involved Edwards being on the field.

I would be estatic if the Bills announced they were starting Ryan Fitzpatrick next Sunday. At least with Fitz, the Bills will have a QB who isn't afraid to throw the ball. Granted half of those passes might nosedive into the ground, but it can't be any worse than what Edwards is doing on the field right now. But no, keep starting Edwards because he gives Buffalo "the best chance to win."

Awful.

The Uglier: The fact that I actually wrote that the Bills might win seven games. I'm not even sure they can muster one win right now, let alone seven. Jacksonville? Maybe. If Jacksonville forgets to show up. Kansas City? No way. The Chiefs are a much improved team so far, though still far from the playoffs. Detroit? Nope. Jahvid Best is going to have a career day. The Browns game is honestly the only one I see them winning, and I'm being nice with that assessment. The Browns are also 0-2, but both games have been relatively close. The Browns have also defeating the Bills for the last three years straight, so even when the Bills were better, the Browns still handled them.

The Ugliest – If the Bills are tanking the season for Jake Locker, they might not need to try so hard. If Locker has a few more games like he did this past Saturday (4 for 20, 71 yards, one TD, 2 INT), he'll fall quite a bit in the draft. Of course, with a few more Saturdays like this past one, and Jake Locker will be definite Buffalo Bills material.


 
(Ed. Note: After writing this article, it was announced by Chan Gailey that Ryan Fitzpatrick will be the starter this Sunday at New England. Yay)

Arizona Cardinals @ Atlanta Falcons – The Falcons looked bad enough last Sunday at Pittsburgh that it has many people reconsidering whether or not they are a playoff team. I have confidence in my pick that they can contend for the NFC South title, despite one poor showing on opening day. It's merely a matter of how they bounce back at home against a very beatable Arizona team. Let's be honest, the Cardinals are a terrible team right now. For the first time since I've seen Larry Fitzgerald play, I thought he was actually going to blow a gasket on the sideline. The Cardinals escaped St. Louis with a victory and that says a lot about the team they have this year. (Atlanta)

Baltimore Ravens @ Cincinnati Bengals – Don't let the 38-24 score fool you last Sunday. The Bengals were manhandled in Foxboro before the Patriots let up and Cincy put some garbage points. It doesn't get any easier as they now come home to face Baltimore in the first of their two meetings this year. Baltimore's offense looked less than great on Monday night, but you have to also consider the team they were facing. Cincinnati's defense is a far cry from the Jets' defense. Despite these rough two weeks, the Bengals could very well be 3-2 in a few weeks after games against Carolina, Cleveland and Tampa Bay. All hope is not lost yet for Cincy. (Baltimore)

Kansas City Chiefs @ Cleveland Browns – When a team is as bad as Cleveland is, they need to pick up the easier wins when they have the opportunity. This is exactly what they failed to do last Sunday when they faced Tampa Bay. Now they are 0-1 and face the upstart Chiefs, who just upended the Chargers on the late Monday night game. The Chiefs have a short week and they travel, but I expect them to keep the momentum rolling with a relatively easy win in the Dawg Pound. If the Browns can't pick up a win on Sunday, I'd be shocked if they didn't start out at least 0-9. After Kansas City, take a look at their schedule. At Baltimore, Cincinnati, Atlanta, at Pittsburgh, at New Orleans, New England and NY Jets. Looks like the Bills might have some competition for the first overall pick. (Kansas City)

Chicago Bears @ Dallas Cowboys – Dallas did look horrible on Sunday night but they aren't that bad in reality. Despite their win on opening day, Chicago is a horrible team in reality. I would be astonished if the Cowboys didn't hammer the Bears and get the hype machine up and rolling again. (Dallas)

Philadelphia Eagles @ Detroit Lions – How do you know by week two that your fantasy season might be going down the tubes? When you're starting Michael Vick already. This is what happens when you draft Kevin Kolb to be your starter and your backup QB faces Baltimore this week. I can only hope Vick tears up Detroit like he did against Green Bay as the game wore on last week. Honestly, I kind of expect it. (Philadelphia)

Buffalo Bills @ Green Bay Packers – This game is going to be a massacre. The Bills struggled to score any points against a mediocre Miami team at home so I have no reason to believe it will be any better on the road against a Super Bowl contending team. While the Bills secondary is their one strong point, covering the tight end is clearly not. Against the Dolphins, the one touchdown the Dolphins scored was set up by a 21 yard pass from Chad Henne to Anthony Fasano. You know who is better than Henne and Fasano? Aaron Rodgers and Jermichael Finley. I'll be shocked if the Packers don't have a double digit lead by halftime. I'd bet the house even if the line was Green Bay by 20. (Green Bay)

Pittsburgh Steelers @ Tennessee Titans – I'm not falling for the trap that Pittsburgh is going to put together some kind of miracle run with Dennis Dixon at QB. He's started two NFL games now and he hasn't looked very good in either one. He's had his moments, but overall, I wouldn't be too excited if I were a Pittsburgh fan. Granted the Titans faced the Raiders, but they completely throttled them. Dating back to last year when Vince Young took his starting spot back, the Titans are 9-2. I like those odds. I also like Chris Johnson running all over the Steelers vaunted defense. (Tennessee)

Miami Dolphins @ Minnesota Vikings – I wouldn't normally be so quick to pick Minnesota, but Miami did nothing to show me that they are better than 8-8 this season. Meanwhile, Brett Favre gets the comfort of the home dome this week and has plenty of rest leading up to this game. The Dolphins got their gift win last week, I doubt it happens again. (Minnesota)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Carolina Panthers – I'd be lying if I said I had any interest in this game. Neither team excites me and there might be one player combined that holds any fantasy interest for me. When in doubt, go with the home team. (Carolina)

Seattle Seahawks @ Denver Broncos – At first glance, I was really tempted to pick Seattle in this game. Then I talked myself back down and realized I don't want to be jumping on the Seattle bandwagon after one blowout win against a fellow NFC West team. Denver should be able to bounce back and win their home opener. If they don't, they might be a lot worse than any of us thought. (Denver)

St. Louis Rams @ Oakland Raiders – Yeesh, what's with all the awful games this week? The Raiders come home after being pounded by the Titans and find the upstart Rams coming to town. The Rams didn't look nearly as bad as I thought last week against Arizona, but the Raiders aren't the same team. For anything they lack on the field, they make up for with their crowd. I've seen many quarterbacks struggle in the black hole and I don't think Sam Bradford will be any different this week. (Oakland)

New England Patriots @ New York Jets – It might seem odd that I'd pick the Jets for this game when I've bashed the Sanchize for pretty much his whole entire NFL career and I've boosted the Patriots to the second spot in my power rankings. However, I have a method to my madness. The Jets played the Patriots pretty well last year at home and I expect more of the same. Randy Moss will surely be a non-factor because he's either pouting on the sideline or being shut down by Revis Island. The Patriots defense is a far cry from the Ravens defense so even an inept QB should be able to manage at least one touchdown. I expect a 16-13 Jets win. (NY Jets)

Jacksonville Jaguars @ San Diego Chargers – The Chargers flopped in their opening game like they were Paul Pierce during the NBA Finals. Luckily for them, their division is still pretty weak and they really have no reason to worry. The Jaguars simply aren't very good and I've never been too keen on East Coast teams traveling out West for games. (Chargers)

Houston Texans @ Washington Redskins – Fine, I'll bite, I'm on the Texans bandwagon for at least this week. I'm not totally sold on Houston as a playoff team just yet, but they'll have plenty to prove this week after last Sunday's huge upset. If the Texans fall to Washington in this game, all of the doubters will come back out and assume this is the same old up and down Houston team. There is more at stake than a lot of people realize. (Texans)

New York Giants @ Indianapolis Colts – I'm so excited for another Manning Bowl that I can barely stand it. For some reason I get the feeling that we're headed for an NFL with 32 different Mannings running each team and clones of Archie Manning sitting in each press box. First step in the NFL, next is world domination. Don't say I didn't warn you. As for this game, I see Peyton lashing out on his little brother over his 0-1 start and evening things up. (Indianapolis)

New Orleans Saints @ San Francisco 49ers – The Niners had their chance to start the season out right and instead threw it out in the window. Good thing Alex Smith didn't personally throw it out the window or it would've been intercepted. Mike Singletary wasted no time and immediately called out several players during a team meeting the minute the plane landed. Good times are gonna be had in San Francisco this year. (New Orleans)

Last Week: 9-7

Season: 9-7


 
Scott's Picks –

Arizona Cardinals @ Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens @ Cincinnati Bengals

Kansas City Chiefs @ Cleveland Browns

Chicago Bears @ Dallas Cowboys

Philadelphia Eagles @ Detroit Lions

Buffalo Bills @ Green Bay Packers

Pittsburgh Steelers @ Tennessee Titans

Miami Dolphins @ Minnesota Vikings

Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Carolina Panthers

Seattle Seahawks @ Denver Broncos

St. Louis Rams @ Oakland Raiders

New England Patriots @ New York Jets

Jacksonville Jaguars @ San Diego Chargers

Houston Texans @ Washington Redskins

New York Giants @ Indianapolis Colts

New Orleans Saints @ San Francisco 49ers


 
Last Week: 9-7

Season: 9-7


 
Now that we're done with the picks, below are the updated fantasy standings after one week of football. The total points scored won't matter once the season is actually over, but for now it's a nice way to see who is actually winning the bet. Hint: it's not me.


 

 

Before I get to the rankings, I have a question about the ESPN attendance numbers that they post. Where do they come up with these figures? Honestly, can someone tell me?

They have Philadelphia at 102.3%. How is that possible? Were people crawling in under the gates and standing in aisles the whole time? How can something be 102.3% full? They also have both Buffalo and Pittsburgh listed at 94.8% and 97.9%. I know for a fact that both games were sold out. I also know for a fact that Pittsburgh NEVER has empty seats in Heinz Field. Seriously, where do these numbers come from?

Alright, my rant is over. Now to the rankings.

1. New Orleans Saints (1) – The Saints struggled at times Thursday night against the Favres, but the game wasn't as close as the 14-9 score would indicate. Take back a dropped touchdown pass and a couple of easy missed field goals and the game could've easily been 27-9 at the very least. As always, defending Super Bowl champs + undefeated = top spot in the rankings no matter what. I know, it's a faulty formula. I don't care.

2. New England Patriots (7) – What the Patriots did on Sunday is exactly what I was talking about before the season. While everyone continues to hype up the Jets after their stellar 9-7 finish last season, the Patriots are just being ignored and flying under the radar. People, they are really good. I think many are guilty of forgetting about Tom Brady and sometimes forget that last season he was coming back from a major injury. Those types of injuries usually take a full season to come back from. He showed on Sunday that he's back to 2007 form.

3. Green Bay Packers (3) – The Packers could've been much better in their win against Philadelphia and I have no doubt they will be this Sunday against Buffalo. With crap for linebackers in Buffalo, I fully expect Aaron Rodgers and Jermichael Finley to eat the Buffalo defense alive. Good times.

4. Baltimore Ravens (9) – The Ravens defense is crazy good. I know Joe Flacco and the offense struggled, but they won't be facing the Jets defense every week either. The Ravens are no doubt the favorite to win the AFC North and nothing I saw on Monday night can convince me otherwise. They're only going to get better.

5. Indianapolis Colts (2) – The Colts finally fell to Houston and their head-to-head record against the Texans dropped to 15-2. I fully expect the Colts to bounce back though. I know it's tempting to jump on the Texans bandwagon but let's hold off on that for a little while. To the Colts this was just another game; to the Texans it was much more. I know I have the Colts still ranked above the Texans and one game in September won't force me to change it….yet. In other Colts news, Bob Sanders is hurt again. Shocking.

6. Houston Texans (13) – Houston takes a huge leap in the rankings but as I said before, let's relax a little bit before booking their plane tickets to Dallas. They still have 15 more games including another against Indianapolis. I've seen the Bills crush the Patriots at home 31-0 so I know almost better than anybody that opening day victories don't always translate to regular season success.

7. San Diego Chargers (6) – I'd like to thank the Chargers for already giving me a loss in my eliminator pool. On the positive side for the Chargers, the Chiefs only won by a touchdown and had two big plays, something that might not always happen every Sunday. I have no doubt the Chargers will bounce back and eventually reclaim the division again.

8. Minnesota Vikings (5) – Take it as a sign of things to come this season for Minnesota. This isn't going to be a fairy tale season like last year. Brett Favre is old and he'll show his age this year. They could very well finish under .500 if they play like they did on Thursday.

9. New York Jets (8) – I know I've been saying this over and over again, but I'll continue to say it until everyone finally admits it. Mark Sanchez sucks. He is a liability to an otherwise good Jets team. The games they won last year (they only went 9-7!) were games won on the ground. The games they lost last year were lost through the air. He isn't good. People need to stop pretending that he is.

10. Tennessee Titans (15) – The Titans/Raiders was the game I should've picked in my eliminator pool. For some reason I was tricked into thinking the Raiders would be improved and Chris Johnson wouldn't run all over them. I've learned from my mistakes.

11. New York Giants (16) – In what could've been the most frustrating thing about Sunday, I randomly benched Hakeem Nicks for Devin Aromashodu. The difference between the two was a staggering 17 points. Luckily my team cruised to an easy win or I'd be kicking myself today as I write this.

12. Miami Dolphins (12) – Granted I didn't see any other early game on Sunday, but I'm willing to say that there isn't a team that looked worse while getting the win than the Dolphins did. The Bills were horrendous in every sense of the word and still, they were only down by three in the fourth quarter. That says a lot about the Dolphins. There is no way they are finishing better than third in the AFC East. Chad Henne has done nothing to show me that he should be a starting QB in the NFL.

13. Washington Redskins (14) – I wasn't overly impressed with the Redskins but they got the win and that's all that counts. Not a bad way to start the Shanahan/McNabb era in D.C. I'll be interested to see how they handle Houston in Week Two. It will go a long way in showing whether either team is ready to take the next step.

14. Dallas Cowboys (4) – The Cowboys really looked bad on Sunday night. That couldn't have made Jerry Jones happy since he's somehow convinced everyone that the Cowboys will be playing a home Super Bowl game.
Again, Tony Romo crumbled in a "big" game (I put it in quotes because it's only opening day, but a national TV audience qualifies as big) and looked awful. I know he isn't a terrible QB but at some point he's gonna have to play well when it counts.

15. Pittsburgh Steelers (19) – Some fans in Pittsburgh might have been hoping for the Steelers to rape the Falcons, but alas, they barely pulled it out in overtime. To their credit though, if they can muster 2-2 or even better without Roethlisberger, the Steelers will be in good shape for the rest of the season.

16. Seattle Seahawks (24) – Seattle is on my list of surprises of the week. I didn't think they were going to do anything this year but I may have to rethink that. Granted they were playing another NFC West team, but they looked pretty good overall. Not a bad start to the Pete Carroll era in Seattle for sure.

17. Chicago Bears (22) – The Bears got a gift win on Sunday. Pretty sad state of affairs in Chicago when they need to win by a technicality at home against Detroit. Jay Cutler threw for 372 yards which reaffirmed the fact that he's a glorified fantasy QB and nothing more.

18. Jacksonville Jaguars (25) – Apparently David Garrard played very well in the Jaguars victory over the Broncos. It's such a shame that nobody was there to see it.

19. Cincinnati Bengals (11) – By the time the Bengals decided to play some football, the Patriots were already up 31-3. I'm no football expert but I think the Bengals better settle down with all the Super Bowl talk if that's the best they've got. There are lots of good teams in the AFC, not just New England.

20. Atlanta Falcons (10) – The Falcons were given a gift when Pittsburgh announced they were starting Dennis Dixon and still found a way to look bad in the loss. It won't get any easier for Atlanta this week as they face Arizona at home. Wait, never mind, it's going to get much easier for Atlanta this week as they face Arizona at home.

21. Philadelphia Eagles (17) – Kevin Kolb had a pretty rough start in Philly but it was to be expected when opening up against the Packers. I must admit, Michael Vick put up some pretty good numbers when he got on the field exclusively. Amazing that he can't be a full-time starter and Trent Edwards can. Vick will most likely get the start this Sunday against Detroit and if he plays well and gets a victory, look out, ESPN will be stirring up a huge QB controversy in Philly. It's always fun when it's not your team.

22. Arizona Cardinals (23) – The Cardinals squeaked out the win against the lowly Rams. Good times in Arizona. They're gonna love the Derek Anderson era.

23. Denver Broncos (20) – I try to not overreact after one week but I'm starting to get the feeling that Josh McDaniels is going to drive the Broncos into the ground. He's already made some questionable decisions and if Denver can't win a game against Jacksonville, I don't know if they'll even be over .500 this season.

24. San Francisco 49ers (18) – Correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that the 49ers were supposed to be improved this year. From everything I saw on Sunday, there is no way they're winning the NFC West. Then again, it's only one week and it can be easily corrected, but it isn't looking good for the Niners. Especially since they have the Saints coming to town next week with a few extra days to rest and prepare. This one is gonna be ugly.

25. Carolina Panthers (21) – I haven't seen the injury report but it looks like the Jimmy Clausen era is going to start sooner than expected in Carolina. Now will be the time to see if everybody screwed up by letting him drop so far or if it was warranted and the Panthers wasted a draft pick. I'm sure the Bills fans will take notice either way.

26. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (28) – The Buccaneers are a bad team but a win is a win. Beggars can't be choosers and I know the Bucs fans won't be complaining about starting the season out 1-0.

27. Detroit Lions (27) – I refuse to drop the Lions since they should've won on Sunday. Saying that Calvin Johnson didn't have that touchdown is a total joke. And honestly, if anybody argues that point, they deserve to have bad things happen to them.

28. Kansas City Chiefs (30) – Forgive me because I slept through the majority of this game (yes, I'm getting old), but it seemed like the Kansas City crowd was a ridiculous level of loud on Monday night. Either that or I had my TV turned up way too loud. Every time I woke up and caught pieces of the games, it seemed like I was waking up because the crowd was in full force. Is it possible that Arrowhead is back to being a dominating home field advantage for the Chiefs? All they need know is Christian Okoye to come back and they're all set.

29. Oakland Raiders (26) – Same old Raiders. They didn't even look like they belonged on the same field as Tennessee. Luckily for them they have St. Louis at home this Sunday. If they can't win that game, they'll be competing with Buffalo and Cleveland for the top spot in next year's draft.

30. St. Louis Rams (32) – Thanks to the Red Zone Channel and a pretty shaky afternoon schedule, I saw a large majority of the Rams/Cardinals game. Not only were the Rams not as bad as I expected, but Sam Bradford looks like he's going to be the real deal. He'll have his struggles but he looked like he belonged. His numbers will no doubt suffer this season since the Rams refuse to employ any NFL caliber receivers, but once he has those, he's gonna be a good one.

31. Cleveland Browns (31) – I know this might come as a shock to you, but Jake Delhomme had a 2:1 interception to touchdown ratio on Sunday. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

32. Buffalo Bills (29) – That took a long time. One week. That's all it took and I'm absolutely disgusted with the Bills. Listen, I knew the Bills were going to be bad this season. I didn't think they would be first overall pick bad, but I most definitely thought they were going to be under .500 bad. But what the Bills did on Sunday take my expectations and run them over like an innocent pedestrian in Grand Theft Auto. Trent Edwards couldn't have been worse if he was literally wearing a skirt and throwing the ball left handed. Along with Edwards, the Bills offensive line (if you want to even call them that) was worse than a high school team's line. What a joke. I'm already counting down the days till hockey season. I've also started scouting Jake Locker. I'm dead serious.