Art by Leah Bae
Week 1 of the NFL season was eventful, with many surprising results and interesting storylines. Many of the games didn’t go the way most viewers expected, as every team is much different from last year and expectations can be erroneous. Due to this, the desk struggled a bit with their picks.
The season kicked off Thursday, Sept. 9, with the defending Super Bowl Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeating the Dallas Cowboys — to the delight of the staff, who all took Tampa Bay. If this game was indicative at all of how this season will be, we’re in for a good one.
The staff thought similarly for many of their picks in Week 1. In addition to picking the Bucs, all five participants correctly chose in favor of the Los Angeles Rams, Kansas City Chiefs and Seattle Seahawks.
The entire staff also came up on the short end of numerous games as well, picking teams who lost such as the Jacksonville Jaguars, Buffalo Bills, Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings.
Some different results for the staff came from the Arizona Cardinals vs. Tennessee Titans game, as staff writers Austin LeDe’ and Joe Doonan successfully chose the Cardinals. Likewise, Creative Director Ali Levens chose the Los Angeles Chargers over the Washington Football Team along with Digital Editor Karl Winter.
To see the rest of the picks from last week read our Week 1 article.
Week 2 has some exciting divisional matchups, starting with the Giants vs. the Washington Football Team on Thursday in the first NFC East battle of the season. The Bills will meet the Dolphins in Miami for a battle between AFC East teams, who both won double digit games last year.
The Chiefs are locked in a potential playoff preview with the Ravens, and the Titans will travel to Seattle for a showdown featuring two playoff teams from last season. The 49ers and Eagles will also meet in a game between two offenses who put up over 30 points last week.
After seeing all 32 teams for the first time, let’s see if the staff can improve on their records from Week 1. Without further delay, here is Ali, Karl, Joe, Alec and Austin with their Week 2 picks!
New York Giants (0-1) at Washington Football Team (0-1) (Thursday, Sept. 16 at 5:20 p.m. PDT)
Joe: Washington
Karl: Washington
Alec: Giants
Austin: Washington
Ali: Giants
“I was embarrassed to choose this team last week, and that certainly doesn’t change for this week; I just hope the threat of losing to a divisional rival will get Daniel Jones’ butt in gear.” – Ali
“I give Washington the advantage. I don’t think they’re much worse with Heinicke than they are with Fitzpatrick. It should be a defensive grind and a typical Thursday night game that most of America probably won’t watch.” – Karl
New England Patriots (0-1) at New York Jets (0-1) (Sunday, Sept. 19 at 10:00 a.m. PDT)
Joe: Patriots
Karl: Patriots
Alec: Patriots
Austin: Patriots
Ali: Patriots
“The Patriots are better on almost every level. Zach Wilson looked decent in his first start, but young quarterbacks don’t have a good track record against Bill Belichick.” – Joe
“It’s painful, but I have the Patriots. I’m gonna have to pick against the Jets until they win. That’s going to be the strategy and I don’t think it’s a bad one.” – Alec
Denver Broncos (1-0) at Jacksonville Jaguars (0-1) (Sunday, Sept. 19, at 10:00 a.m PDT)
Joe: Broncos
Karl: Broncos
Alec: Broncos
Austin: Broncos
Ali: Broncos
“The Broncos look like a top-10 defense and the Jags struggled last week, I have the Broncos.” – Austin
“The Jaguars looked really shaky in Week 1. It seems they have a lot to figure out with a rookie quarterback and a new coach. The Broncos had a convincing win in Week 1, so I’ll go with them.” – Alec
Buffalo Bills (0-1) at Miami Dolphins (1-0) (Sunday, Sept. 19, at 10:00 a.m. PDT)
Joe: Bills
Karl: Bills
Alec: Dolphins
Austin: Bills
Ali: Bills
“The Bills ran into a buzzsaw in Week 1, but I don’t think that game is indicative of how the rest of the year will go, so I don’t want to overreact to them losing at home to the Steelers who are a darn good defensive team every year. I’m going to stick with the Bills.” – Karl
“I’m gonna overreact from Week 1 and say that the Bills are gonna to have a slow start to the season. I think they’ll ultimately overcome it, but they’re working through some things right now. They need some time, and after their big divisional win last week, I think the Dolphins will be riding high.” – Alec
San Francisco 49ers (1-0) at Philadelphia Eagles (1-0) (Sunday, Sept. 19, at 10:00 a.m. PDT)
Joe: 49ers
Karl: 49ers
Alec: 49ers
Austin: Eagles
Ali: Eagles
“This game sounds sloppy. I will go with the Eagles because I like watching the 49ers suffer.” – Ali
“The Eagles looked great Week 1, but I don’t know if that’s because they are better than we thought they’d be or because the Falcons are just that bad. Regardless, I think the Niners are really good and they have a great defense, so I’m gonna go with them.” – Joe
Los Angeles Rams (1-0) at Indianapolis Colts (0-1) (Sunday, Sept. 19, at 10:00 a.m. PDT)
Joe: Rams
Karl: Rams
Alec: Rams
Austin: Rams
Ali: Rams
“The Rams are legit. I don’t think they have a ton of holes right now, so I don’t see the Colts being able to exploit them. The Rams will have to play a little better than they did against the Bears, but with Stafford at QB they’re only gonna get better.” – Karl
“The Rams looked great and I think Stafford is going to win MVP. The Colts are better than the Bears, so the Rams will have to play better and I expect them to.” – Austin
Oakland Raiders (1-0) at Pittsburgh Steelers (1-0) (Sunday, Sept. 19, at 10:00 a.m. PDT)
Joe: Steelers
Karl: Steelers
Alec: Steelers
Austin: Steelers
Ali: Steelers
“I just don’t like the Raiders that much, they just seem sloppy on and off the field. The Steelers looked great and won a game that many weren’t expecting them to, so I think they’re gonna ride the momentum into another win.” – Joe
“The Steelers always seem calm, like they are in control, and their defense is generally good. I’ll go with them.” – Alec
Cincinnati Bengals (1-0) at Chicago Bears (0-1) (Sunday, Sept. 19, at 10:00 a.m. PDT)
Joe: Bengals
Karl: Bears
Alec: Bengals
Austin: Bengals
Ali: Bears
“I’m sticking with my team. The offense looked better than I thought it would, we were able to move the ball against an elite defense. I think the Bears can bounce back at home and they need to because they have an incredibly tough schedule going forward.” – Karl
“I think the Bears suffered enough against Matthew Stafford, so going against the Bengals will be a nice win for them.” – Ali
Houston Texans (1-0) at Cleveland Browns (0-1) (Sunday, Sept. 19, at 10:00 a.m. PDT)
Joe: Browns
Karl: Browns
Alec: Browns
Austin: Browns
Ali: Browns
“I’m going with the Browns. I’m not big on the Texans at all, and the Browns are a great team that played well for most of last week. Unfortunately, they were playing Patrick Mahomes, so they lost the lead they’d built, but I really don’t think there’s any danger of them losing this week.” – Joe
“While the Texans had great success overcoming the lowly Jags, I think the Browns will cause a bit more of a stir-up. The Browns are just a way better team anyways.” – Ali
New Orleans Saints (1-0) at Carolina Panthers (1-0) (Sunday, Sept. 19, at 10:00 a.m. PDT)
Joe: Saints
Karl: Saints
Alec: Saints
Austin: Saints
Ali: Saints
“I’m proud because I picked up Jameis Winston in both my fantasy leagues. I felt like he was the obvious choice for QB in New Orleans and he proved it against Green Bay. The Panthers are always a mystery team, Darnold looked good, but it was against the Jets. I’m never really high on them, even with McCaffrey, so I got New Orleans.” – Karl
“Going only based on Week 1 scores, the Saints are the obvious choice. They killed the Packers and the Panthers beat the Jets by 5 which honestly feels like a loss for them.” – Alec
Minnesota Vikings (0-1) at Arizona Cardinals (1-0) (Sunday, Sept. 19, at 1:05 p.m. PDT)
Joe: Cardinals
Karl: Cardinals
Alec: Cardinals
Austin: Cardinals
Ali: Cardinals
“The Cardinals looked like one of the best teams in Week 1. They dismantled Tennessee, who is a strong team, Kyler Murray looked like an MVP candidate and Chandler Jones had 5 sacks. It’s looking like the NFC West is a race between all four teams and it should be fun to watch.” – Joe
“It’s a no brainer, Cardinals for sure. Kyler is looking like he could be MVP runner-up behind Matthew Stafford of course. They have crazy weapons on that team.” – Austin
Atlanta Falcons (0-1) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-0) (Sunday, Sept. 19, at 1:05 p.m. PDT)
Joe: Bucs
Karl: Bucs
Alec: Bucs
Austin: Bucs
Ali: Bucs
“There isn’t much to say about this game, the Falcons may have taken the mantle from the Texans as the expected worst team. It would be hard for the Bucs to lose with the amount of talent they have.” – Karl
“I’m gonna go with the Bucs on this one. It’s kind of the opposite of the Jets situation, meaning I’m going to take them every week until they lose.” – Alec
Tennessee Titans (0-1) at Seattle Seahawks (1-0) (Sunday, Sept. 19, at 1:25 p.m. PDT)
Joe: Seahawks
Karl: Titans
Alec: Seahawks
Austin: Seahawks
Ali: Seahawks
“I’d like to say that the Titans are going to bounce back here, but the way Seattle came out of the gate last week, it’s hard. I’m going with Seattle, they’re always good early in the year.” – Austin
“This is my upset special of the week, I have the Titans. I don’t want to overreact too much from Week 1. The Seahawks are often good early in the year, but they also tend to lose head scratching games. This is going to be a lot bigger of a test than their first game.” – Karl
Dallas Cowboys (0-1) at Los Angeles Chargers (1-0) (Sunday, Sept. 19, at 1:25 p.m. PDT)
Joe: Cowboys
Karl: Cowboys
Alec: Cowboys
Austin: Chargers
Ali: Cowboys
“I’m gonna go with the Chargers because they beat a solid Washington team last week. Their defense looked pretty good and I think they’ll do enough to beat the Cowboys.” – Austin
“I think the Cowboys have a better shot of overcoming the Chargers than they did the Bucs last week. They almost won that game and with a healthy Dak-Zeke combo they should be able to win this week.” – Ali
Kansas City Chiefs (1-0) at Baltimore Ravens (0-1) (Sunday, Sept. 19, at 5:20 p.m. PDT)
Joe: Chiefs
Karl: Chiefs
Alec: Chiefs
Austin: Chiefs
Ali: Chiefs
“I think the Ravens are really good despite injuries and it’s pretty rough for the Chiefs to start the season playing the Browns and the Ravens, but if anyone can handle that it’s them. For me the Chiefs are with the Bucs on the upper echelon of teams, so I have them winning.” – Joe
“I’ll go with the Chiefs too. The scheduling is interesting with the Chiefs playing two potential playoff opponents right off the bat, so I’ll be interested, not just with this game, but actually more so how this game affects the Chiefs going forward, ‘will they be tired from playing these tough games early on?’” – Alec
Detroit Lions (0-1) at Green Bay Packers (0-1) (Monday, Sept. 20, at 5:15 p.m. PDT)
Joe: Packers
Karl: Packers
Alec: Packers
Austin: Lions
Ali: Packers
“I hope the bad man (Aaron Rodgers) stops playing badly. The Lions suck, so the Packers would have to try very hard to lose.” – Ali
“Go Lions. How funny would it be if the Packers lost to the Lions on Monday Night Football?” – Austin
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Contact Joe Doonan via Twitter (@jdoonan12) or via email: joe.doonan@pepperdine.edu
