Week 2, the genius speaks!


So, people keep asking me, "David, you're vastly smarter than any of your opponents in the Bragging Rights pool, I mean, you're practically a genius, so how do you manage to consistently lose, week after week?!  I mean, apart from the occasional glitches, like week 6 in 2009, when you somehow managed to outpick everyone else, and 2002 when you actually won the pool, you usually manage to underperform nearly everyone else.  How do you do it?"

	Ah, 'Grasshopper,' how little you understand the world of Professional Football.  You see, although the Vikings are not, in fact, better than the Lions, the Lions have an ancient tradition of trying to give games away.  Anyone who actually watched the game could see that they should have beaten MN by about 35 points; the key to picking whether the Lions will win any game is to correctly estimate how much giveaway they are in the mood for.  Thus, slightly over-estimating their generosity, I picked MN.
	As far as KC goes, I knew Alex Smith was an improvement, but I clearly failed to realize that it doesn't matter that KC has no especially good receivers (their 2 starting wideouts and tight end had a total of 11 touchdowns between them through the entire 2012 season).  I foolishly imagined that Mr.Smith might only throw for 173 yards, at a rate of about 5 yards per pass (which is what he actually did BTW), and that the Jags would play better at home.  Now that I've read that their head coach had already said he just wants to help his team "play better," and not worry too much about their final record... I regret the pick.  Not worrying is no way to motivate a team.
	As for Atlanta at NOrleans, well, I saw enough of that fluke to know that luck was with the Aints,... if the Falcons had a bit more of it, they'd have scored on the final drive and won by 1 point.  So it goes.
	The Cardinals outgained the Rams, but fell apart in the 4th Quarter, allowing the Rams to win on a last-minute Field Goal.  Maybe I'm wrong to think Carson Palmer and better receivers should have won out, but as with the previous one, I would still make this pick if they had to replay the game.
	I don't know about the Washington RG3s... time will tell if they are recovered from knee surgery.  As far as the up-tempo Philly Offense, most college offensive schemes collapse when brought into the NFL, and I thought the RG3's defense would be able to handle it.  I was wrong.  The question now is how quickly NFL defenses can adapt to it, and whether the Iggles can keep it up, ("I've never been a part of anything like it," Vick said. "When the first quarter was over, I thought we was about to go to go into halftime. It was unreal. The only thing I could tell myself was, 'It's going to be a long season.' ").
	So you see, it takes great brilliance and deep thought to be able to have an 8-and-8 week when everyone else is doing close to 75%... and still not have a single Bold pick.


	As for week 2, here are my picks for the early games... :

Now that Sanchez is no longer a distraction and the Pats are only marginally better than the Bills... the Pats still win.

The Rams, though better, are still not the Greatest Show on Turf, and this week Atlanta reminds them of where they rank in their division, so they can both be 1-and-1.

The Iggles' college-offense makes the Chargers look like San Diego State (who lost to the Ohio State Buckeyes 42 - 7 last week, in case you can't guess what this game is going to look like).  Philly rolls.  get it?  No?  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_roll

The 'boys mirage fades in KC, and the 'boys fall to 1-and-1.  I will believe Dallas has learned how to win consistently after they've won a few more than just their home opener.

Miami is much improved, but like the Rams, still not enough to win in week 2.  Ditto the Tuxedos, who lose in the Tux-vs-Tex bowl.  Missing life in Houston much?

RG3, you just failed to beat your divisional nemesis!  What do you get for an encore?!!  A loss in Green Bay to go to 0-and-2.

People keep thinking a good Cleveland Browns squad is right around the corner.  I'll believe it when I see it.  This week Baltimore can allow themselves a win... since they aren't playing a good team.

Now for a tough one:  Cam Newton looked... mediocre in his season opener, while the Bills looked much better than predicted.  New offensive coordinator Mike Shula thinks the way for Carolina to win is to limit the number of times Cam Newton runs.  I predict growing pains, and a win for the Bills.  Of course, if they let him run wild, then I'll be wrong.  We shall see.

Bears over whichever hapless team they get to carve up this week.  Whoever they are, they can't be as good as the Bengals, and look what happened to them, right?



If the Bucs can't beat the Jets, then they won't beat the Saints.  Quod erat demonstrandum.

The Lions have the better pass-happy offense this week, and victory is not in the Cards, who fall to 0-and-2.

The Jaguars defeat the Raiduhs in the race for the top draft pick, which naturally means that Oakland wins the game.

the Broncos will find a way to beat the Giants, who couldn't even handle big-D last week.  Entirely possible that this is a super bowl preview.

The Seahawks will need motivation to beat the 9ers, and this week will provide the motivation for the remainder of this season, and the postseason.  9ers win this week.

How a team with Ben Roethlisberger can allow itself to fall apart so badly is beyond me.  Jerome Bettis called them the least improved team in their division, and then they got an early start on the injury bug in week 1.  I have to go with the Bungles.


Of course, those with inferior minds will find some lame justification in their simplistic paradigm for picking wrongly, and then, when the universe just happens to be similarly wrong, they'll do better than I, in spite of my genius!




David "the Genius" C