Alternative Picks: Week 2, 2021

Some big talk last week from Andy, who failed to back it up in the picks or straight up, with Tony winning picks 10-6, and winning straight up picks 9-7 vs 8-8.  Admittedly, it was a case of both of us getting several wrong in picks, rather than one of us nailing things–as our straight up picks can attest to.  And the only difference we had in straight up picks was the final game choice of the week, with the Dolphins giving me the slight edge.

Week 2 finds still not a lot of games to feel great about, especially after the clunkers put on by the Packers, Titans and Falcons (who were never going to win a lot of games, but…6 points against an NFC East team). On to the picks!

1) Tony – Buccaneers over Falcons – Three games with double digit lines this week, but I’m not comfortable enough with the third one to to go 2-3 in the picks. I’ll take the Super Bowl champs on three days extra rest against a team that looked absolutely hapless on Sunday against a team that I thought might be in line for the first overall pick.

2) Andy – Browns over Texans – Houston put it to Jacksonville in the opener, but let’s not mistake the Texans for a good team. I’m not entirely convinced the front office wanted to win that game. My guess is they’ll start trading away pieces if the winning continues. Cleveland, meanwhile, should have beaten Kansas City. The Browns will get in the win column easily this weekend.
3) Andy – Packers over Lions – I’m guessing this is the one Tony was uncomfortable about picking and I can’t say I blame him. Maybe Green Bay is falling down to the pack a bit in the NFC North, but it’s hard for me to see Aaron Rodgers letting dud performances like the one he had against New Orleans happen twice in a row, especially in front of a Monday night national audience.
4) Tony – Broncos over Jaguars – Yeah, no way I want to touch the Packers this high after last week. Not really excited about picking the Broncos this high either, frankly, but the Jags looked helpless last week against a team that I thought they should beat. Add in that there are already rumors that Urban Meyer is already the next college to NFL coach experiment to not work out, and you’ve got a potential mess on your hand. At least there’s not any big time college program head coaching positions that have recently opened up that might intrigue him…
5) Andy – Rams over Colts – The Vegas numbers don’t support this game being quite this high, but one of the teams I was most impressed with last weekend was Los Angeles. The Bears defense was horrible, but the early returns on the Matt Stafford acquisition are good. Meanwhile, the Rams’ defensive line should be able to handle Indy’s offensive line, which will still be without LT Sam Tevi for the year.
6) Tony – Seahawks over Titans – The Titans are capable of beating the Seahawks, but they didn’t look it opening week. Add in being on the road, and I’ll give the nod to the birds.
7) Andy – Cardinals over Vikings – Chandler Jones had five sacks last week. Can you imagine him going against Rashod Hill? And one of the Cardinals’ receivers also will get to go against Brashaud Breeland. All of a sudden Minnesota is almost staring at a possible 0-4 start.
8) Tony – Patriots over Jets – The line of Pats by 5.5 points on the road feels a bit high to me, since it’s not like they’re a proven commodity–but at the same time, even with Adam Gase, the Jets are gonna Jets, apparently.
9) Andy – Chiefs over Ravens – I went late into the preseason thinking Baltimore had a chance to compete for the Super Bowl. I think they’ll do a fine job overcoming the loss of three RBs. But the loss of CB Marcus Peters will catch up to them at times this season, including here, where Patrick Mahomes will have an easier time padding his stats.
10) Tony – Bills over Dolphins – Never would have expected the Dolphins would be alone in first place ahead of the Bills, even after week 1…but suspect that switches after this weekend. If not, the AFC East could be in for a huge shakeup this season.
11) Andy – Saints over Panthers – Tony just snagged the last game I feel pretty good about. This one feels mostly right, I think, assuming Jameis Winston doesn’t backslide into old habits. The Saints looked pretty good against Green Bay.
12) Tony – Steelers over Raiders – I didn’t think much of the Steelers coming into the season, but taking out the Bills opening week has at least slightly changed my mind. The Raiders were obviously better than I expected as well–but I think the Steelers can figure it out at home.
13) Andy – Football Team over Giants – I hate picking NFC East games. They never go right. But this one features one of the league’s best defenses against one of the league’s most bland, boring and unproductive offenses. So, I should be right.
14) Tony – 49ers over Eagles – The Eagles are another team that surprised me in week 1, but another case of needing to really prove it was more than a fluke. The 49ers lost their starting RB for the season–but they have options to replace him.
15) Andy – Bengals over Bears – David Montgomery looked good for Chicago Sunday night. Almost nobody else did. Joe Burrow looks like a good QB. And he has weapons. Can he play on the road? With the way the Bears defended against the Rams, Cincinnati might have this one over by halftime. If it weren’t for home-field advantage, I’d have picked against Chicago earlier.
16) Tony – Chargers over Cowboys – The Bolts finally appear to have a LT, and that might be exactly what they needed to solidify the offense. The Cowboys made the season opener interesting, but they need more than 33 yards from Ezekiel Elliott if they’re going to do anything this year. They also are missing Michael Gallup, which might make it easier for them to focus on shutting down Ceedee Lamb and Amari Cooper. I’ll give it to the Bolts.

Straight up picks: