The Week 2 Picks

Apologies for the short format, but tomorrow is a getaway day for me. I'm making my first (and presumably last) trips to Yankee and Shea Stadiums before they're relegated to parking garages. That said, here are the Week 2 picks.

Match-up: Tennessee (+1.0) @ Cincinnati
Breakdown: The Bengals need this one after laying an egg in Baltimore last week.
Straight up: Cincinnati
Against the Spread: Cincinnati

Match-up: Green Bay (-3.0) @ Detroit
Breakdown: Potential letdown game for the Packers coming off the high of Monday night.
Straight up: Green Bay
Against the Spread: Green Bay

Match-up: New Orleans (Pick) @ Washington
Breakdown: With Marques Colston out for 4-6 weeks, Reggie Bush and Jeremy Shockey will have to step it up.
Straight up: New Orleans
Against the Spread: New Orleans

Match-up: Oakland (+3.5) @ Kansas City
Breakdown: Damon Huard in for Brodie Croyle may actually benefit the Chiefs.
Straight up: Kansas City
Against the Spread: Kansas City

Match-up: Chicago (+3.0) @ Carolina
Breakdown: Two teams that defeated AFC powers on the road in Week 1.
Straight up: Chicago
Against the Spread: Chicago

Match-up: New York Giants (-8.5) @ St. Louis
Breakdown: If you thought the Eagles defense gave Marc Bulger and the Rams fits, wait until the blitzing Giants get through with them.
Straight up: New York Giants
Against the Spread: New York Giants

Match-up: Buffalo (+5.5) @ Jacksonville
Breakdown: The Jaguars will find the sledding tough against the feisty Buffalo defense. This looks like a field goal game to me.
Straight up: Jacksonville
Against the Spread: Buffalo

Match-up: Indianapolis (-2.0) @ Minnesota
Breakdown: The old football adage says a team improves the most from Week 1 to Week 2. The Colts had better hope so. What if everybody's darlings in Minnesota open 0-2?
Straight up: Indianapolis
Against the Spread: Indianapolis

Match-up: San Francisco (+7.0) @ Seattle
Breakdown: Seattle is so thin on receivers, I heard they called Freddie Mitchell this week...OK, I totally made that up, but he may be better than what they have.
Straight up: Seattle
Against the Spread: Seattle

Match-up: Atlanta (+7.0) @ Tampa Bay
Breakdown: Are the Falcons for real? Let's see what happens when they take their show on the road.
Straight up: Tampa Bay
Against the Spread: Tampa Bay

Match-up: Miami (+6.5) @ Arizona
Breakdown: The Dolphins gave it a valiant effort against the rival Jets a week ago only to come up short. Arizona, meanwhile, was the only NFC West team to actually win.
Straight up: Arizona
Against the Spread: Arizona

Match-up: San Diego (-1.5) @ Denver
Breakdown: This line tells me how much Vegas devalues the Broncos win over Oakland. Crippling blow for the Chargers losing Shawne Merriman, even if we all knew it was coming.
Straight up: San Diego
Against the Spread: San Diego

Match-up: Baltimore (+4.5) @ Houston
Breakdown: This game has been postpones to Monday due to Hurricane Ike approaching the Texas coast.
Straight up: Houston
Against the Spread: Houston

Match-up: New England (+1.5) @ New York Jets
Breakdown: We've seen this before. Would it really shock the world if the Patriots rose above the Brady injury and won this game?
Straight up: New England
Against the Spread: New England

Match-up: Pittsburgh (-6.0) @ Cleveland
Breakdown: Got to love these rivalry games, fueled by hatred and mutual respect.
Straight up: Pittsburgh
Against the Spread: Pittsburgh

Match-up: Philadelphia (+7.0) @ Dallas
Breakdown: Got to love these rivalry games, fueled by hatred and...more hatred.
Straight up: Philadelphia
Against the Spread: Philadelphia

Week 1: 9-7-0 (.563); 9-7-0 (.563)
2008-09 Season: 9-7-0 (.563); 9-7-0 (.563)
Lifetime: 975-576-1 (.629); 771-751-30 (.507)