The Gridiron Gentlemen’s Super Fun Prediction League: Week 2

So a lot of us not named Simon are already off to a bad start this week, after a crazy Thursday night result.

Before We get to the matchups, let’s have a look at the scores.

Dan: 9-7

James: 9-7

Dylan: 10-6

Simon: 11-5

Duncan: 12-4

Duncan laying the smack down on us. Anyway let’s get into week 2. Once again our eliminator picks are in capitals.

 

Denver Broncos @ Kansas City Chiefs

Obviously this has already happened, but luckily we’d already put together all the predictions. So let’s see how we did. Simon can be particularly proud. Just so you know I literally copy and pasted this from last week (congrats Simon).

 

Dallas Cowboys @ Philadelphia Eagles

Another NFC East matchup for Dallas as they go up against an Eagles team that looked like it was still finding it’s feet last week. Dallas will be relying on a limited pool of weapons to go up against an Eagles defence that looks stacked on paper. The Eagles offence however failed to find it’s feet, particularly in the run game. DeMarco Murray will be looking for a good game however.

 

New England Patriots @ Buffalo Bills

Potential for game of the week here as the Bills look the most evenly matched against the Patriots as they have for a very long time. The Patriots took the Steelers to pieces thanks to some questionable play calling from the Steelers. They weren’t however without flaws, as the Steelers seemingly ran on them at will. The Colts were the vogue team in the off-season to make it to the Superbowl. However in one game the Bills make them look like they might not even make it out of the division. The Bills will look to run the ball better in this one and rely on their front 4 getting to Brady if they are to finish Sunday top of the AFC East.

 

Seattle Seahawks @ Green Bay Packers

The Seahawks go into Lambeau this week 0-1 after a surprise win going the way of the Seahawks. The Packers come out of this 1-0 after controlled if not unremarkable win against the Bears, which they were never in any danger of losing. Seattle still have no Chancellor in this one (please, Seattle give him some money), which for me summons open season for a QB like Rodgers. But after an impressive pass rush against the Rams, the Seahawks will be looking to exploit a lack of Brian Bulaga.

 

Houston Texans @ Carolina Panthers

Possibly the dullest game of the week. The Texans have Ryan Mallett starting for them, after “not on a short leash at all”, QB Brian Hoyer is benched. The Panthers are without star line-backer Luke Kuechly, which is a massive blow. With 2 excellent defences and woeful offences, this could be really low storing.

 

San Francisco 49ers @ Pittsburgh Steelers

The Niners exceeded expectation in a win against the highly touted Vikings. The Steelers looked massively disappointing and struggled game-planning against Gronk. The Steelers could struggle against Carlos Hyde here, but the offences power could see them through. Could be a close game here.

 

Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ New Orleans Saints

It took 6 months to realise that outside of a new addition at QB the Bucs have changed very little, which for me keeps them bottom of my power rankings. The Saints struggled to convert chances this week but are up against a far worse defence in this one.

 

Detroit Lions @ Minnesota Vikings

I personally had these 2 challenging for a wild card spot this year, but after week 1 I’m not so sure. The Lions have talent all over the field, but thanks to a struggling QB, they are limited to projected mediocrity. The Vikings were touted as a surprise playoff pick. However after a poor performance against the Niners that saw a massively ineffective Adrian Peterson watch most of the game from the sidelines. The winner of this game will almost certainly go into week 3 massively overrated.

 

Arizona Cardinals @ Chicago Bears

The Cardinals looked probably like the best team in the NFC West this week. The Bears looked decent but not exceptional. With a 2nd home game the Bears could be setting up an “elaborate ruse” game, but it seems far more likely that the Cards cement their position at the top of a tough division.

 

San Diego Chargers @ Cincinnati Bengals

Philip Rivers defied odds, by leading a 2nd half comeback against the Lions. The Bengals reminded us just how complete a team they have and that writing them off at this time of year seems foolhardy (although I think we’ll all watch their playoff push tentatively).  These are both 2 decent teams and looks set to be a decent game.

 

Tennessee Titans @ Cleveland Browns

There is no denying there is potential for an “elaborate ruse” game here, but really a lot would have to go right for the Browns for them to take the win. The Titans will be looking for a continuation of the form that Mariota started last week against a far worse defence. Cleveland need Manziel to learn more than 1 throw and stop making ‘panicky’ off script plays. Whatever happens we’ll learn a lot about both teams from this one.

 

St Louis Rams @ Washington

The Rams excellently game planned against a downtrodden Seahawks team last week. This week they potentially could underestimate a Washington team that hung around against the Dolphins. Washington could get one of their few wins in this game.

 

Atlanta Falcons @ New York Giants

There is definite potential for the Giants to take advantage of an over confident Falcons team. The biggest matchup will be Julio Jones up against a talented Giants secondary (well… the corners are good). Eli will look to put last week’s bad decision making behind him, but generally the Gents have gone…

 

Miami Dolphins @ Jacksonville Jaguars

We’ll find out a lot about this Dolphins team in this game. The Jags looked woeful against a poor Carolina team last week and for them this is less-than-brilliant matchup, especially with Luke Joeckel looking like he might miss some time (again). If the Dolphins don’t dominate this game, it might force us to maybe think twice how good this team is.

 

 

New York Jets @ Indianapolis Colts

Probably the worst matchup the Colts could have hoped for after having their posterior handed to them against the Bills. The Colts should be pretty mad however and we could very well see a bounce back game from Andrew Luck after a poor performance last week. However he’ll be up against a potentially dominant defence.