Week 2 NFL Picks
The HOTPO staff got out last weekend to volunteer at the 15th Annual Waynewood BBQ Party in Fort Hunt, Va. We assisted the West Potomac Dance Team (WPDT) operating a churro stand at the event. All proceeds from the BBQ party go to local charities, including the WPDT.
The WPDT has once again qualified for the Universal Dance Association National Dance Team Championship scheduled for Jan. 31 – Feb. 2 at Walt Disney Resort in Orlando, Fla. You can see and support the WPDT at all West Potomac home football games, beginning Sept. 27 versus Robinson Secondary School. It’s a quality Friday Night Lights experience at a West Potomac Wolverine football game and the team is off to a great start after beating Centreville 31-21, Sept. 6.
Week 2 NFL Predictions
Do not overreact to what you saw in Week 1. Teams are still figuring things out and one week is a tiny sample size. The same goes for us in the HOTPO community, we are still trying to confirm or deny our preseason thoughts, but it is too early to be definitive.
Buffalo Bills at Miami Dolphins (-2.5): I have gone back and forth on this pick. An article by Jordan Mendoza of the USA Today highlights that Buffalo has won four straight in this series and 11 of the last 12. Miami got their high-octane offense going immediately last week and is at home. It’s about time for this series to even out, a bit. – DOLPHINS
Las Vegas Raiders at Baltimore Ravens (-9.5): Baltimore bounces back from an opening night loss to the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs, and gets healthy against a suspect Las Vegas team. – RAVENS
Los Angeles Chargers (-6.5) at Carolina Panthers: If you are in an Eliminator League, you should be following Carolina like the Grateful Dead. – CHARGERS
New Orleans Saints at Dallas Cowboys (-6.5): New Orleans got off to great start last week with a 47-10 shellacking of the Panthers. But that was against the Panthers. There is no need to start considering the Saints a playoff team – they come back to reality this week. - COWBOYS
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Detroit Lions (-7): Tampa Bay lit up a predictably bad Washington Commanders defense through the air during Week 1. While the Detroit defense gave up the second most passing yards in the NFL last week, as reported by Peter Dewey of Sports Illustrated, I am not going to overreact to those two Week 1 data points. – LIONS
Indianapolis Colts (-3.5) at Green Bay Packers: Both of these teams started with a loss last week and Green Bay lost starting QB Jordan Love to an MCL sprain. Many of the experts are going with Indy, but I never pick them unless I feel absolutely certain of a Colt victory. It’s called an “emotional hedge.” – PACKERS
Cleveland Browns at Jacksonville Jaguars (-3): Despite losing 33-17 to Dallas last week, the Cleveland defense actually played pretty well, but couldn’t overcome QB Deshaun Watson getting sacked six times and throwing two interceptions. The Jacksonville defense got torched in their loss to Miami. Could the Browns seriously bounce back this week against a possibly bad Jaguars defense? Their problem is Watson hasn't played a good game in years. – JAGUARS
San Francisco 49ers (-6) at Minnesota Vikings: Minnesota QB Sam Darnold had a very good game on Sunday in the Vikings 28-6 victory over the Giants. That is another surprise that I will not be putting much stock in until it repeats, multiple times. – 49ERS
Seattle Seahawks (-3.5) at New England Patriots: Did not see New England winning last week and I don’t see it this week, either. But, Seattle has to travel across country for an early start. If the Patriots do pull this one out, I might have to start reassessing my opinion of what I thought was going to be a bad team. - SEAHAWKS
New York Jets (-3.5) at Tennessee Titans: New York had a tough matchup in a Week 1 against the 49ers. The Jets have all sorts of talented at the offensive skills positions and their defense should be very good this year. The Titans offense will struggle mightily against that defense on Sunday. – JETS
New York Giants at Washington Commanders (-1.5): Washington is actually favored at home after getting manhandled last week by the Buccaneers. New York got stomped by the Vikings last week, too. So, go with the favored home team out of these two bottom dwellers, right? Ed Valentine of Big Blue View reports Giants QB Daniel Jones is 5-1-1 in seven starts and the Commanders defense, especially the secondary, showed no indication of improvement from last year’s miserable performance. – GIANTS
Los Angeles Rams at Arizona Cardinals (-1): Los Angeles fell to a tough Detroit team in overtime and Arizona folded against Buffalo in the second half. In the preseason, I thought the Rams were going to be a playoff team and the Cardinals would gain ground, but not quite catch up to them this year. No reason to change that opinion, yet. – RAMS
Cincinnati Bengals at Kansas City Chiefs (-6): Kansas City looked pretty good in their opener. Cincinnati did not, not at all. Apparently, cats are getting eaten in Ohio. Probably going to be reports of the same in Missouri this weekend. – CHIEFS
Pittsburgh Steelers (-3) at Denver Broncos: OK, this is a tough one. Pittsburgh beat a bad team last week without scoring a touchdown. Denver went through the growing pains of starting a rookie quarterback. I am going to have to go with the veteran coach (Mike Tomlin) over the rookie quarterback (Bo Nix). – STEELERS
Chicago Bears at Houston Texans (-7): Speaking of rookie quarterbacks, Chicago QB Caleb Williams really struggled last week, which is to be expected. Houston brought in multiple offensive weapons during the offseason to place around 2023 Offensive Rookie of the Year QB C.J. Stroud and everything looked good with their offense, which was expected. Stroud will show Williams the standard. – TEXANS
Atlanta Falcons at Philadelphia Eagles (-6.5): Atlanta looked inept on offense last week. Philadelphia earned a solid win over a quality Green Bay team. Philadelphia will have also had two additional days to rest and prepare. – EAGLES
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