2017 NFL Season Week 2: Quick Picks For Every Game
By Erik Lambert
Week 2 of the 2017 NFL season features plenty of intriguing matchups along with a host of important games to track.
Yes it’s a long season but with only 16 games on the schedule, every week matters. That’s the allure of football in a nutshell. Opening week had loads of surprises. Will this week start to reset the order of things or is the NFL fandom in store for a wild ride? Here is a quick-hit series of picks for each game and how they should be expected to play out.
Cleveland Browns @ Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens defense is much better than the Steelers and now DeShone Kizer is going on the road into a tough stadium to play. Expect the rookie to take his fair share of hits in this game, along with a couple turnovers. Joe Flacco will work to take advantage of that, though having no running game makes that difficult.
CLE 9, BAL 16
Buffalo Bills @ Carolina Panthers
The Jets are a nice schedule vacation for everybody this year. Buffalo took advantage. Unfortunately their fun may be coming to an end. With their stacked offense, the Panthers are a headache for any team. Especially one that’s in transition defensively. Sean McDermott may know them well, but he doesn’t have the horses to stop what’s coming.
BUF 13, CAR 24
Arizona Cardinals @ Indianapolis Colts
Andrew Luck is out again. This time though the Colts are turning to Jacoby Brissett to run the offense. That’s how desperate things have become. That being said the Cardinals are dealing with a rash of injuries. To say nothing of the age issues on offense. Nonetheless Bruce Arians is usually good about making adjustments. Indy may not be equipped to stop it.
ARI 27, IND 10
Tennessee Titans @ Jacksonville Jaguars
Suddenly this is a hard one to pin down. Neither team opened the year as expected. Tennessee looked stymied against Oakland while Jacksonville railroaded Houston. Both teams can and will try to run the football with DeMarco Murray and Leonard Fournette. However, the game will come down to the quarterbacks at some point. Marcus Mariota vs. Blake Bortles? Please.
TEN 21, JAX 17