We now have a better idea of who teams are. Therefore, it’s easier to make assertions about what teams are good and what teams are bad. On the flip side, it’s too early to know which good performances are flukes and which bad performances are just rust. Using both last year and this year as a guide, I’m hoping I can accurately predict all 16 games, including four that I feel particularly confident in.
Lock
Buccaneers-Falcons
 |
 |
+12.5
-112
|
o 52.5
-110
|
+500
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
-12.5
-108
|
o 52.5
-110
|
-715
|
I might be 0-1 in my locks for the year, but my lock last week didn’t include Thomas Edward Patrick Brady III. I don’t anticipate the Falcons to beat the reigning Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers, especially since the former is coming off of a 30 point blowout to a first-year starter. I’ll even say that Atlanta doesn’t cover the generous -12.5 point spread, as I have yet to see any proof that the Falcons are a team to be afraid of.
Safe Bets
Cardinals-Vikings
|
 |
+3.5
-110
|
o 50.5
-110
|
+160
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
-3.5
-110
|
o 50.5
-110
|
-190
|
This isn’t me being bias because Kyler Murray is my fantasy QB in three leagues. This is me having not much to go off of except what I saw last year and week one. With that out of the way, I’m taking a QB who had five touchdowns and the #1 overall offense at one point in 2020 over a team with an injury-riddled defense and an offense that currently ranks bottom 20 in the league (it’s only been one week, but the point remains. To that end, I’ll say this: Hammer. The. Over.
Rams-Colts
 |
 |
-3.5
-110
|
o 48.0
-110
|
-186
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
+3.5
-110
|
o 48.0
-110
|
|
Similar to other Eagles fans, I’ve kept tabs on Carson Wentz. Based on his week 1 performance, he seems to be in 2018 shape, dumping off quickly on underneath routes and not putting the ball in too much danger. While that makes him a top 15-20 QB, I don’t imagine that’s going to be enough to beat the Rams. I feel bad betting against him two weeks in a row, but I didn’t see enough to convince myself that he can beat Matt Stafford, the reigning NFC Offensive Player of the Week.
Patriots-Jets
|
 |
-5.5
-110
|
o 43.0
-110
|
-240
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
+5.5
-110
|
o 43.0
-110
|
+198
|
Bill Belicheck eats rookie Quarterbacks for breakfast. If you need proof, look no further than last year’s blowout against the Chargers. Justin Herbert, 2020 Rookie of the Year, who is gaining clout as a top 10 QB, was shut out in a 45-0 massacre. The odds of Zach Wilson, a rookie QB, faring any better than the best offensive rookie from the 2020 draft are… low, to say the least. If I were you, I’d ride that 6-point parlay all the way to the bank.
Broncos-Jaguars
|
 |
-6.0
-115
|
o 45.0
-110
|
-270
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
+6.0
-106
|
o 45.0
-110
|
+210
|
I don’t like overreacting based on one week, but the Texans were considered the worst team in the league coming into week 1. The Texans scored 36 points. With Tyrod Taylor as their Quarterback. Allow me to reiterate what I said in my last week’s prediction article: the Jaguars have no direction as a team. Though I will give them this: sacrificing your season to attain 0-17 immortality is a bold sacrifice.
Avoid
Chiefs-Ravens
Good teams are always hard to pick. Chiefs aren’t good at stopping the run, and that’s what the Ravens seem to do better than any other team. Meanwhile, Mahomes has lost seven games in three years. In this particular matchup, I wouldn’t gamble against either QB. If I had to pick a team, I’d say Ravens because Lamar had a rough game against the Raiders.
Miscellaneous Picks:
Bears-Bengals: Bengals
I’d say that I don’t like the odds of Burrow beating back-to-back underwhelming NFC North teams, but my faith in Andy Dalton is next to nil. I’m sure Bears fans can relate. Unless Justin Fields is being hidden away until gameday, I’m taking Cincinnati (which is admittedly a weird sentence).
Texans-Browns: Browns
The Texans can’t play the Jaguars every week, and the Browns have a loaded roster with a top 10 QB who took Patrick Mahomes to the wire in week 1. For me, this is an easy pick. Assuming Tyrod proves that he can do what he did in Week 1 consistently, then I’ll start putting respect on his name, but for now, I’m going with the more proven team.
Bills-Dolphins: Bills
Josh Allen didn’t have a good week 1. Fortunately for him, neither did Tua (despite Tua coming out victorious). With that said, I’m taking the quarterback who has two 10-win seasons in three years starting who is just coming off an MVP-caliber campaign. This one could honestly go either way. Neither QBs were impressive in their season debut, so this would be my second avoid, but Allen is more proven over the past two years, and thus I’m putting my faith in him to prove 2020 wasn’t a fluke for him.
49ers-Eagles: Eagles
There’s no downside to picking Philadelphia here. If they lose, I can brush it off as homerism. If they win, I can declare myself a sage and flex my football knowledge for the next week.
Raiders-Steelers: Raiders
If this were a matchup five, ten years ago, then I’d take the Steelers. However, I currently have more faith in Carr than Rothlisberger, especially after last week. Pittsburgh has a better defense, but people often touted the Ravens defense as elite, and Carr put up 33 points. These two teams have a rich history, physical running backs, and a winning record, so I’m sure this will be a physical game. While both teams came out victorious, I’m going with the Raiders because their win against Baltimore was more convincing.
Saints-Panthers: Panthers (upset, I know)
Both Darnold and Winston, for how long they’ve been in the league, are unproven. Darnold did well in Week 1. now that he has escaped Adam Gase (as I predicted he would), but I have a weird feeling Winston’s risky style of play will cost him this game. I just have a weird feeling that it’s going to be tough for him to repeat his 5-touchdown performance.
Cowboys-Chargers: Chargers
Dak impressed me a lot last week. While he does have one of the best offenses in the league to work with, I think he’s starting to prove that he’s not just a beneficiary of a good situation. However, the Cowboys seem to have a new injury to deal with every week. Last week, Greg Zuerlein missed three potentially crucial kicks due to recent back surgery. Michael Gallup, La’el Collins, Randy Gregory, and Demarcus Lawrence will all be unavailable as of this week. Even when healthy, the secondary is patchwork. Keenan Allen and Justin Herbert are going to eat that Cowboys secondary alive. It likely won’t be a pretty day for Cowboys fans. Not that I’m complaining or anything.
Titans-Seahawks: Seahawks
As the Colts learned last week, early-season Russell Wilson is a meat grinder you don’t want to get thrown into. DangeRuss tends to throw three or four touchdowns per game(!) during the first five or six weeks, and according to my math, it’s only week 2. Considering Tennessee is coming off an ugly loss to Arizona, I wouldn’t bet on a bounce-back game from Tannehill & Co. Tannehill especially, as Arizona demonstrated that if you shut down Derrick Henry, you shut down the entire offense.
Lions-Packers: Packers
It’s surprising that I’d consider betting on Aaron Rodgers a gamble, especially the perceived discrepancy between him and Goff as quarterbacks. Unfortunately for Rodgers, that divide was invisible last week (Goff scored 31 against the 49ers, even if 14 came in garbage time). Rodgers is 16-5 against the Lions, many of the wins coming against a better quarterback than Goff. Many people have been waiting on Rodgers’ downfall for multiple years, but last week suggests the end of the Rodgers era is soon at hand. Sooner than we originally thought. Fortunately for Green Bay, Detroit has not shown that they are a good team this year. If Rodgers is going to prove that he is not washed, now is the time to prove to doubters (such as me, to an extent) that he’s still a baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad man!
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Dylan Patrowicz is a featured writer at The Birds Blitz. For more from Dylan, check out his archive and read through our Eagles articles for the latest news about the Birds.
