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| Two straight bad 4th quarters have the Giants at 0-2. Eli and company look for their first win. |
Thursday September 24, 2015 8:25pm
CBS, NFL Network -- Jim Nantz, Phil Simms
MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ
The Giants made NFL history by blowing double-digit leads in the fourth quarter of their first two games of the season. The good thing is they were good enough to be up double-digits in the fourth quarter. The bad thing is they're 0-2. This is exactly the game the Giants need, as the Giants should look to go up more than 10 points to put the Redskins away. The Giants' defense is porous, so Kirk Cousins should be able to score on them. Still, look for the Giants to get in the win column finally.
Washington Redskins 20 New York Giants 30
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| Despite an excellent showing in preseason, Sam Bradford's job may be on the line if he has a poor outing here. |
Sunday September 27, 2015 1:00pm
FOX -- Kevin Burkhardt, John Lynch
MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ
The Eagles are reeling at 0-2 like their NFC East counterpart Giants. However, the Giants have an easy home tilt against the division rival Redskins, and the Eagles have a difficult game against the stout Jets' defense in their building. The Eagles are familiar with MetLife Stadium as they play the Giants there every year. Still, the Jets are a much better team at the moment, as Ryan Fitzpatrick isn't turning the ball over and the defense is getting off the field. The Eagles may make a quarterback change if Bradford is lousy against another quality defense. That means you may see Mark Sanchez against the Jets. Stay tuned.
Philadelphia Eagles 17 New York Jets 24
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| The Cowboys did trade for Matt Cassel, but Brandon Weeden figures to get the start in place of injured Tony Romo. |
Sunday September 27, 2015 1:00pm
FOX -- Joe Buck, Troy Aikman
AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX
The Cowboys start their first official full game without Tony Romo as their starting quarterback for awhile. They'll also be without leading wide receiver Dez Bryant for awhile as well. Bryant played with Brandon Weeden at Oklahoma State, so Weeden and Bryant could've worked off of familiarity had Bryant been healthy. The Falcons are surprisingly 2-0, but they were narrow victories against teams who probably did more to lose themselves than the Falcons did winning. Even with a backup quarterback, the Cowboys should be able to get the job done this game relying on the run.
Atlanta Falcons 20 Dallas Cowboys 24
Indianapolis Colts vs. Tennessee Titans
Sunday September 27, 2015 1:00pm
CBS -- Tom McCarthy, Adam Archuleta
LP Field, Nashville, TN
The Colts are starting off surprisingly at 0-2, and looking at their first two opponents, many expected for them to start 2-0. Divisional opponents for the Colts should always be an easy week, even if the Colts are in Nashville for this one. Look for the Colts to jump on the Titans early. The honeymoon for Marcus Mariota is now over, as he was not as successful as maybe he thought he would be after the Week 1 victory. This is the first time the home fans get to see Mariota. Too bad it'll come against a motivated team.
Indianapolis Colts 31 Tennessee Titans 17
Oakland Raiders vs. Cleveland Browns
Sunday September 27, 2015 1:00pm
CBS -- Carter Blackburn, Chris Simms
FirstEnergy Stadium, Cleveland, OH
Both of these teams had horrible showings in Week 1, only to follow it up with an impressive showing in Week 2. The Browns are surprisingly going back to Josh McCown after Johnny Manziel had a successful outing in the team's home opener last week. Since both of these teams aren't really as good as their performance from last week suggests, I'll have to go with the home team here.
Oakland Raiders 13 Cleveland Browns 23
Cincinnati Bengals vs. Baltimore Ravens
Sunday September 27, 2015 1:00pm
CBS -- Andrew Catalon, Steve Beuerlein, Steve Tasker
M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, MD
The Bengals have looked impressive in the early going, and a win in Baltimore would really be significant to both teams. The problem for the Bengals is Andy Dalton always looks impressive early in the season, only to wilt under pressure as the season goes along. For the Ravens, their home opener cannot have come soon enough. They thought they would at least be 1-1 after their first two road games, but a bad loss to the Raiders leaves them at 0-2 looking for answers. I'll go with the slight upset here. I think the Bengals find a way to pull it off in Baltimore and really put the Ravens in a hole.
Cincinnati Bengals 20 Baltimore Ravens 17
Jacksonville Jaguars vs. New England Patriots
Sunday September 27, 2015 1:00pm
CBS -- Kevin Harlan, Rich Gannon
Gillette Stadium, Foxboro, MA
This preview should not be long, because the Jaguars have absolutely no shot at winning this football game. The Jaguars were at home for their first two, so this is their first road game of the season, and it comes against the defending champions. Brady has been lights out in the first two games as well, throwing for seven touchdowns and zero interceptions through the first two games. He hung a 40 spot on a tough defense in Buffalo last week. Brady did go 16-0 the last time the Patriots were embroiled in a cheating controversy, and from the looks of it, he appears motivated to silence his critics.
Jacksonville Jaguars 14 New England Patriots 38
New Orleans Saints vs. Carolina Panthers
Sunday September 27, 2015 1:00pm
FOX -- Chris Myers, Ronde Barber
Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC
The Saints will fall to 0-3 after this one, as the Panthers have too good of a defense to allow the Saints to win in Charlotte. The Saints really blew a big opportunity at a win when they lost at home to the lowly Buccaneers last week. The decline of Drew Brees and Sean Payton has kind of resembled the decline Eli Manning and Tom Coughlin have experienced in the past couple of years. The trade for Max Unger doesn't look so good now. Unger is a good offensive lineman, but trading Brees' best offensive weapon seems to be a mistake.
New Orleans Saints 17 Carolina Panthers 24
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Houston Texans
Sunday September 27, 2015 1:00pm
FOX -- Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston
NRG Stadium, Houston, TX
The Texans have played poorly in their first two games. They need to look at this game as an opportunity to get in the win column. Ryan Mallett appears to be starting again, and the Buccaneers aren't as good of a defense as the Panthers and Chiefs are. In front of the home fans, Mallett and the offense should be able to generate something. Let's see how Jameis Winston fares against J.J. Watt barreling in from his end spot. Winston isn't superbly athletic, so Watt should be able to get to him in this game.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 14 Houston Texans 20
San Diego Chargers vs. Minnesota Vikings
Sunday September 27, 2015 1:00pm
CBS -- Ian Eagle, Dan Fouts
TCF Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, MN
Keenan Allen had a huge game in the season opener, and went completely missing last week against the Bengals. The Bengals do have a solid defense, so it isn't terribly surprising. The Vikings are hard to read, but the one thing you can count on is them feeding Adrian Peterson the ball often. They failed to do that in Week 1, and it cost them dearly. The Chargers are on the Eastern side of the country for another week, so they should be better adjusted and more prepared to win this football game.
San Diego Chargers 23 Minnesota Vikings 20
Pittsburgh Steelers vs. St. Louis Rams
Sunday September 27, 2015 1:00pm
CBS -- Greg Gumbel, Trent Green
Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, MO
The Rams are a hard team to figure out. They're lauded for their superior defensive line, but don't always control the line of scrimmage as evidenced against the Redskins last week. Last year, they were impressive defensively against the Seahawks, but got torched by a team like the Giants late in the season when things were going well for them. This year, they were impressive against the Seahawks again, but then got handled easily by the Redskins. The Steelers' offense is rolling, so look for them to open up the pass game and keep things going in the dome. Leveon Bell is back too. That's trouble for the Rams.
Pittsburgh Steelers 31 St. Louis Rams 20
San Francisco 49ers vs. Arizona Cardinals
Sunday September 27, 2015 4:05pm
FOX -- Thom Brennaman, Charles Davis, Tony Siragusa
University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, AZ
The 49ers looked a lot more like what the prognosticators expected from them this season. They looked awful against the Steelers, but the Steelers are a very good team who can challenge the Patriots in the AFC if they can straighten out their defense. The Cardinals look like a team that's rolling whenever Carson Palmer is their quarterback. Going with the Cardinals is the safe pick here.
San Francisco 49ers 17 Arizona Cardinals 34
Buffalo Bills vs. Miami Dolphins
Sunday September 27, 2015 4:25pm
CBS -- Spero Dedes, Solomon Wilcots
Sun Life Stadium, Miami, FL
This is the Bills' first road game, so it should be very interesting to see how they perform away from the rowdy fans in upstate New York. On the flip side, this is the Dolphins first home game, and they'll want to take advantage of this game because they fly to London next week to face the Jets. Both teams have solid defenses, even though that didn't show last week. This game will come down to the play of Tyrod Taylor and Ryan Tannehill. While many believe Tannehill is the better quarterback, Taylor is slightly better at using his legs and speed to avoid rushers. Still, I couldn't imagine Taylor getting a win in Miami.
Buffalo Bills 17 Miami Dolphins 23
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| Kam Chancellor ended his holdout, which means the Seahawks should play much better defensively. |
Sunday September 27, 2015 4:25pm
CBS -- Jim Nantz, Phil Simms
CenturyLink Field, Seattle, WA
The Seahawks have Kam Chancellor back, but I'm not sure they need him for this game. The Bears lost Jay Cutler to a hamstring injury, so that means Jimmy Clausen will be starting. Whether it's Cutler or Clausen, the Bears are in serious trouble in this game. I forgot to add this is the Seahawks' home opener. The Bears are seriously in trouble.
Chicago Bears 7 Seattle Seahawks 34
Denver Broncos vs. Detroit Lions
Sunday September 27, 2015 8:30pm
NBC -- Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth
Ford Field, Detroit, MI
This is the home opener for the Lions, and they desperately needed it. They have struggled on the road in their first two games, and that may be attributed to not having DeAndre Levy out there. Levy is the leader of their defense, and without Ndamukong Suh, his play and impact is that much more important. The Broncos are fortunate to be 2-0 right now. They haven't looked sharp at all, and this will probably be another tough week for Peyton Manning. Look for the Lions' home crowd to be fired up. I can't remember the last time they've had a Sunday night game at home.
Denver Broncos 23 Detroit Lions 27
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| In happier times, Alex Smith and Jamaal Charles celebrate a touchdown. Charles fumbled the game away later on. |
Monday September 28, 2015 8:30pm
ESPN -- Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden
Lambeau Field, Green Bay, WI
This is a great game for a Monday night. The Packers are invincible at home, so I expect them to win this game. However, I expect the Chiefs to be legit challengers, and make the Packers sweat like they did last week against the Seahawks. The Chiefs have had an enormous amount of time off, as their Week 2 tilt was a Thursday night. That game was a tough one to swallow too, as Jamaal Charles fumbled the game away after they were dominating for the majority of the game. Charles should look to redeem himself here, but too much Aaron Rodgers will doom the Chiefs.
Kansas City Chiefs 23 Green Bay Packers 30
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