Weekly Mayhem – Early Games Week 1

It’s finally back. Football. Will Brett Favre enact his revenge against the Who Dat nation, or will the send him and his start streak home in a stretcher? Are Cleveland and Tampa really playing each other? Can Tom Brady shake his car accident off? Will Denver be able contain Maurice Jones-Drew? Is it time to be serious about the Jason Campbell and the Raiders? God I love football. Picks and explanations for the early games after the jump.

Game	Pick

Brief Reasoning’s

Minnesota at New Orleans

Brett Favre may be ready to shake the demons of the cajun crew, but that doesn’t mean they’ll let him.  New Orleans defense is too stingy, and their offense is too explosive for Minnesota to overcome.

Score: Saints 38, Vikings 27

Cleveland at Tampa Bay

This game is really happening. This may be a trick and we could be in for a Cleveland vs. Detroit style match-up. However, I don’t think this will be the case. Josh Freeman wasn’t too bad in the preseason, Mike Williams looks like he could be a stud, and Cadillac Williams is back. Also I don’t think Jake Delhomme will be too much for even the mediocre Tampa defense to handle.

Score: Bucs 21, Browns 10

Buffalo at Miami

If C.J. Spiller can get any help whatsoever, the Bills just might not be the worst team in the NFL this year. I don’t think he has it in him (yet) to beat the Dolphins with a solo effort. It will be painful to see Brandon Marshall blast through the Bill’s secondary. Jarius Byrd can’t be there to stop him every time.

Score: Dolphins 27, Bills 7

Cincinnati at New England

This is going to be a good game. It will be interesting to see how Wes Welker does coming back from his injury. Welker’s performance could very well be what creates a win for New England. The Patriots will have to stop the dynamic Bengal run offense if they have any chance of winning this one though. I would say home field advantage is a big deal here, but away games are nothing to the Bengals.

Score: Cincinnati 27, New England 24

Indianapolis at Houston

The Houston Texans have only beaten the Colts one time in their existence as an NFL franchise. As of Sunday night, I think they’ll claim their second victory. The Texans will start out hot and fire up the scoreboard, and it will be Peyton Manning‘s job to keep his team in the game. The Texans are too well built, and if they can execute well at the end of games this year, they might see their first playoff appearance as well.

Score: Texans 37, Colts 34

Denver at Jacksonville

Welcome home Tim Tebow, and thanks for the home field advantage. Wayne Weaver owner of the Jaguars will see millions of Dollars in jersey sales and enthusiastic fans that could have gone his team’s way instead of major reach Tyson Alualu. Denver’s big job here is to stop Maurice Jones-Drew. David Garrard has been playing terribly ever since he signed his new contract, and the secondary is well stacked. Denver’s offensive line should look amazing in pass protection seeing how Elvis Dumervil had more sacks than the Jaguars had all together last year. Jack Del Rio is a great coach when it comes to the X’s and O’s so he will keep it a close game.

Score: Broncos 27, Jaguars 20

Atlanta at Pittsburgh

Dennis Dixon. Enough said. The Steelers are not a bad team, but Dennis Dixon is a bad quarterback who could easily lose the game against a good Falcon team. The Falcons are weak in run coverage so expect Dixon to scramble a lot. What will be interesting here is to see if Matt Ryan can recover from a sophomore slump.

Score: Falcons 21, Steelers 14

Oakland at Tennessee

I for one am sick of hearing how the Raiders can take the AFC West this year. Jason Campbell was a timid and indecisive quarterback in Washington D.C., how does that change with location? Tennessee’s offense is stacked with playmakers. Vince Young and Chris Johnson will eat Oakland’s defense up for an absurd amount of yards.

Score: Titans 28, Raiders 14

Carolina at New York (Giants)

The Panther’s might be a good team this year, but it will be hard to beat the Giant’s in their new stadium. Eli Manning doesn’t need to do it all by himself, he has Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs help out. The Giants will have to worry about containing the Panther’s dynamic run game and Steve Smith.

Score: Giants 27, Panthers 24

Detroit at Chicago

The shocker of the weekend. The Lions will leave Soldier field with a win. I really like how Jim Schwartz retooled the defensive line this offseason. Jay Cutler will have no time to throw behind that atrocious offensive line. Matt Stafford now has a great running back in Jahvid Best to take some of the load off. The Lions just may finish 3rd in the NFC North this year.

Score: Lions 21, Bears 14

That’s it for now, check back over the weekend of my late game predictions