Week 2 in the NFL brought several surprises. Will there be more this week or will things get back to normal? All times are Pacific.
Last week: 9-7 (straight up)
Season record: 23-9
Sunday Sept. 23
Arizona 1-1
at Baltimore 1-1, 10 a.m.
Last Meeting: Ravens won 26-18 at Arizona in 2003.
Stats & Stuff: Cardinals running back Edgerrin James had his best game with team in Week 2 with 123 yards on 24 carries. Kyle Boller passed for two touchdowns for Baltimore in his first start since 2005.
Game Day: The Ravens’ stingy run defense won’t allow James to gain many yards.
Pick: Ravens 20, Cardinals 10
San Diego 1-1
at Green Bay 2-0, 10 a.m.
Last Meeting: Packers won 38-21 at San Diego in 2003.
Stats & Stuff: LaDainian Tomlinson has just 68 yards rushing in first two weeks. Green Bay is 7-1 all-time against the Chargers.
Game Day: This is a real test for Green Bay, while the Chargers will try to get their offense rolling.
Pick: Chargers 23, Packers 16
Indianapolis 2-0
at Houston 2-0, 10 a.m.
Last Meeting: Texans won 27-24 at home last December.
Stats & Stuff: Colts lead series 9-1. Houston is 2-0 for the first time in franchise history.
Game Day: Texans RB Ron Dayne had a career-high 153 yards, two TDs in win over Colts last year, but Indianapolis hasn’t allowed that many total rushing yards in a game to any team in seven games since.
Pick: Colts 23, Texans 19
Minnesota 1-1
at Kansas City 0-2, 10 a.m.
Last Meeting: Vikings won 45-20 at home in 2003.
Stats & Stuff: Minnesota quarterback Tarvaris Jackson tied a team record with four interceptions on Sunday. Chiefs have scored just 13 points in their first two games.
Game Day: Playing at home should give Kansas City its first victory.
Pick: Chiefs 27, Vikings 24
Buffalo 0-2
at New England 2-0, 10 a.m.
Last Meeting: Patriots won 28-6 at Buffalo last October.
Stats & Stuff: Bills were outgained 420-223 in Sunday’s loss at Pittsburgh. In first two games with Patriots, wide receiver Randy Moss has three TD catches, matching his 2006 total with Oakland.
Game Day: Even without spy cameras, the Patriots are still tough.
Pick: Patriots 24, Bills 10
Miami 0-2
at N.Y. Jets 0-2, 10 a.m.
Last Meeting: Jets won 13-10 at Miami last December.
Stats & Stuff: Dolphins had five turnovers in loss to Dallas in Week 2. New York was held to 69 rushing yards on 27 carries in loss to Ravens.
Game Day: Jets’ RB Thomas Jones is due to break loose.
Pick: Jets 23, Dolphins 17
Detroit 2-0
at Philadelphia 0-2, 10 a.m.
Last Meeting: Eagles won 30-13 at Detroit in 2004.
Stats & Stuff: Lions committed five turnovers, but beat Minnesota in Week 2. Philadelphia QB Donovan McNabb has 100 career regular-season starts.
Game Day: Eagles are off to traditional slow start, but 0-3 will be unacceptable.
Pick: Eagles 34, Lions 20
San Francisco 2-0
at Pittsburgh 2-0, 10 a.m.
Last Meeting: 49ers won 30-14 at home in 2003.
Stats & Stuff: San Francisco is off to first 2-0 start since 1998. Steelers have 500 wins all-time, the most among AFC teams.
Game Day: Steelers slow down San Francisco’s resurgence.
Pick: Steelers 20, 49ers 12
St. Louis 0-2
at Tampa Bay 1-1, 10 a.m.
Last Meeting: Rams won 28-21 at home in 2004.
Stats & Stuff: St. Louis lost to 49ers on Sunday despite 20-8 edge in first downs. WR Joey Galloway had four catches for 135 yards, TD in Bucs’ win.
Game Day: Rams are searching for a way to win while Tampa Bay QB Jeff Garcia is showing Bucs how to win.
Pick: Rams 24, Buccaneers 20
Jacksonville 1-1
at Denver 2-0, 1:05 p.m.
Last Meeting: Broncos won 20-7 at Jacksonville in 2005.
Stats & Stuff: Jaguars QB David Garrard went 7 of 8 for 122 yards on two scoring drives in win over Atlanta on Sunday. Denver is 21-4 at home since 2004.
Game Day: Jaguars are back on track after season-opening loss while Denver’s good fortune in first two weeks is about to run out.
Pick: Jaguars 16, Broncos 13
Cleveland 1-1
at Oakland 1-1, 1:05 p.m.
Last Meeting: Browns won 24-21 at Oakland last October.
Stats & Stuff: Browns’ 51 points in win over Cincinnati were their most since returning to the NFL in 1999. Oakland has lost 11 consecutive games.
Game Day: It’s unlikely that Cleveland will repeat Week 2 offensive performance, and the Raiders are on the verge of breaking their losing skid.
Pick: Raiders 28, Browns 24
Cincinnati 1-1
at Seattle 1-1, 1:05 p.m.
Last Meeting: Bengals won 27-24 at home in 2003.
Stats & Stuff: Cincinnati had 531 offensive yards in loss at Cleveland in Week 2. Seahawks QB Matt Hasselbeck fumbled to set up Arizona’s winning field goal.
Game Day: Seahawks’ defense will be better than Browns’ was, and Seattle’s offense is looking forward to playing Bengals’ leaky defense.
Pick: Seahawks 31, Bengals 27
Carolina 1-1
at Atlanta 0-2, 1:15 p.m.
Last Meeting: Panthers won 10-3 at Atlanta last December.
Stats & Stuff: Carolina blew 14-0 first-quarter lead in loss to Texans on Sunday. Falcons QB Joey Harrington was sacked seven times in loss to Jacksonville.
Game Day: Panthers won’t blow the lead this time.
Pick: Panthers 27, Falcons 13
N.Y. Giants 0-2
at Washington 2-0, 1:15 p.m.
Last Meeting: Giants won 34-28 at Washington last December.
Stats & Stuff: Giants are 0-2 for first time since 1996. Washington has won two in a row for first time since Sept. 24 “” Oct. 1 of last season.
Game Day: Redskins have a chance to gain sole possession of first place in the NFC East.
Pick: Redskins 23, Giants 21
Dallas 2-0
at Chicago 1-1, 5:15 p.m.
Last Meeting: Cowboys won 21-7 at Dallas in 2004.
Stats & Stuff: Dallas controlled the ball for 35:03 in win over Dolphins in Week 2. Cedric Benson ran for 101 yards in Bears win.
Game Day: Chicago’s offense is struggling, but defense should be able to bail them out again.
Pick: Bears 24, Cowboys 17
Monday Sept. 17
Tennessee 1-1
at New Orleans 0-2, 5:30 p.m.
Last Meeting: Titans won 27-12 at home in 2003.
Stats & Stuff: Titans’ Vince Young leads all NFL QB’s with 75 rushing yards. New Orleans has been outscored 72-24 in opening two games.
Game Day: The Saints had the top offense in the league last season, and should find some of that magic again at home in the dome.
Pick: Saints 30, Titans 16<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Week 2 in the NFL brought several surprises. Will there be more this week or will things get back to normal? All times are Pacific.Last week: 9-7 (straight up) Season record: 23-9Sunday Sept. 23 Arizona 1-1 at Baltimore 1-1, 10 a.m. Last Meeting: Ravens won 26-18 at Arizona in 2003. Stats & Stuff: Cardinals running […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"NFL Week 3 previews and picks","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11600],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-300816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sdnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=300816"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300816\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=300816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=300816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=300816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}