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NFL Pro Football 2007 Week 2-preseason Picks - late games
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DTMagazine Home Pro Football Week 2-preseason Picks - early games
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Fearless Rick's NFL Week 2-preseason Picks - Late Games
Rick Gagliano | Saturday, Aug. 18 - Monday, Aug. 20
All times Eastern - Click here for early games.
Saturday, Aug. 18
San Diego at St. Louis (-1, 38) 8:00 pm (CBS) - San Diego's defense looked pathetic losing to the Seahawks on Sunday night. Of course, that's not their main thing, so expect Marc Bulger to have a field day against non-blitzing, soft, cover-2 zones. Maybe Norv Turner doesn't think preseason is important for his starters, and LaDainian Tomlinson will be on the bench for the duration. The San Diego offense will put up points as well. This one may come down to last man standing.
Until the Chargers actually win a game, preseason or otherwise, I think of them as pretenders rather than contenders. Once they play with some fire, I'll back them, but not after what they showed in their opener.
PREDICTION: Rams 34 Chargers 27
Denver at Dallas (-5, 35 1/2) 8:00 pm - Please. Dallas has the look already. Denver has a bunch of question marks. Dallas could be lock of the week, but I don't use such terminology. They look almost too good to be true. Besides, they made the playoffs last year and Denver didn't, and, the game is in Big D and they certainly don't want disappointed fans. Romo and TO will slice through the Broncos secondary. Cowboys tame Broncos, don't they?
PREDICTION: Cowboys 24 Broncos 7
Pittsburgh (-2, 33 1/2) at Washington 8:00 pm - This is one of those trap games. The Steelers look like pretty good, despite losing to Green Bay at home. Now along come the Redskins - fresh off a 14-6 opening win over Tennessee and a pair of journeymen QBs - but pretty banged up. The left side of the o-line is a patchwork and QB Jason Campbell took lumps last week. So Pitt gets installed as a slight road favorite, the only one of the week. The Steelers look crisp, the Redskins, even at home, ripe? What's that burning? Pittsburgh cornerbacks. Upset special.
PREDICTION: Redskins 16 Steelers 13
Seattle at Green Bay (-1 1/2, 35 1/2) 8:00 pm - We all know how good Brett Favre is, but how about Aaron Rodgers, who will be getting most of the snaps? Against the Steelers, on the road, Rodgers was 18-27 for 168 yards and a TD. Not too shabby, and he's likely to improve on that against a somewhat overconfident (after besting the Chargers) Seattle secondary.
Seattle proved nothing with their win at San Diego, except that the Chargers are beatable without Tomlinson in their backfield. They were, in fact, outgained by 15 yards, but aided by 8 Charger penalties. Like the Chargers, they also turned the ball over 3 times. Not exactly championship-caliber football. Rodgers will get lots of time to look and throw and should have a big day.
PREDICTION: Packers 24 Seahawks 17
PREDICTION: 49ers 20 Raiders 13
Sunday, Aug. 19
N.Y. Giants at Baltimore (-4, 33 1/2) 8:00 pm (NBC) - The New York football Giants were a little better prepared than anticipated against Carolina last week, holding their own in a 24-21 loss. A bunch of players toted the football out of the backfield as NY looks for the next Tiki Barber and Eli Manning was solid, going 3-5 with a TD pass. He'll see more playing time this week.
However, they will be facing one of the better AFC teams on the road, and this may turn ugly early on. Baltimore may be in take-no-prisoners mode already, having destroyed the Eagles, 29-3 on Monday night. Maybe Manning will not see much action after all, especially if he gets abused by the Ravens' defense, which is likely.
PREDICTION: Ravens 27 Giants 10
Monday, Aug. 20
Chicago at Indianapolis (-2 1/2, 35 1/2) 8:00 pm (ESPN) - This preseason rematch of Super Bowl teams may be stretching fan loyalty a bit too far. It is only the 2nd week of preseason after all, and there are a lot of fat guys with tender hearts watching. You'd think the NFL would not want to get them too excited this early. We don't want a rash of preseason fan heart attacks, do we?
Thankfully, coach Dungy doesn't put much stock in preseason games, but the league and Peyton Manning may have other ideas. They may have to play these guys again in late January, so one must send the right message. Just on a hunch, though, I'd say the Bears will be the more motivated team here and will come up with a win.
PREDICTION: Bears 24 Colts 20
All times Eastern - Click here for early games
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