NFL WRITE-UP
NFL Week 2 games
Sunday, September 20
Raiders (0-1) @ Chiefs (0-1)-- Road team won last five series games, with the Chiefs winning eight of last ten- Silver/Black won last two visits here, 20-17 and 23-8. Average total in last six series meetings is 30.3. Oakland has to travel off tough Monday loss, when they played their hearts out but lost 24-20 to Chargers; they had 148 rushing yards, beat San Diego up physically, but could not stop Bolts on last two drives. Ravens had 32 first downs against Chiefs in 38-24 Week 1 win; first two KC TDs came on blocked punt and 6-yard drive. Since 2002, Oakland is 3-12-1 vs spread as underdog of three or less points.
Texans (0-1) @ Titans (0-1)-- Tennessee won seven of last eight series games, winning last four played here by 3-6-8-19 points; average total in the last three games here is 47. Titans have three extra days to prep for this after Thursday opener. Houston's only TD in ugly loss to Jets was scored by defense; they were outgained 462-183, had only 38 yards on 13 rushes-- Jets ran ball for 190 yards on 42 carries. Titans held Pittsburgh to 36 rushing yards, forced three turnovers, but Steelers had 11-yard edge in field position. Tennessee is 9-14 as a home favorite since '04. Houston is 25-29 as road dog in franchise history.
Patriots (1-0) @ Jets (1-0)-- Pats travelling off close call in Monday opener; they've won eight of last 10 in series, winning last eight series games played here (last five wins by 16-10-7-24-9 points). Jets are just 5-10-1 vs spread at home last two years. 3-5 as home dog last three years, 2-6 as home dog vs its division rivals since 2003, but coach/QB combo of newcomers Ryan/Sanchez has invigorated franchise- they ran ball for 190 yds last week, converted 10-18 on third down. Pats threw the ball 53 times, ran it 23 times Monday- they're 16-8-1 vs spread as single digit favorite the last three years.
Bengals (0-1) @ Packers (1-0)-- Cincinnati had brutal Week 1 loss, giving up an 87-yard TD pass on tipped ball in last minute, longest game-winning TD in last minute of 4th quarter in NFL history; Bengals threw two picks, ran ball for just 86 yards- their only TD came with 0:38 left. Green Bay got winning TD with 1:24 left to beat rival Bears- they were outgained by 66 yards, but picked Cutler off four times (+4 TO ratio). Packers are 11-7-1 vs spread as a single digit home favorite last three years. Bengals are 17-12 as road underdog since 2003, 6-4 as non-divisional road dog the last three seasons.
Vikings (1-0) @ Lions (0-1)-- Since 2001, Vikings are 0-6 vs spread when they are double digit favorite. Lions had covered 10 of 11 as double digit dog before getting drilled in Superdome last week, as Brees tossed six TD passes. Vikes are 19-3 in last 22 series games, taking four of last five played here, but three of those four wins were by five points or less. Only twice in last ten series games have Vikings beaten the Lions by more than 10 points. Minnesota ran ball for 225 yards last week, as Peterson/Turner combo wore Cleveland down, but at some point, Favre will have to do more than 14-22/85 yards thru air.
Saints (1-0) @ Eagles (1-0)-- McNabb has cracked rib, Vick isn't eligible yet, so could have Kolb getting start for Philly team that had seven takeaways and five sacks in 38-10 win at Carolina last week. Saints ran ball for 157 yards, passed for 358 vs Detroit last week, scoring 45 points despite turning ball over three times, so Eagles' new DC McDermott has his first real test after taking over for the late Jim Johnson. Philly is 4-12 as favorite of three or less points since '05, but they covered eight of last ten as a non-divisional home favorite. Saints are 5-8-2 vs spread as dog of three or less points since 2005.
Panthers (0-1) @ Falcons (1-0)-- Visitor is 6-4 in last ten series games, with Panthers winning three of last four visits here, but Carolina was awful in 38-10 home loss last week, giving up an 85-yard punt return, turning ball over seven times- they had 70-yard TD drive first time they had ball, only scored three more points. Atlanta held Miami to 259 total yards, took ball away four times in 19-7 win- they had 25-yard edge in field position, starting five of their ten drives in Delphin territory. Panthers are 8-11-1 as single digit dog the last three years; Atlanta is now 7-1-1 vs spread in last nine games as single digit favorite.
Rams (0-1) @ Redskins (0-1)-- Highlight of Rams' dismal 2-14 season LY was 19-17 upset of Redskins here in Week 6 (+13), when Skins outgained Rams 368-200, held them to 8 first downs but still lost on last second FG. St Louis got blanked 28-0 in Seattle last week, committing 10 penalties, two when the game was 0-0 and they had ball on Seattle 11-yard line. Washington looks to have shored up run defense (Giants ran ball for 31-103 last week) but gave up sack/fumble for TD and were down 17-0 before scoring first TD on a fake FG. Rams are 5-11 as road dog last 2+ years, but 4-2 when getting double digits.
Cardinals (0-1) @ Jaguars (0-1)-- Both teams lost division games last week, so much urgency on both sides here. Jaguars lost home opener three of last four years, but they're 14-8-1 as non-divisional home favorite since 2003. Arizona is 23-38-3 as road dog this decade-- they outgained 49ers by 96 yards in 20-16 loss last week, holding SF to 21 yards on ground, but Warner looked immobile as Cards averaged just 5.5 per pass attempt and converted just 4 of 14 on 3rd down. Jaguars are 13-1 in last 14 home games vs NFC teams, but they passed for just 114 yards and were outgained 365-228 at Indy. Arizona in a sandwich between last week's opener and Monday night home game vs Colts next week.
Seahawks (1-0) @ 49ers (1-0)-- Seattle won seven of last ten games vs 49ers, winning four of last five visits here, with wins by 15-2-20-21 points. Hawks are 12-19-1 vs spread on road since '05, 5-10-1 in last 16 games when spread was 3 or less points. Seattle is missing two starters on OL, but they're 8-2 vs spread in last 10 games as division favorite- they had 167 rushing yards, 279 thru air in easy win last week. Niners are 5-14-2 as dog of three or less points since '02; they went 3/out on eight of 13 drives last week, but held Redbirds to 40 yards rushing. Since '04, Niners are 4-6 vs spread as divisional home dog.
Bucs (0-1) @ Bills (0-1)-- Buffalo had 11-point lead with 4:00 left Monday, snatched defeat from jaws of victory by fumbling kickoff in bitter loss to Pats, their 12th straight loss to NE. Now they come home to face young Buc team that gave up TD passes of 43-66-80 yards to TO-less Dallas (average of 12.3 yards/pass attempt, highest in NFL). Bucs did run ball for 174 yards, which is good sign; they're 7-11-1 vs spread as road dog since 2006, 6-15-1 as road dog in non-divisional games (since '02). Bills are 18-12 vs spread as single digit fave since '04, 7-4 as non-divisional home favorite since 2005.
Browns (0-1) @ Broncos (1-0)-- Couple of ex-Belichick assistants meet here; Denver had miracle win in Cincinnati last week, holding Bengals scoreless for 59:00 before Cincy took short-lived lead with 0:38 left. Browns were riddled for 225 rushing yards by Vikings in 34-20 home loss; they're 9-6-1 as road dog in non-divisional games since '05, are 10-5 in last 15 games as single digit dog. Denver was 3-17-1 vs spread as home favorite in Shanahan's last three years; they're 8-24 vs spread as non-divisional home fave since '02. Quinn converted 3-12 on third down last week; Browns had two turnovers, allowed five sacks.
Ravens (1-0) @ Chargers (1-0)-- San Diego showed guts in last 2:00 Monday night, driving 89 yards to score winning TD and escape Oakland with a 24-20 win. Baltimore had 32 first downs in win against Chiefs last week, after KC had grabbed 14-10 lead due to blocked punt and a turnover. Ravens were 10-17 on 3rd down, ran ball for 198 yards, passed for 303 as they outgained Chiefs 501-188. Baltimore is 15-22 as single digit dog since 2003. Since 2003, Bolts are 23-12-1 vs spread as home favorite; they're 13-8 as non-divisional home fave since '04. Chargers lost two offensive line starters to injury Monday nite.
Steelers (1-0) @ Bears (0-1)-- Stat of the Week: Since 2002, Pittsburgh is 3-16 vs spread as favorite of three or less points; average total in their last four road openers is 25. Steelers are 2-7 as non-divisional road favorite since '06-- they have three extra days to prepare here, coming off Thursday's win. Cutler threw four picks in 21-15 loss at Lambeau; Bears are 5-3 as home dog since '05, 15-6 vs spread in game following last 21 losses. Chicago outgained the Pack by 126 yards, held Rodgers to 4.7 yds/pass attempt, but turnovers killed them-- they lost field position by 12 yards and went 3/out six times on their 13 drives.
Giants (1-0) @ Cowboys (1-0)-- First real game in JerryDome; home field has not been big in this rivalry (home team just 6-5 last five years). Both sides had impressive wins last week; Manning averaged 8.3 yds/pass in 23-17 win over Redskins (was 17-7 at half, only Skin TD on fake FG), but Big Blue was weak in red zone (six points, three trips), struggled running in short yardage plays. Dallas showed explosiveness (TD passes of 42-80-66 yards) in 34-21 win at Tampa; their 12.3 yds/pass attempt led NFL last week. Giants are 7-3-1 as an underdog of three or less points since '06; Dallas is 6-0 as favorite of 3 points or less the last two seasons. Cowboys gave up 174 rushing yards in Tampa.
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