darrell,

Last week we were 6-2-1 and we're now 26-10 on the season (37-12 on a star basis) as $100 bettors are up $2,380 already. View prior 2005 NFL Picks.

My Week 2 NFL Computer Predictions & Analysis are available for viewing. These predictions are based on a Super Computer playing each game tens of thousands of times. Use them as an input to your handicapping - not a replacement. The computer can't take into account emotion or situations.

Good luck, darrell!

Tennessee showed us a lot last week. Their defense IS that bad and their offense IS NOT that good - yet. Norm Chow will get this offense performing better but it's clear it will take a while and they will need to score points in buckets to keep this team in games. Against this Baltimore defense, the Titans may not score. I say that only half in-jest. Tennessee's defense has gone from bad to worse. Samari Rolle will be on the field in this game, but as a Raven instead of a Titan. Rolle, Tennessee's best cornerback, was let go this year for salary cap reasons. They also lost DT Kevin Carter and safety Lance Shulters. The result? We saw it last week as Pittsburgh shredded them with a third-string tailback and Ben Roethlisberger who was 9 for 11. Why are we only laying a bit more than a field goal here? Because Baltimore got embarrased by Indinanpolis on national TV last week. I am not a Kyle Boller fan. This guy is second to only Jake Plummer on the list of bad QBs who continue to get chances as an NFL starter. Boller is out and Anthony Wright is in. Wright threw 20 passes last week and with a full week to prepare, should have success against the Titans. He really doesn't need to do much here other than hand off to Jamal Lewis and sit back as he and the Ravens defense score points. In his tenure at Tennesse, Jeff Fisher is just 10-20 ATS during the first month of the season. Meanwhile, Baltimore is 21-6 since 1992 off a home loss. It's tough to bounce back from a 34-7 loss in week one and this Titans team doesn't have what it takes, especially against a pissed-off Ravens team. My computer matchup predicts a blow-out here and I agree. Two stars on Baltimore.

Many were surprised by Detroit's win over Green Bay last week. Is Detroit that good or is Green Bay that bad? Hard to say at this point in the season but one thing's for sure. Chicago has no offense. Not a big surprise here with a rookie quarterback and their top running back seeing limited action. We went with Chicago as a big underdog last week because of their defense and it paid off. Heck, they were facing one of last year's worst offenses. But, this line is small and if Detroit can hold Brett Favre and Green Bay to 3 points, they can certainly contain this Chicago offense. If the Lions can score 20 points, they should have this locked up. Kevin Jones is emerging as a great back and Joey Harrington looked good last week (not a surprise as he knows he needs to perform this year or he's out). Detroit will stack the line of scrimmage in this one and put the game on Kyle Orton's shoulders. Chicago was outgained 182-339 yards last game and the Bears are 0-7 over the past three years after being outgained by 150+ yards. Week 2 visiting teams off a great week 1 defensive effort cover the spread about two thirds of the time. We'll back Detroit here for one star.

Last week when we went against the Rams I said I will take them sparingly this year and not often on the road. Well, here we go. I like the Rams in this one. Why is Arizona a favorite here? Because the Rams lost to the lowly 49ers. Heck, in the public's mind they need to in some way "punish" the Rams for such an atrocious loss. "How could anyone lose to the Niners?" they are thinking. As a result, we get great value here on the Rams - the better team getting a point. I expect the Rams to come out a bit pissed off and fighting in this one. They lost as a big favorite and will be extra motivated this week. Arizona lost big but they weren't expected to win so they aren't as upset. With all of the problems I believe the Rams have, they actually do very well in games following a division loss under Mike Martz. They are 8-1 with Martz at the helm off a loss against a division rival. And, across the league, underdogs off a close loss to a division rival are 33-9 vs. another division rival over the last 5 seasons. Two stars on the Rams.

Maybe the Dolphins got lucky last week. Maybe the Jets loss was strictly due to their fumbles and turnovers. Then again, maybe not. This is not last year's Dolphins team. Nick Saban has brought a new approach, attitude and offensive game plan. Gus Frerrotte is not horrible. Last week they put up more yards than they had gained since December of 2002 - against what is supposed to be one of the league's best defenses! The public is ALL OVER the Jets here. They see a big bounce back as Herm Edwards berates his team into a getting a big win. The Jets were supposed to challenge the Patriots for the AFC East this season and this is the Dolphins for goodness sake, or so the thinking goes. But, the Jets just looked bad. They couldn't get anything going against what was one of the league's absolute worst defenses last season (ranked 30th). Consider that over the past 12 years, Miami is 10-2 ATS on the road while the Jets are 1-10 ATS at home in the first two weeks of the season. Everyone's talking about Herm Edwards' ability to motivate his team after a loss but the Jets are only 21-39 after a road loss, 19-34 off a loss by 10+ points and 2-12 in home games off a blowout road loss since 1992. The Jets should win this one but something is telling me it won't be by much. One star on the Fins plus the points which may reach 7 by game time.

Look out. If Kansas City can continue to play aggressive swarming defense like they did in week one, they are Super Bowl bound. We know they have the offense and now it looks like they may have some defense to go with it. Ask yourself, did Oakland improve their offense enough to catch up to Kansas City's? No way. Did KC improve their defense more than Oakland did? Definitely yes. This should be a very high-scoring game but KC can keep up with anyone and they appear to have a better defense than Oakland. Norv Turner is just 11-25 ATS after a loss and the Chiefs are 19-10-1 ATS vs. the Raiders in recent history. In early season games, teams that were winless in the preseason (like KC) hit at about a 75% clip ATS. Also, home teams at +3 to -3 off a road loss after closing out last season with 2 or more straight losses are just 8-33 (19%) since 1983 in the first month of the season. One star on the Chiefs.