Michael Robinson (SportingSearch.com) 

September 15, 2004. 

The inaugural week of selections was pretty much a struggle from start to finish. The record finished up at 1-2-1, and now the goal is to rebound this week. 

The first loss was Tampa Bay giving two points to Washington on the road. The second Joe Gibbs era got off to great start with a 16-10 win, as Clinton Portis rolled to 148 yards. The Tampa offense looked particularly bad with Charlie Garner at running back, and a thin wide receiver corps who lost Joey Galloway to injury. 

The second loss last week was the Carolina Panthers giving three points to Green Bay. The defending NFC champions were at home and in front of a raucous crowd, but they could only muster 38 yards rushing behind their makeshift offensive line, and Green Bay controlled the whole game, winning 24-14.  

The only win was Seattle giving two points to New Orleans on the road. You never really know which New Orleans team is going to show up, but giving less than a field goal for a very good Seattle team was too tempting to pass up. Seattle now tries to get back to back road wins playing at Tampa Bay. 

The tie last week was the New England Patriots favored by three points over the Indianapolis Colts. Colts’ kicker Mike Vanderjagt picked a bad time to miss his first field goal in over a year. His game tying 48 yard field goal attempt went wide right, and the Patriots held on for 27-24 win. 

If you have questions or comments, please contact me at michaelr@sportingsearch.com

Buffalo (+3.5) at Oakland 

The Bills suffered a heartbreaking 13-10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars at home last week. The Bills defense shut down the Jaguars for most of the game, but Byron Leftwich led an 80 yard drive that culminated with a seven yard game winning touchdown pass to rookie Ernest Wilford.  

Drew Bledsoe came into the game trying to silence his critics for a poor 2003 season, but his 153 yard passing effort has Bills fans looking for a new option. The problem is that due to injuries, the Bills backup quarterback is Shane Matthews. Enough said.  

The Raiders’ Tyrone Wheatley had been given the opportunity to claim the lead running back role, but with efforts like his 11 carries for 24 yards against Pittsburgh, the Raiders will look for other options. Justin Fargas is the lead candidate for more playing time. 

Oakland’s defense looks great on paper, but it is going to need some time to jell. Cornerback Charles Woodson is still rounding into football shape, and the Raiders need to learn the complicated defensive schemes of coordinator Rob Ryan. Once that happens, players like Warren Sapp and Ted Washington will really stand out. 

The Bills are an emotionally down team, who lost a game that they thought they had in the bag. Now they have to travel out to the West Coast to face an improved Raiders team. If the Bills lose this game, they will be 0-2 heading into a bye week, with New England next on the schedule. The Bills are in trouble, take the Raiders. 

Pick: Oakland 

Houston (+3) at Detroit  

The Houston Texans are coming off a disappointing 27-20 home loss to the San Diego Chargers. Remember, this is the same San Diego team that won just four games last year. Houston had two interceptions by quarterback David Carr, and two fumbles lost by Domanick Davis, while San Diego had no turnovers. 

The Texans defense had their troubles with LaDainian Tomlinson, as most people do, and they will need to contain rookie Kevin Jones if they want to win this game. Houston also had no answers for Chargers’ tight end, Antonio Gates who abused them for 123 yards receiving.

The Lions 20-16 win over Chicago was their first road win in four years. Unlike the Texans, the Lions won their turnover battle 4-1, including a 92 yard blocked field goal for a touchdown. That made up for a mediocre offensive performance in the running game and passing game. 

The win against the Bears proved costly. Their top receiver, Charles Rogers broke his collarbone for the second consecutive season, and he is out for the year. Cornerback Dre Bly also sprained a knee ligament and he will not play in this game.  

This is obviously not the marquee match-up of the week, but you can’t just pick games that are on national television. The Texans are a team that the pundits predicted a lot of improvement from, and they need to bounce back here with a win to get things going. The Texans pull the minor upset. 

Pick: Houston 

NY Jets (-3) at San Diego 

The Jets started their season off right with a 31-24 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. The Jets offense, led by Curtis Martin and Chad Pennington, was dynamic. The Jets’ run defense was solid, but the pass defense gave up too many big plays. Coach Herman Edwards is sure to be addressing that this week in practice. 

The New York Jets players and management love Chad Pennington. He is almost like the Patriots’ Tom Brady where his teammates play harder when he is under center. Give Pennington two very good receivers in Santana Moss and Justin McCareins, and a decent offensive line, and the Jets will put points on anybody. 

The San Diego Chargers pulled off the biggest upset of week 1, beating Houston 27-20 as a 4.5 point underdog. Quarterback Drew Brees showed that he is not ready to hand over the reigns to Phillip Rivers just yet, by throwing for 209 yards and two touchdowns. 

The star of the show was tight end Antonio Gates, the former college basketball player who never even played football in college. Gates had 123 yards receiving. The San Diego defense didn’t distinguish themselves, but four Houston turnovers were the difference in the game. 

Both teams come into this game 1-0, and all is rosy for now. It can become easy to forget that the Chargers have personnel questions at every position except running back. The victory at Houston was nice, but that doesn’t mean that can continually make up for a lack of talent. Jets win on the road. 

Pick: NY Jets 

Indianapolis (+1) at Tennessee

Tennessee is coming off a solid 17-7 win over Miami. The question is whether that win was more of a reflection of the Titans’ dominance, or the ineptitude of the Dolphins. Tennessee lost defensive linemen Jevon Kearse and Robaire Smith to free agency, but it certainly didn’t affect them in the Sunshine State. 

The Browns let Eddie George depart in free agency, knowing they had a younger and quicker version of him in Chris Brown. Brown gained 100 yards in 16 carries against Miami, even though he sat out the second half with a sprained left ankle.  Brown should play this week.

Despite losing to the New England Patriots 27-24, the Colts clearly showed that their offense is one of the leagues’ best. Indianapolis has three good receivers, two good tight ends, and of course an All Pro caliber quarterback and running back. Defenses can’t stop the Colts, they can only hope to contain them.

The Colts’ “Achilles Heel” is their defense, and the Patriots exploited their secondary on numerous occasions. They have to do a better job across the board on defense, and they must eliminate the costly turnovers that did them in against the Patriots. Coach Tony Dungy is sure to preach turnovers all week in practice.

The Titans have the revenge factor in this game after losing both of their games against them last year. The Colts are desperate for a win to avoid falling to 0-2. Look for the Colts’ offense to be explosive again this week and Indianapolis squeaks out a close road win. 

Pick: Indianapolis