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The Falcons own the Packers. Atlanta has gotten the best of Green Bay not once, not twice, but three times in the last calendar year. And now they’re coming for another NFC North team: the Detroit Lions.
The Lions, like the Falcons, are sitting at 2-0. That hasn’t deterred our intrepid editors, all of whom are rolling with Atlanta again this week.
But let’s break this down. So far, Detroit has played the Cardinals, who look bad, and the Giants, who look extremely bad. Are the Lions playing well? Yes. But they haven’t faced a team of Atlanta’s caliber yet this season.
And Detroit has a lot of strengths on both sides of the ball, particularly on offense with the screen game and the potential for big plays on the ground. What we see on Sunday will tell us quite a bit about both of these teams.
Elsewhere around the league, we have a truly horrific Thursday Night Football matchup. Somehow, the Rams look like the least bad team in the NFC West, but who knows. Maybe Kyle Shanahan can coax a quality performance out of Brian Hoyer. But probably not. Still, David Walker is our lone dissenter here. It’s a big win for DW if they pull it off.
We have a thrilling 9:30 a.m. London matchup between the Ravens and the Jaguars. I’d set the over/under on the number of turnovers the Ravens force against Jacksonville somewhere around 1,000.
In the division, we have the Saints facing off against the Panthers. I do wish both of these teams could lose, but alas. I feel pretty confident the Panthers take this one, and the Saints starting 0-3 would be a delight. But this one is far from unanimous.
The Buccaneers take on the Vikings, and if Sam Bradford doesn’t play, we’ll just hear all week about how Tampa Bay is definitely a playoff team. I’ll believe it when I see it.
This week’s Sunday and Monday night games are the Raiders against Washington and the Cowboys in Arizona. Can Washington pull it off against a Raiders team that looks pretty dominant again? And can the Cowboys put last week’s shellacking from the Broncos behind them to regain their footing against a less-than-great Cardinals team? Tune in to find out.
So far, Matt Chambers is still in the lead with an 11-1 record. Dave Choate is in second at 10-2, and DW and I are tied for third at 9-3. Kendall Jackson and Kevin Knight are bringing up the rear at 8-4. Better luck this week, fellas.
Falcoholic Editors’ Picks, Week 2
| Editor | ATL vs. DET | LA vs. SF | BAL vs. JAX | NO vs. CAR | TB vs. MIN | OAK vs. WAS | DAL vs. ARI | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Editor | ATL vs. DET | LA vs. SF | BAL vs. JAX | NO vs. CAR | TB vs. MIN | OAK vs. WAS | DAL vs. ARI | Record |
| Matt Chambers | ATL | LA | BAL | CAR | TB | OAK | DAL | 11-1 |
| Dave Choate | ATL | LA | BAL | CAR | MIN | OAK | DAL | 10-2 |
| Kendall Jackson | ATL | LA | BAL | NO | TB | WAS | ARI | 8-4 |
| Kevin Knight | ATL | LA | BAL | NO | TB | OAK | DAL | 8-4 |
| Jeanna Thomas | ATL | LA | BAL | CAR | TB | OAK | DAL | 9-3 |
| David Walker | ATL | SF | BAL | NO | MIN | OAK | ARI | 9-3 |
You can make your picks in the polls below.
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