Live, from Carson City, Wentzylvania, it's Moretti's "Expert" Week 2 NFL Picks!
The first day of the NFL season is like Christmas morning. Needless to say, I watched a lot of football last weekend and saw some incredibly impressive performances. Jack Del Rio going for the two-point conversion and the win on the road in New Orleans? Stones. Victor Cruz scoring the game-winning touchdown for the Giants after being out with injury for 700 days? Awesome. The Cowboys losing? Thank you sir, may I have another fifteen? Jimmy Garropolo and the undermanned Patriots beating the alleged top dog in the NFC? They probably cheated.
Nothing pumped me up more though than the debut of Carson Wentz under center for the Eagles. I know, I know...it was just one game at home game against the putrid Cleveland Browns. Still, he made great throws, executed the offense beautifully, commanded the huddle, and shook off a few big hits. He has "it." Yes, i still expect some struggles and mental and physical mistakes, but I'm having a hard time quelling my excitement about this kid.
Did I add him to my fantasy football team and change its name to #Wentzylvania? You're god damn right I did!
Change the wallpaper on my computer at work so anyone that comes in my office gets to stare at big #11 dropping a dime? Guilty as charged.
Order a Wentz jersey? Nope, because I'm a grown-ass man and have my limits.
Really, the only thing I didn't like about Week 1 was my picks. The two I wavered the most on - Saints -1 over Raiders and Bills +3 at Baltimore both flopped. And the line on the aforementioned Pats-Cards game moved to 9.5 at kickoff, which would have likely caused me to flip that pick New England's way. Hopefully I've learned something as we enter Week 2. Here they are, in short order (home team in CAPS):
New York Jets (-1) over BUFFALO - Last year's game was one of those "Color rush" games that caused color blind people to not be able to see the teams properly. Little did they realize, they were the lucky ones. Jets 23, Bills 16
DETROIT (+6) over Tennessee - Nice comeback win for the Lions last week. Lions 24, Titans 17
HOUSTON (-2.5) over Kansas City - Nicer comeback win for the Chiefs last week. The Texans will be looking to exact some revenge after that playoff embarrassment in January. Texans 26, Chiefs 21
NEW ENGLAND (-6.5) over Miami - I'll be picking the Patriots until further notice (you're welcome, Jason). Patriots 31, Dolphins 9
Baltimore (-6.5) over CLEVELAND - I believe the Browns broke the record for "earliest in a season their fan base called for them to tank the season." Ravens 25, Browns 12
PITTSBURGH (-3.5) over Cincinnati - The Steelers look really good again, to the surprise of nobody. Steelers 33, Bengals 18
WASHINGTON (-3) over Dallas - I always knew the Cowboys had the dumbest fans, now I can report that their players aren't MENSA members either. Good job, Terrance Williams! Redskins 27, Cowboys 17
NEW YORK GIANTS (-5) over New Orleans - I'd love to pull the trigger on the Saints here, but they're so much better at home than on the road, and they gave up 35 to Oakland in their opener. Paging OBJ... Giants 30, Saints 20
CAROLINA (-13.5) over San Francisco - Normally I'd gravitate towards an underdog when they're getting almost two touchdowns. But I think the 49ers might have shot their load on this season already, and the Panthers have had those extra couple of days to prepare for a San Francisco team traveling east on a short week. Could be ugly. Panthers 44, 49ers 15
Tampa Bay (+6.5) over ARIZONA - I believe I gave you Jameis Winston and Mike Evans last week, did I not? I also gave you the Cardinals. My bad. Cardinals 28, Tampa Bay 24
LOS ANGELES (+6.5) over Seattle - Expect a raucous atmosphere at the Coliseum for the first professional football game in LA since Pete Carroll's USC teams were buying NCAA championships. That won't be enough to get the Rams over the top will it? Seahawks 19, Rams 17
DENVER (-6) over Indianapolis - Seems like the right place to mention this, but I'm just about done with the "Peyton on Sunday Mornings" commercial. Can't he sling some pizzas for Papa John or something? Oh wait... Broncos 26, Colts 17
Oakland (-5) over ATLANTA - The Raiders proved last week they can travel east and win in a dome. The Falcons just look like a bad football team. Raiders 24, Falcons 23
Jacksonville (+3) over SAN DIEGO - Tough one to call. The Chargers had that gut wrenching come-from-ahead loss and watched their best receiver go down for the year. Jacksonville, on the other had, gave the Packers all they could handle. This is one of those picks I'll regret. Jaguars 22, Chargers 20
MINNESOTA (+2) over Green Bay - The Vikings new stadium opens for real, and could break noise records. Think about the home field advantage in Seattle and Kansas City...same idea applies. Vikings 28, Packers 27
Philadelphia (+3) over CHICAGO - Because, well, you already know. CARSON WENTZ!!! Eagles 27, Bears 20
Last week: 10-6 straight up; 7-9 against the spread
Season: 10-6; 7-9
The first day of the NFL season is like Christmas morning. Needless to say, I watched a lot of football last weekend and saw some incredibly impressive performances. Jack Del Rio going for the two-point conversion and the win on the road in New Orleans? Stones. Victor Cruz scoring the game-winning touchdown for the Giants after being out with injury for 700 days? Awesome. The Cowboys losing? Thank you sir, may I have another fifteen? Jimmy Garropolo and the undermanned Patriots beating the alleged top dog in the NFC? They probably cheated.
Nothing pumped me up more though than the debut of Carson Wentz under center for the Eagles. I know, I know...it was just one game at home game against the putrid Cleveland Browns. Still, he made great throws, executed the offense beautifully, commanded the huddle, and shook off a few big hits. He has "it." Yes, i still expect some struggles and mental and physical mistakes, but I'm having a hard time quelling my excitement about this kid.
Did I add him to my fantasy football team and change its name to #Wentzylvania? You're god damn right I did!
Change the wallpaper on my computer at work so anyone that comes in my office gets to stare at big #11 dropping a dime? Guilty as charged.
Order a Wentz jersey? Nope, because I'm a grown-ass man and have my limits.
Really, the only thing I didn't like about Week 1 was my picks. The two I wavered the most on - Saints -1 over Raiders and Bills +3 at Baltimore both flopped. And the line on the aforementioned Pats-Cards game moved to 9.5 at kickoff, which would have likely caused me to flip that pick New England's way. Hopefully I've learned something as we enter Week 2. Here they are, in short order (home team in CAPS):
New York Jets (-1) over BUFFALO - Last year's game was one of those "Color rush" games that caused color blind people to not be able to see the teams properly. Little did they realize, they were the lucky ones. Jets 23, Bills 16
DETROIT (+6) over Tennessee - Nice comeback win for the Lions last week. Lions 24, Titans 17
HOUSTON (-2.5) over Kansas City - Nicer comeback win for the Chiefs last week. The Texans will be looking to exact some revenge after that playoff embarrassment in January. Texans 26, Chiefs 21
NEW ENGLAND (-6.5) over Miami - I'll be picking the Patriots until further notice (you're welcome, Jason). Patriots 31, Dolphins 9
Baltimore (-6.5) over CLEVELAND - I believe the Browns broke the record for "earliest in a season their fan base called for them to tank the season." Ravens 25, Browns 12
PITTSBURGH (-3.5) over Cincinnati - The Steelers look really good again, to the surprise of nobody. Steelers 33, Bengals 18
WASHINGTON (-3) over Dallas - I always knew the Cowboys had the dumbest fans, now I can report that their players aren't MENSA members either. Good job, Terrance Williams! Redskins 27, Cowboys 17
NEW YORK GIANTS (-5) over New Orleans - I'd love to pull the trigger on the Saints here, but they're so much better at home than on the road, and they gave up 35 to Oakland in their opener. Paging OBJ... Giants 30, Saints 20
CAROLINA (-13.5) over San Francisco - Normally I'd gravitate towards an underdog when they're getting almost two touchdowns. But I think the 49ers might have shot their load on this season already, and the Panthers have had those extra couple of days to prepare for a San Francisco team traveling east on a short week. Could be ugly. Panthers 44, 49ers 15
Tampa Bay (+6.5) over ARIZONA - I believe I gave you Jameis Winston and Mike Evans last week, did I not? I also gave you the Cardinals. My bad. Cardinals 28, Tampa Bay 24
LOS ANGELES (+6.5) over Seattle - Expect a raucous atmosphere at the Coliseum for the first professional football game in LA since Pete Carroll's USC teams were buying NCAA championships. That won't be enough to get the Rams over the top will it? Seahawks 19, Rams 17
DENVER (-6) over Indianapolis - Seems like the right place to mention this, but I'm just about done with the "Peyton on Sunday Mornings" commercial. Can't he sling some pizzas for Papa John or something? Oh wait... Broncos 26, Colts 17
Oakland (-5) over ATLANTA - The Raiders proved last week they can travel east and win in a dome. The Falcons just look like a bad football team. Raiders 24, Falcons 23
Jacksonville (+3) over SAN DIEGO - Tough one to call. The Chargers had that gut wrenching come-from-ahead loss and watched their best receiver go down for the year. Jacksonville, on the other had, gave the Packers all they could handle. This is one of those picks I'll regret. Jaguars 22, Chargers 20
MINNESOTA (+2) over Green Bay - The Vikings new stadium opens for real, and could break noise records. Think about the home field advantage in Seattle and Kansas City...same idea applies. Vikings 28, Packers 27
Philadelphia (+3) over CHICAGO - Because, well, you already know. CARSON WENTZ!!! Eagles 27, Bears 20
Last week: 10-6 straight up; 7-9 against the spread
Season: 10-6; 7-9