Wow is it NFL Week 2 already? If you liked defensive football, you loved the first week in the NFL. The stories ranged from upsets, rookie sensations, veteran busts, tons of 4th quarter comebacks, to quarterback controversies. What the heck is left for NFL Week 2? Let’s break it down and get to work.

Disgruntled NFL fans and fantasy football players need to remain patient. Do not judge a team on its first week. The same goes for Seattle Seahawks and Philadelphia Eagles fans. A great offensive performance in Week 1 may not mean much around Week 15. Teams can recover from 0-1 starts and still win the Super Bowl. However, an 0-3 team has never won the Super Bowl. Next week may be the week to start panicking.

Philadelphia Eagles fans will get their first look at Kevin Kolb’s first full NFL game. Kolb was the first player drafted three NFL drafts ago by the Eagles. He was taken with the intentions of replacing Donovan McNabb oh say around now. Kolb has only seen real action twice in the NFL regular season. Unfortunately for Philly fans, he has been far from spectacular in those outings. This week he starts against the almighty New Orleans Saints and the God of fantasy football Drew Brees.

I know the Eagles routed the Carolina Panthers, but I am still not a believer. Most of the points came off from the defense and special teams. McNabb had two touchdowns, but McNabb only really had one long touchdown drive. On top of that, I am sure the defense was tired after being on the hot field for lengthy amount of time. The Eagles got short fields most of the time and capitalized. Kevin Kolb was never able to take advantage of those opportunities.

Drew Brees on the other hand had a monster day. My worry as an Eagles fan is that the defense is over confident coming into Sunday’s game. I do believe the Saints are susceptible to the long ball, but Kolb is not the guy to take advantage of that. Tight Ends generally play well against the birds, and Shockey had two touchdowns last week. I predict an ugly scene in Philly and Jeff Garcia starting or playing at some point in Week 3.

The New York Jets and the New England Patriots has turned into one of the best rivalries in the NFL. The teams play one another this Sunday in a very critical division game. The Jets are flying high off of a dominating win over the Houston Texans. The Pats put on one of the greatest comebacks in MNF history against the Bills. Fans of both teams couldn’t ask for better momentum going into Sunday.

I love a Jets win here. For one thing, I am a Rex Ryan believer. He is going to attack all day long. The Jets shut down one of the best backs in the NFL last week in Steve Slaton. I can envision a Rex Ryan speech for the ages and one of the most hyped up Jets football teams you will ever see. Jerricho Cotchery and Dustin Keller should have big days on Sunday for your fantasy fans.

The Pats are not the same Patriot team I expected to see coming into the season. The team was incredibly undisciplined on Monday night. Not only that, the penalties came on third down and extended a couple of drives that ended up in points for the Bills. A fumbled kickoff return and we may be looking at an 0-1 team. Count in the loss of Jerod Mayo and you have a Patriots team that is ripe for the pickings. I am loving some New York Jets magic on Sunday and a big upset in New York City (well New Jersey.)

The other big rivalry game opens up regular season play in the new Dallas Cowboys stadium. The New York Giants travel to big D to take on the Cowboys. The Giants have a great opportunity to open up the season 2-0 in the division. Two division games back to back this early may be unfair, but the Giants have the luxury of two down early. This one will be a fun one and is the Sunday night game of the week.

The Cowboys rolled over Tampa Bay in Tampa last week. Roy E. Williams alleviated a lot of Cowboys fans with a score. Tony Romo did a great job of spreading the ball around. Even better, Romo played clutch ball scoring on an 80-yard bomb after Tampa Bay closed the scoring gap to a touchdown in the fourth quarter. In the east, New York handled Washington as they usually do at home and looked good all around in their effort.

I love the Giants in this position. Tony Romo is coming into this season with a ton of pressure. The Cowboys are opening up their stadium in the regular season and are expected to play lights out. The pressure is all on the Cowboys Sunday night. The Cowboys did play well last season at home against the Giants. However, there are things I saw in the Tampa Bay game that would scare me if I was a Dallas fan.

If you thought Cadillac Williams was dangerous, wait until the Cowboys get a double dose of Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw. Osi Umenyiora is back and looking better than ever. Personally, I wish the two of them would just play to a tie. The Giants shut down one of the best running backs in football last week. I see them forcing Romo to go to the air and winning the turnover game. I love the season split, Giants take it in Dallas and the Cowboys take one at Giants Stadium.

A few other interesting storylines highlight NFL Week 2. If Jay Cutler was terrible against the Packers defense, how do you expect him to play against the Steelers? Other than a fluke play, the Broncos looked inept on offense and should be an easy mark for a revamped Cleveland Browns. Peyton Manning had great numbers but struggled getting points. Miami has a chance at a big day on defense. Don’t blame L.T. for the Chargers offensive line getting pushed around. Hello Baltimore!

Fun NFL Week 2 Camelclutchblog.com Fact – Bill Belichick is 5-1 against NFL rookie quarterbacks.

Fantasy Fix - This may be a week where you sit your starting quarterback for a better option. I love Mark Sanchez, but not in his first start against the Jets. I have Matt Schaub as a starter in a couple of leagues, but no way am I starting him against the Titans if I have to. The great news is that there are plenty of options on the waiver wire with juicy matchups.

Trent Edwards is a tremendous option this week against Tampa Bay. Tampa Bay stinks and that team is in complete disarray. They gave up big yardage against Dallas. Green looked real sharp last week and I’d take a shot on him. Joe Flacco is also traveling to San Diego. A better quarterback would have shredded San Diego last week. Flacco is that guy. Either one is a great play this week in this fantasy junkie’s opinion.

Like fellow blogger Jeff Porrini, I am in love with Larry Johnson this week. Ladanian Tomlinson is hurt and may or may not go. Even at 100% I would sit him against Baltimore. LJ is playing Oakland this weekend. He has had big games against them in the past. Darren Sproles was able to find openings against Oakland. If LJ can’t get going against the Raiders, he is truly done.

Fantasy Sleeper – Jeremy Shockey is a great option this week. Shockey went very low in drafts this year after doing nothing last season. He put up two scores last week but it was against the Lions. The Eagles are terrible at defending the tight end. A team with a good quarterback and tight end will shred them every time. The Eagles will probably be more concerned with the deep ball than short dumps to Shockey. I’d roll the dice with Shockey against my team as much as it pains me to say. He has a great chance to dominate the middle of the field against the Eagles safeties and linebackers.

I would like to take a second and boast about my 12-4 record last week picking straight up. Thank you, thank you. Now for the Week 2 Picks (Picks in BOLD) -

Carolina Panthers at Atlanta Falcons
Minnesota Vikings at Detroit Lions
Cincinnati Bengals at Green Bay Packers
Houston Texans at Tennessee Titans
Oakland Raiders at Kansas City Chiefs
New England Patriots at New York Jets
New Orleans Saints at Philadelphia Eagles
St. Louis Rams at Washington Redskins
Arizona Cardinals at Jacksonville Jaguars
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Buffalo Bills
Seattle Seahawks at San Francisco 49ers
Pittsburgh Steelers at Chicago Bears
Baltimore Ravens at San Diego Chargers
Cleveland Browns at Denver Broncos
New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys
Indianapolis Colts at Miami Dolphins

CamelClutchBlog.com Fantasy Football League Standings

Division 1
Team We Own You (Erik Espenberg) 1-0
Dusty’s RedBellySpot (Eric Gargiulo) 1-0
Team Nuetral Zone (Brett Clendaniel) 0-1
Havertown Spoilers (Bryan Riegel) 0-1
Team Wheelhouse Radio! (Jeff Peck) 0-1

Division 2
1st Place (Derek Sabato) 1-0
…Not You!!! (John Yomtov) 1-0
Team The Nice Guys (jeff porrini) 1-0
Team Rowland (Justin Rowland) 0-1
The Kings of Krista (Josh Usher) 0-1

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The 2009 NFL regular season kicks off tonight. I will post NFL previews and predictions week to week for the third year in a row. NFL Week 1 is highlighted by rivalry games, tasty fantasy matchups, and a Monday Night Football double header. The waiting is over and it is now time to break down the highlights of Week 1.

The season starts with a tremendous rivalry game in Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Tennessee Titans open up the season. Even a Super Bowl can’t erase the memory of Titans players stomping on the terrible towel last season. These two teams may be in different divisions, but make no mistake that this is a rivalry.

Keep in mind that it is virtually impossible to get an idea of how any NFL team will look in Week 1. I can only base this game on a few facts and tidbits. The Titans are minus Albert Haynesworth this season. Kerry Collins has never put up back to back seasons like he had last season for the Titans. The Steelers didn’t lose too many key components to free agency. The game is in Pittsburgh.

I expect a big game out of Willie Parker. Parker is a brittle back, but is at his best in the opening weeks. Case in point, Parker came out of the gates last season for 138 yards and 3 touchdowns last season. Parker is a free agent this year and will be playing out his contract year. I look for Parker to be a candidate for Comeback of the Year at the end of the season.

The bottom line here is that I think Tennessee had too much change in the off season and not enough in the right places. I think the Steelers come out fired up and route the Titans. The Steelers are motivated by the towels and the loss last season. That won’t happen again. This is revenge, week 1 at home, defending champs, I go Steelers are the way with this one.

For me, the game this week is my Philadelphia Eagles opening up on the road in Carolina. The Eagles have gone from a Super Bowl favorite to a playoff question mark this pre season. The Panthers will play their first game since a very disappointing playoff loss to the Arizona Cardinals. This has the potential to be a much better game than NFL fans are expecting.

I have to be honest and tell you that I don’t have a lot of faith in the Eagles this season. I think their offensive line is in shambles and Jason Peters may be a huge bust. Hello Julius Peppers! For a blitzing defense like Carolina, this has the potential to be a massacre. Brian Westbrook didn’t take a snap in the pre season and will have some rust on him. Stewart Bradley’s injury will make this defense susceptible and the Panthers are the right team to take advantage of this.

The key here is getting pressure on Jake Delhomme. The Eagles have done well against Delhomme the last few years with blitzes and pressure. However, that was a long time ago with different personnel and a different coordinator. The Eagles are always questionable against the run, and this year it may not even be a question. Carolina will undoubtedly have some big opportunities here unless the defense can put pressure on Jake Delhomme. If not, Delhomme and Steve Smith are going to beat these defensive backs all day long.

Unfortunately I see a bad Eagles loss here. I just think the Panthers have too many weapons on offense for the birds. This is one of those games that you really can’t pick on Week 1. There are just too many questions on the Eagles to make a pick either way with confidence. However, going with my gut I predict an Eagles loss and lots of chants for Michael Vick in South Philly bars.

Upsets are guaranteed in the first few weeks of the NFL regular season. Last season the Panthers and Bears shocked Chargers and Colts fans. I can see a few upsets in the making this weekend. Off the top of my head, I think Detroit is going to be a much better team than people are thinking. They will catch some teams off guard this season and the Saints can be one of them. As long as Stafford is starting, Detroit will be in the game and I see an ugly day for Saints fans.

The other major upset is Washington and the Giants. I will go on a limb now and tell you that I think the Redskins are winning the division. This team has the least questions of anyone in the NFC East. Tell me who is Eli Manning is going to throw to and maybe I’ll give the Giants another look. Jason Campbell looked real good in the pre season against first team defenses. I expect a lot of long balls this season from him to Santana Moss. I really like the Redskins and the fun begins on Sunday for Washington fans.

Fantasy Fix - I like to stay away from the obvious here. It is easy for me to write about playing Tom Brady and Adrian Peterson every week. So I try and take a look at some players you wouldn’t think about and sleepers. As stated above, I think Willie Parker is a great play this week at Tennessee. Do not treat this year’s Titans like last years. Mike Tomlin also said that Parker will not play in a time share and will be the goal line back. I see lots of goal line opportunities for him this week.

Once again I also love Santana Moss this weekend against the Giants. Everything I read and what I have seen says that the Redskins will be looking at the long ball this season. The Giants embarrassed the Redskins last season on opening night. I don’t see the same thing happening two years running.

I love Matt Schaub this season if he can stay healthy. I love him even more this weekend. Rex Ryan is going to run an aggressive defense in New York. The offense will be the problem this weekend. I have read a few interviews and Texans defensive players are salivating at the opportunity to play against Sanchez. I see Sanchez turning the ball over quite a bit and giving Schaub and the offense some great scoring opportunities.

Fantasy Sleeper - Mike Bell may be a steal if Pierre Thomas doesn’t go. Bell is a decent back and may get goal line carries over Reggie Bush. As of today, it looks like Thomas isn’t going but watch the wire on Sunday.  If the game gets out of hand, Bell could rack up some great yards in garbage time.

Week 1 Picks (Picks in BOLD)-

Tennessee at Pittsburgh
Miami at Atlanta
Denver at Cincinnati
Minnesota at Cleveland
Jacksonville at Indianapolis
Detroit at New Orleans
Dallas at Tampa Bay
Philadelphia at Carolina
Kansas City at Baltimore
NY Jets at Houston
Washington at NY Giants
San Francisco at Arizona
St. Louis at Seattle
Chicago at Green Bay
Buffalo at New England
San Diego at Oakland

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