Week two of the National Football League

From a Youth perspective

Week two of the National Football League 

By Byler E. Henry

Week one was exciting and now it’s time for week two. Thursday the Jets take on Tom Brady and the Patriots. The Patriots have a decent run game, with running backs that can get good yards. The Patriots will easily take this game whether Geno Smith or Mark Sanchez is behind center.

Here are the games for Sunday:

The Falcons are set to play the Rams; I say Falcons take this one. I think Matt Ryan can rebound  from a loss against the Saints. Cam Newton leads the Panthers against the Bills. Both teams lost last week; the Panthers took on the Seahawks while the Bills took on the Patriots. I pick Panthers to win this one in a close game.

The Vikings travel to Soldier Field to take on the Chicago Bears, Adrian Peterson rushed for 93 yards on 18 carries last game. Let’s see if he can bounce back. However I still pick the Bears to win.

Robert Griffin III(RG-3) is set to lead his troops into Lambeau Field against Aaron Rodgers and the Packers. This will be a good game; both teams loss last week. Redskins lost to the Eagles and the Packers lost to the 49ers. Which team can rebound from their week one loss? I pick the Redskins to rebound from their loss. Robert has a week to get back into the groove, and the read option may give the Packers defense some trouble.

Dolphins travel to Indianapolis to take on the Colts. One sophomore quarterback vs. another; Ryan Tannehill vs. Andrew Luck. Two first round picks going head to head. I hope the Dolphins can pull this one out, but I think the Colts will win.

The Cowboys travel to Kansas City to take on the Chiefs. Cowboys won Sunday night against the Giants, and they’ll ride the wave and win Sunday.

An AFC North battle between the Browns and the Ravens; the Ravens will take this game. We go down to the AFC South where the Titans travel to Houston, Houston Texans will win this one.

Michael Vick and the Eagles prepare to take on the Chargers. Eagles new head coach Chip Kelly has brought his spread option from Oregon and with Vick behind center along with LeSean McCoy in the backfield. This offense is effective. Eagles will take this one against the Chargers.

The Lions will beat Arizona when they travel to Arizona. The Cardinals have to get the ball to Larry Fitzgerald to stand a chance.

This NFC South battle will be good; the New Orleans Saints travel to Tampa Bay to take on the Bucs. I say Saints will go with the flow, taking this one in a close game. Bucs did beat the Falcons last week.

Jacksonville travels to Oakland after a poor offensive performance last week against the Chiefs. Blaine Gabbert went 16 for 35 passing for 121 yards throwing two interceptions and no touchdowns. The offensive line gave up 6 sacks, letting their quarterback take a pounding. Oakland Raiders will win after their loss to the Colts last week.

The Manning bowl happens again this year. Brothers Peyton and Eli Manning face off against each other. I believe Eli will bounce back and have a better performance after losing to the Cowboys last week, but older brother Peyton will still win against little brother. Last Week Eli went 27 for 42 passing for 450 yards with 4 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. However in week one Peyton tied an NFL record for most passing touchdowns in a game with seven. At 37 Peyton is looking for his second super bowl ring to tie Eli. This will be a good game.

There is another good battle this one in the NFC West, the 49ers take it to the Seahawks. Seattle is a hard place to play it is home to the 12th man, it is very noisy making it hard to hear for the opposing teams.

In the midst of the noise I pick the Seahawks to win in a close fight to the finish. Both teams have a good running game Frank Gore and Marshawn Lynch are excellent running backs, both have a good passing game, and both have an excellent defense. The 49ers and Seahawks both run a read option offense, 49ers have Colin Kaepernick behind center while Seahawks have Russell Wilson.

Monday Night Football will host an AFC North division rival game. The Pittsburgh Steelers travel to Cincinnati to take on the Bengals. I pick the Bengals to win, they are a young team moving in the right direction. James Harrison faces his former team. I can bet he is looking forward to this. The Steelers have lost two starters for the rest of the season, center Maurkice Pouncey and linebacker Larry Foote. Maurkice suffered a torn ACL and MCL in his knee and Foote suffered ruptured biceps. Hopefully the O-Line can still find a way to protect Ben Roethlisberger, from James Harrison and the rest of the defense. These are my predictions for week two, but in the NFL anything can happen.