(09-12-2017, 07:47 AM)Bullseye Wrote: Hurricanes Harvey and Irma put a literal damper on the start of the 2017 season for people in Texas, Louisiana, Florida and Georgia.  Even though the news will cycle away from these stories, let us not forget those among us still recovering from the storms.  However, even for those recovering from the storm, there is value in recreational diversion, and what better recreational diversion than NFL football?  The 2917 regular season kicked off last Thursday, and by the end of week 1, many of the standings were topsy turvy from established norms, including in the AFC South, where our Jacksonville Jaguars lead the division with a dominating win over the Texans, while Indy and Tennessee also lost.  Will the long established norm win out this week, or will the new status quo win out?

Houston (0-1) at Cincinnati (0-1)-Both teams are coming off disastrous opening week home losses.  Houston lost 29-7 at home to the Jaguars in a game that wasn't that close.  The Texans gave up ten sacks and benched their QB by halftime, opting to play rookie Deshaun Watson in the second half.  Meanwhile the Bengals were shutout at home by the Ravens to the tune of 20-0, in a game that saw Bengals QB Andy Dalton throw four INTs.  Given the short trip, the inexperience at QB, the horrid state of their O-Line, and the 21 players listed on the injury report, including five recovering from concussions, I expect the Bengals to blitz the Texans as soon as they de-board the plane.   Bengals 21 Texans 14.

Arizona (0-1) at Indianapolis (0-1)-The Cards-fresh off a loss to Detroit, stay on the road to face the Andrew Luck-less Colts (See what I did there), who are home after a humiliating 46-9 loss to the Rams.  The "fearless competitor" Scott Tolzien threw a pick 6 on his first pass last week and it went down hill from there.  He will likely be benched this week in favor of newly acquired Jacoby Brissett.   Arizona has their problems, but not as bad as Indy's.  Arizona 27, Indy 13.

Tennessee (0-1) at Jacksonville (1-0)-The tacks, fresh off a ten point loss at home to Oakland, travel to Jacksonville to face the one team in This Week in the AFCS to actually record a week one win.  Tennessee could not get much going offensively against the Raiders.  Their much ballyhooed exotic smashmouth appeared neither exotic nor smashmouth in mustering 70 yards rushing.   Their passing game did not fare much better, as much heralded newcomers Corey Davis and Eric Decker made little impact.  It didn't help matters that Mularkey called an on sides kick on the opening kickoff, giving the explosive Raiders offense good field position to start the game.  Meanwhile, the Jaguars leave one hurricane ravaged town and return home to their own after thrashing the Texans.  In beating the Texans, the Jaguars seemed to find the running game that lacked last year, as rookie Leonard Fournette rushed for 100 yards in his debut.  They also found an OL that could never seem to block the Texans' front seven.  They also found a pass rush that had been moribund over the years, and recorded ten (10) sacks against the Texans.  I do not expect Mularkey to call another opening kick on sides kick.  I also do not expect the Jaguars defense to record another ten sacks.  However, I think the Jaguars D-Line matches up well against a highly regarded tack O-Line, and the team matches up well against the tacks overall.  Jaguars win 24-17.

Last week:  2-1
Overall:  2-1

Agree with all the of your picks.

Texans aren't good enough on defense to make up for their offense this year against any team approaching competent, and I think the Bengals will approach competent this weekend at home. Cincinnati over the Texans, maybe 17-7.

Colts look like they're tanking the season for some reason, whether they really are or that's really just their level without Luck we'll see if he ever makes it back to the field, but it is interesting how bad they look in another season when there's supposed to be a great QB draft. Arizona should win easily, something like 27-3

Now for the only important game of the week, the Jaguars and the thumbtacks. I think the Jaguars will have a tougher time against the titans than the texans. I think that the titans mirror the Jaguars in a lot of ways, I think the titans of 2016 were essentially the Jaguars of 2015. They performed better than expected and their QB is at a high point of regard right now thanks to a seemingly good performance last year. Now they're the trendy pick to win the division, and if last season weren't somewhat illusory those picking them would be correct. However the titans haven't won a meaningful game since week fifteen of last year and the Jaguars showed the way to beat them. Not having Arob will hurt a bit because the titans are probably the team he dominates the most, but the Jaguars should be able to win anyway.

Fournette runs over Casey much like beast mode did in week one and the titans come up on the short end of 27-16. Mariota might not make it through the game, either, if the Jaguars week one performance is to be believed.

So that's:
Jags over titans
Cards over colts
Bengals over texans.

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