Week 1 of the NFL season is in the books and man what a week it was. My opening week record was 8-8, which isn’t great but can improve quickly. The season kicked off with the Detroit Lions going to the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs and defeating them. There were quite a few eye-opening games during the opening weekend. The Cleveland Browns shut down the Cincinnati Bengals and their offense. A couple days after becoming the highest paid player in league history, Joe Burrow had his worse game. The Minnesota Vikings is looked at as one of the top teams in the NFC. Tampa Bay is looked at as one of the worst, but they went to Minnesota and defeated them. The 49ers looked like they were one of the top squads by beating down Pittsburgh.
In his first career start, Jordan Love went to Chicago and lead the Pack in a blowout of the Bears. The best game of the week was the Miami Dolphins against the Los Angeles Chargers. Tua threw for almost 450 yards while Tyreek Hill had over 200 yards receiving. The Dolphins beat the Chargers 36-34 in an epic game. In the Sunday night game, the Dallas Cowboys shutout the Giants 40-0. New York put our one of the most embarrassing performances we have seen in a long time. The New York Jets beat the Buffalo Bills 22-16 in an overtime thriller. In that game, Aaron Rodgers was injured after only four snaps. Many believe it’s something to do with his Achilles. This week I’ll be predicting a total of 9 games. Let’s get this thing started!
We start with the Thursday night game as the Minnesota Vikings head to Philadelphia to battle the Eagles. The Vikings are coming off a tough loss at home to the Bucs. These two met in an anticipated game a year ago when the Eagles beat Minnesota. The Vikings have a tough matchup next Sunday as they face the Chargers. They must look at this as a must-win, so they don’t continue their season on a bad note. Philadelphia began their game last week as good as they imagined. They lead 16-0 after the first quarter, but only held on to win 25-20. The offense looked out of sync, and they head into this game with a couple of injuries on the defensive side. The Eagles should look much better this week especially in their home opener and should win. Philadelphia Win 31-27
We have the Green Bay Packers continue their season on the road as they visit Atlanta and face the Falcons. The Packers continued their dominance over Chicago by blowing out the Bears. Jordan Love hit some timely passes to break down the Bears defense. How will he fare against the tough Atlanta Falcons secondary? Will Aaron Jones be available for this matchup? Jones hurt his hamstring as he scored a touchdown and if he can’t go it will be huge. The Falcons looked great on both sides of the ball. The running game of Atlanta continues to be one of the best in the league. Desmond Ridder didn’t make any mistakes and had over 80% completion percentage. The Falcons will be after Jordan Love throughout this contest and will force mistake and the Falcons should win. Atlanta Win 24-17
We have the Baltimore Ravens heading to Cincinnati to battle the Bengals in an NFC North matchup. Baltimore opened their season with a win over the Houston Texans. The offense looked rusty throughout the game as Lamar Jackson stated. Unfortunately, the Ravens lost J.K. Dobbins for another season after he tore his Achilles. With this being a tough division, anytime these teams face each other it’s huge. Can the Ravens make the Bengals 0-2 to start the season? Cincinnati looked awful in their opening week loss to Cleveland. Joe Burrow threw for under 100 yards and the entire offense looked frustrating. Joe Burrow has been called the second-best quarterback in the league, so you know he’s due for a great game. This should be a hard-hitting contest between these two and I’m picking the Bengals to win. Cincinnati Win 26-21
The Kansas City Chiefs head down south to Jacksonville to battle the Jaguars. This is a battle between two of the best quarterbacks in the league. This could also be a matchup we revisit when the playoffs come around. The Chiefs dropped their first game to Detroit as they were without two of their best players. Travis Kelce missed the game due to an injured knee. Chris Jones didn’t play as he was holding out for a new contract. Kelce is making progress and Jones just signed a new deal with the Chiefs. Trevor Lawrence looked great and having Calvin Ridley was a huge boost for the offense. The Jaguars defeated the Colts, but the Chiefs are a different animal than Indianapolis. This game should be a close one and I’m picking the Chiefs to edge the Jags. Kansas City Win 27-26
We head to the NFC North with a matchup featuring the two teams that won their openers. The San Francisco 49ers head to Los Angeles to face the Rams. San Francisco went to Pittsburgh and basically punched them in the mouth. The defense was hard-hitting, and they were everywhere after everybody. Brock Purdy returned from injury, and he looked amazing. The 49ers looked like a team on a mission with their take no prisoners mentality. Can they get after Stafford the same as they did with Pickett? Los Angeles went to Seattle and dominated them on both sides of the ball. Matthew Stafford looked great, and the running game was very efficient. How will the Rams offense fare against this tough Niners defense? I’m riding the Niners to leave as the leaders of the division. San Francisco Win 27-13
The New York Jets make the trip to the south to face the Dallas Cowboys. The Jets went through a lot of emotions in their win over Buffalo on Monday night. Earlier in the game, they lost Aaron Rodgers, and it looks like he’s done for the year. New York gathered themselves and went on to beat the Bills in OT. The Jets must turn back to Zach Wilson to step up because they have a Super Bowl team. The Cowboys basically manhandled the Giants in the Sunday night game. We don’t know if the Cowboys are that good or the Giants were that bad. The defense of Dallas will get after Zach Wilson and contain the running game also. With this being their home opener, I’m picking the Cowboys to defeat the Jets. Dallas Win 26-16
We have a Sunday Night game between two AFC East foes. The Miami Dolphins head to New England to face the Patriots. As mentioned before, Tua and Miami Dolphins offense looked great in their win over the Los Angeles Chargers. The Dolphins were involved in a shootout with one of the better offenses in the league. The defense should fare much better against the Patriots. It’s hard to imagine anyone stopping Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. Can Miami continue their offensive explosion? The Patriots started off as badly as possible by being down by 16 to the Eagles in the first quarter. Mac Jones settled down and had an amazing game by throwing for over 300 yards. The defense got after the explosive Eagles offense throughout the entire game. This should be a good one and I’m picking the Dolphins. Miami Win 30-24
We have the first of two Monday Night games and it’s a battle of NFC South foes. The New Orleans Saints will travel to Carolina to battle the Panthers. Derek Carr and the Saints won their opening game by a point over the Tennessee Titans. The Saints defense forced Tannehill to throw three picks. New Orleans pressured Ryan Tannehill the entire game and Derek Carr played a mistake-free game. Can the Saints duplicate their same game plan on the road against a division opponent? Carolina and the 1st overall pick Bryce Young had a first game to remember in Atlanta. Young tossed a pair of picks, and the defense was on him the entire game. The Panthers must find a way to protect Young and have him get the ball out quickly. The Saints should pressure him enough to get the win. New Orleans Win 25-21
The second Monday Night game and final one of the week will take place in Pittsburgh. The Cleveland Browns head to Pittsburgh to face the Steelers. The Browns had one of the more impressive wins during opening week. They shut down Joe Burrow and the high-powered Cincinnati Bengals offense. Cleveland used their punishing run game and aggressive defense to walk away with the win. With the Ravens and Bengals playing on Sunday, this is an early season pivotal game. Pittsburgh was steamrolled by the Niners in their opening game. Pittsburgh is a much better team than that and will try to prove that on Monday. The AFC North division will be a tough one this year as either team can win it. The Steelers can’t start the year 0-2 and I’m picking them to win. Pittsburgh Win 20-17
There we are my predictions for the 2023 Week 2 NFL season. What games intrigue you the most for the 2023 Week 2 NFL weekend? What do you think about my picks? Leave some feedback below about anything NFL related or my 2023 Week 2 NFL predictions.
