2010 NFL Week 2 Picks Recap: 0-3 Carnage

The NFL threw us a bunch of knuckleballs this weekend as we took our lumps and went 0-3 on our Week Two Picks.

The Raiders allowed a touchdown late in the fourth quarter as the Rams lost 16-14 but covered the spread. The Vikings looked down right awful and nothing like a Super Bowl contender for a second straight week in losing outright to the Dolphins at home. We knew the Falcons would be better in Week Two but we didn’t see them scoring at will and piling up 41 points against the Cardinals.

Here is a recap of the carnage from Week Two.

Oakland Raiders -3.5

We actually loved the 3.5-point spread we were getting for this game at Bodog.com and for good reasons. We thought that a trip to the “Black Hole” would be a bit too much for Rams rookie QB Sam Bradford and that the Raiders would play fired up football in their home opener. We also thought a week under his belt with his new team and playing in his first home game would ignite a fire under Raiders new QB Jason Campbell but that simply didn’t happen.

In fact Campbell was so ineffective that was replaced by backup QB Bruce Gradkowski to open the second half with the Raiders trailing 7-3. Gradkowski turned out to be the spark the Raiders were looking for as he led them on three consecutive scoring drives.

Oakland got out to a 16-7 lead on a field goal and a touchdown in the third quarter along with a field goal drive to open the fourth quarter. Gradkowski would eventually lead us to our demise though as he threw an interception late in the fourth quarter that would lead to a St. Louis touchdown with under four minutes to play.

Minnesota Vikings -155

Of all the supposed “contenders” heading into the 2010 NFL season the Minnesota Vikings have to be one of the most disappointing teams as they have now dropped their first two games.

We are totally shocked by the Vikings lack of urgency and the flat level of their play through two weeks. The offensive line has been horrible and that has led to QB Brett Favre and RB Adrian Peterson being largely ineffective through their first three starts.

QB Favre had one of his worst games of his 20-year career on Sunday as the Dolphins manhandled him and forced him to throw three interceptions, sacked him three times. One of the sacks forced a fumble that the Dolphins recovered in the end zone for what would turn out to be the game winning score.

RB Peterson has not been his usual dominant self but he looks like the only Viking who is actually trying on offense. The offensive line did nothing to help him as was given the ball on a fourth and one with 2:12 left in the fourth quarter but was stuffed at the goal line along with our -155 money line bet at BetUs.com.

Arizona Cardinals @ Atlanta Falcons – Under 43 Points

After both the Cardinal and Falcons started the season with low scoring games in Week One, we were pretty confident that the 43-point total posted at Sporstbook.com was a just a tad too high.

We figured the Falcons would be better in this game and that Cards wouldn’t put very many points on the board in their second consecutive road. We were right about the Cardinals as they were flat all game and managed just one TD on an 80-yard sprint by RB Tim Hightower.

What we didn’t see happening was the Cardinals defense laying down and allowing the Falcon to score 31 unanswered points in the second half. Even more surprising is the fact that they did it with third string RB Jason Snelling in the backfield.

Sports’ betting requires knowledge as well as a bit of luck. We had the knowledge working for us in Week Two but we certainly didn’t get any luck. Time to get back on the horse and get back on track in Week Three!