By Stan "The Fan" Charles

I have to admit, I am stunned how little straight-up knowledge I have on the teams at this point -- 19-13 to me is average at best. Although the 6-8-2 mark versus the point spreads (taken from Friday's New York Post) isn't horrible, I'd he holding my head up higher if the Giants and Bengals had beaten a seven-point number at home. The if game says I'd have squared away a .500 record if not for those two pushes. The flip side of that coin is I also could have a deeper hole if those had shown up as two more losses.

The only thing we can say is onward and upward into Week Three.

Note: Stan "The Fan" Charles made his pick for the Thursday game before it kicked off.

Picking The Winners

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

*winners in bold

Picking Against The Spread

NY Jets -2 ½ at Miami
The Fish got a shockingly easy win against Oakland last week. The sense of urgency they'll face this week should turn the game the visitors' way. The Jets have the 49ers and Texans up after this. Jets offensive coordinator Tony Sparano, the former Dolphins head man, should be, shall we say, highly motivated.
Prediction: NY Jets 22, Miami 10

St. Louis +7 ½ at Chicago
This is not the same Rams team from the past 4-5 years. Coach Jeff Fisher has this team turned around to the point that it will fight tooth and nail, the way his old Titans teams did. It's an easy travel day, just up the road a piece. I still like the Bears to win outright -- just think they are who we thought they'd be. This one looks like an all-day gang fight. To date, the Rams have been the more impressive club.
Prediction: Chicago 20, St. Louis 18

Tampa Bay +7 ½ at Dallas
The Cowboys may still be America's team. But, they sure as hell are a hard team to figure out from week to week, as evidenced by their big Week One win against the Giants, followed by a dismal showing in Seattle. Still, Tampa gave up more than 600 total yards to the Giants last week. Dallas quarterback Tony Romo seems to save his duds for the road. He'll overwhelm this defense.
Prediction: Dallas 31, Tampa 16

Cincinnati +3 at Washington
Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III is the real deal, but the Bengals ain't chopped liver either. Cincinnati quarterback Andy Dalton has the weaponry to take big-time advantage of the Redskins' D, which will be without the injured Brian Orakpo and Adam Carriker. As good -- no, make that great -- as RGIII is already, the Bengals can do to the 'Skins what the Ravens did to them two weeks ago.
Prediction: Cincinnati 34, Washington 24

Buffalo -3 at Cleveland
This one has me scratching my head. Buffalo is 1-1, coming into what figures to be a hornets' nest type of game against a desperate Pat Shurmur-coached team not wanting to fall to 0-3. Browns quarterback Brandon Weeden and first-round pick Trent Richardson are a cause for hope. Cleveland played the Eagles tough the opening week, and allowing 34 points to a high-octane Bengals offense on the road is far from disgraceful.
Prediction: Cleveland 25, Buffalo 19

New England +3 at Baltimore
Before you take my word on this "Sunday Night Football" game, take a peek at Bill Ordine's interesting analysis on MarylandGaming.net. If you come at this one from a smug Baltimore perspective, you're like, "Me, worry? I don't think so," based on how close the Ravens played the Patriots in New England. Ordine's point is that the Pats don't lose two in a row too often, because when they go on the road after a home loss, they are 6-0. The Pats will rally their guys, but, unless I am missing something, the Ravens are going to run their no-huddle, sugar plans much better at home.
Prediction: Baltimore 26, New England 20

Houston -2 at Denver
To date, Denver quarterback Peyton Manning hasn't walked on water, and he may never reach his former level of spiritual play again. But, take away three horrible passes during the first quarter in Atlanta, and he is getting in sync with the Broncos. That's a lot easier to do at home. Houston is one heck of a football team, and Denver is coming into this after a Monday night game in Atlanta. But I like the team that has played up to opponents, Pittsburgh and Atlanta, while Texans have had cakewalks against Miami and Jacksonville.
Prediction: Denver 22, Texans 19

Record
18-14 picking winners (9-7 last week)
5-9-2 picking against the spread (3-5-2)

Posted Sept. 22, 2012