Week 1 NFL Picks – 2011

We had the NFL opener on Thursday but today is the real opening day with 26 teams in action. It’s 9/11 and here in Philly it’s cloudy with a fall chill in the air, I’d say it’s a perfect day for football!!

Here’s the rest of this weekends picks, home teams in BOLD.

Philadelphia 31, ST. LOUIS 23
KANSAS CITY 27, Buffalo 10
Atlanta 30, CHICAGO 20
UPSET – Detroit 26, TAMPA BAY 23

Tennessee 17, JACKSONVILLE 13
CLEVELAND 24, Cincinnati 10
Pittsburgh 23, BALTIMORE 20
HOUSTON 34, Indianapolis 24

NY Giants 21, WASHINGTON 17
SAN DIEGO 33, Minnesota 20
LOCK – ARIZONA 27, Carolina 9
SAN FRANCISCO 20, Seattle 17
NY JETS 26, Dallas 24

Monday Night
New England 31, MIAMI 17
DENVER 20, Oakland 16

My lock this week is obviously the Arizona Cardinals. Yes, they new Kolb / Fitzgerald connection will struggle early in the season but they luck out by getting the hopeless Panthers in Week One.

I didn’t have any real upsets this week, part of that is because so many of these games have teams evenly matched. So I’m going with the Detroit Lions, they’re 1 point dogs against the Buccaneers. The Bucs were a team that just missed the playoffs last season, on a tiebreaker, which shows you how highly many think of the Lions. With the high hopes Tampa has this year thou I’d consider it an upset if the Lions win.

Quick thoughts on other games.

- The Dream Team will win a close, hard fought game but better believe the Rams defense is going to light Michael Vick a couple times.

- Giants / Redskins – I love my Giants but this going to be a damn ugly game but when isn’t that the case when these two teams play. Key as always will be does Manning protect the ball and how many times his wideouts tip balls in the air for waiting defenders.

- The Jets play on Sunday Night with Manhattan in the background on 9/11. Look for Rex Ryan and the Jets intensity to be taken to a whole ‘nother level tonight as they’ll want this game more then any other early season contest. It will be close but they’ll squeak out a win.

- Atlanta and Chicago are both playoff contenders but the Falcons should win this one with fair ease. A revamped defense line should smother a weak Bears o-line causing a couple Jay Cutler turnovers.

- Houston is the team who gets the first crack at the Peyton-less Colts. Look for them to jump on the opportunity to tell everyone the division goes through them now.

- I think the Chargers will put usual early season troubles behind them and crush the Vikings “good” defense. With McNugget as the starting QB the Vikings offense won’t have enough to keep up.

- The Patriots will give the Dolphins their usual beating on Monday night, can’t wait to see how Ocho Cinco fits into the offense when it counts.

There we go those are my thoughts and picks for NFL Week 1. In the future these picks will typically come out Thursday night not right before game time.

ENJOY ONE OF THE BEST DAYS OF THE YEAR GUYS!

Like what you read? Then follow us on TWITTER for more updates

Tags: Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons, Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, Chicago Bears, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, Kansas City Chiefs, Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings, New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints, New York Giants, New York Jets, NFL, NFL Picks, Oakland Raiders, Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers, San Diego Chargers, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks, St Louis Rams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tennessee Titans, Washington Redskins