We ended up with one more person in the group this year as my friend Tom also joined in last minute. He joined the group a couple years ago and is back at it this year with us, just on the picks side.
Meanwhile in the column, after talking all sorts of crap in our group chat Adam ended up with an okay start, though he is tied for last among the six of us at present. I took four of six disputed games from him and four of seven from Joe; Joe took four of seven from Adam in the first week. Despite my column lead, I currently trail the group by one as Jim is our early leader in the clubhouse.
You can view how we've all picked in relation to each other here. This is a continuation of the tracker I've used for the last several years originally built by Adam. This first week was pretty heavily tilted to 4-2 splits with games and no 3-3 even splits yet. Adam, Jim, and I have yet to go hero so far, with the other three guys splitting four hero picks in the opening week.
As we now look ahead to Week 2, Adam and I disagree on five games, Joe and I on seven, and the two of them on six out of 16. Let's get to it!
Thursday Night
Washington Commanders @ Green Bay Packers (-3.5)
Lucas: Packers. After an absolute master class on Sunday, I'm all freaking in, baby. Especially since this meeting between these teams fittingly takes place on 9/11 echoing their meeting in the first game since that dark Tuesday in 2001. We desperately need some unity like this again.
Joe: Commanders.
Sunday, Early Afternoon
Jacksonville Jaguars @ Cincinnati Bengals (-3.5)
Lucas: Jaguars. Replace the bird with Sunshine and this is spot on how I expect this week to go.
Adam: Bengals. Gonna ride Burrow till it kills me. He is still my MVP candidate for the year.
Joe: Bengals.
New York Giants @ Dallas Cowboys (-5.5)
Lucas: Giants. Honestly kind of a points pick, though I think Dallas wins.
Adam: Giants. Still not sold on Dallas and Russ has got to stomp right? Giants Country, Fe Fi Fo Fum...
Joe: Cowboys.
Chicago Bears @ Detroit Lions (-5.5)
Lucas: Bears. While, yes, I had a gigantic stupid smile on my face late Monday night while I watched the Bears do exactly what they've been doing for years at this point, I think for Ben Johnson and company, this one might just mean a little bit more. Helps that I'm getting darn near a touchdown, which will allow for more stupidity like refusing to kick out of bounds right before the two minute warning.
Adam: Lions. Bears... SMH.
Los Angeles Rams @ Tennessee Titans (+5.5)
Lucas: Rams. Team primed for a playoff run against a reclamation project? Yes please.
Adam: Rams. Seemed functional last week so I like the play on the road against the dysfunctional Titans.
Joe: Rams.
New England Patriots @ Miami Dolphins (-1.5)
Lucas: Patriots. Part of me says I shouldn't given New England's history of going down to Miami. But at the same time... did you see what the Dolphins played like last week?
Adam: Patriots. Tua, Tua, Tua not gonna play good no more. The Pats to pull a mini surprise given what was expected of each team early on.
Joe: Patriots.
San Francisco 49ers @ New Orleans Saints (+4.5)
Lucas: 49ers. Though I retract my statement last week about the Niners and injuries. They can't catch a break.
Adam: 49ers. Even hurting, they roll the Saints.
Joe: 49ers.
Buffalo Bills @ New York Jets (+6.5)
Lucas: Bills. Jersey/B might be able to score, but as we saw on Sunday night, you might have a bad time in a shootout with Josh Allen.
Adam: Bills. LOL people were claiming Fields is miraculously healed of his [expletive] play now that he is not on the Bears. Lol NOT.
Joe: Bills.
Seattle Seahawks @ Pittsburgh Steelers (-2.5)
Lucas: Steelers. GAHNTASUPERBOWL.
Adam: Steelers. A A Ron, man. West coast teams playing East coast. It is “said” they don’t do good in the early slot.
Lucas note: This comes up every year, though who brings it up usually varies. I didn't track these numbers last season, but the last time I did late in 2023, against the spread this generally went the way of the home-based East coast team.
Joe: Steelers.
Cleveland Browns @ Baltimore Ravens (-12.5)
Lucas: Browns. I'm sorry, I just can't lay two touchdowns. Not with this Ravens team.
Adam: Ravens. Browns gonna brown their paints when they see a big boy football team come onto the field.
Joe: Browns.
Sunday, Late Afternoon
Denver Broncos @ Indianapolis Colts (+2.5)
Lucas: Colts. Cue the Indiana Jones theme music.
Lucas note: I saw "Long Neck McGee" and my brain went straight to "Snapping Turtle McGee," which I guess somehow ties back to the old Captain Andrew Luck Twitter account that's resurfaced since he's working at Stanford now. Anyway, don't you dare talk [expletive] about
Carolina Panthers @ Arizona Cardinals (-6.5)
Lucas: Cardinals. More so because of Carolina than because of anything Arizona did. They're just taking advantage of the schedule. And hopefully this will continue my trend of solidarity picks as the defending champs begin the defense of their crown against UW-Oshkosh on Saturday. May the spirit of The Greatest Backdoor Cut of All Time prevail.
Joe: Cardinals.
Philadelphia Eagles @ Kansas City Chiefs (+1.5)
Lucas: Eagles. And hey, maybe Jalen Carter will be able to actually play a snap this time!
Adam: Eagles. To start KC 0-2, I like it. Maybe Tay Tay can start her new break-up album.
Joe: Chiefs.
Sunday Night
Atlanta Falcons @ Minnesota Vikings (-4.5)
Lucas: Vikings. Too early to say JJ McCarthy is the real deal, but I think he does enough in his first home game. Though I was tempted to go the other way because of this line.
Adam: Falcons. I liked what the Falcons did last week and I am not sold on JJ yet. He played a soft Bears secondary that still took him 2 quarters to figure out.
Joe: Falcons.
Monday Night
Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Houston Texans (-2.5)
Lucas: Buccaneers. Please don't do to CJ Stroud what you did to David Carr, Texans.
Adam: Buccaneers. Baker gonna Bake.
Joe: Buccaneers.
Los Angeles Chargers @ Las Vegas Raiders (+3.5)
Lucas: Chargers. Pretty straightforward here, the Chargers are better.
Adam: Chargers. Surprised the line is not a touch higher. Herbert is looking in form and ready to perform.
Joe: Chargers.
Records So Far
Lucas: 9-7
Adam: 7-9
Joe: 8-8
Geoffrey: 9-7
Jim: 10-6
Tom: 7-9
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