NFL Week 2 Survivor Pool Pick: Lions, Jets, or Steelers?

I caught a huge break in my survivor pool last week. My initial pick was the Chiefs over the Bills, mostly due to the Chiefs 7-1 home record last season and Bills awful defense from last year. However, when I was doing my due diligence on the pick, I quickly realized the Chiefs were dismal on offense in the preseason, lost Charlie Weiss, and the Bills really boosted their front 7. Uneasy with the chatter of Bills upsetting the Chiefs, which ended up happening, I switched my pick to the Arizona Cardinals. I caught an extremely lucky break with a 4th-quarter punt return for the victory.  The Texans and Chargers were easy picks, but I wanted to save those teams for later.

This week I am eyeing up the following picks in order: (1) Detroit over Kansas City;  (2) New York Jets over Jacksonville; and (3) Pittsburgh over Seattle. Before we get into the analysis, let me throw out a plug for our pick ’em league. We have 34 participants and still accepting registrations. The winner gets a free NFL Shop t-shirt. The league ID is 63470 and the password is thepassrush. Click here to register.

Detroit Lions over Kansas City Chiefs

I love the Lions this year. I have one fantasy team where I drafted Matthew Stafford, Calvin Johnson, Jahvid Best, Brandon Pettigrew, and the Lions defense. I shit you not. Every single one of them. I should take Nate Burleson just for the hell of it. I have $190 on the Lions over 7.5 wins. I fucking love the Lions this year. Last week, my fantasy team showed you why. Calvin Johnson was awesome. Matthew Stafford was awesome. Jahvid Best and Brandon Pettigrew were solid. The Lions D was strong. The Chiefs were awful and they were at home where they went 7-1 the year before and fooled me. Now they lost their best player  on defense — Eric Berry — to a torn ACL for the season. I love Eric Berry. I thought he would help the Chiefs defense be the real deal this year with Tamba Hali piling up sacks. If the Chiefs gave up 41 points to the Bills at home, how many will the Lions score on them when the Chiefs have to travel to Detroit. Cassel was awful. I’m calling a blowout right now, but there is a 10% chance the Chiefs redeem themselves and we all have a “WTF just happened” look our faces. If you pass on the Lions this week, week 6 at home against San Francisco and week 11 at home against Carolina are other good options.

New York Jets over Jacksonville Jaguars

I like the Jets because they’re on back-to-back home games and the Jaguars offense struggled against a Tennessee defense that has lost almost all of their stars (Vanden Bosch, Haynesworth, Tulloch, and Babin are all gone). The Jaguars will be lucky to score 10 points. The Jets should be an easy winner at home. The Jags also gave up two huge plays to Kenny Britt.  They should struggle against Santonio Holmes and Plaxico Burress. A good reason to take the Jets is because they have three upcoming road games and the best opportunity to take them again won’t be until week 11 at Denver or week 12 at home against Buffalo.

Pittsburgh Steelers over Seattle Seahawks

Seattle will be one of the NFL’s worst teams this year making them an easy target in survivor pools. Although Pittsburgh was spanked by the Ravens, that gives them all the more reason to come out and stomp the Seahawks in their home opener. With the Steelers tremendous home-field advantage, this game straight up seems like a lock, but last week’s performance that included 7 turnovers doesn’t instill confidence. Don’t expect the Steelers to cough up the football 7 times against this defense though. I may pass on the Steelers this week since week 5 and week 6 are good options for the Steelers against Jacksonville and Tennesee.  They could also be used week 13 and 14 to win your league when they have the Browns and Bengals at home. Before taking the Steelers, I want to see them get their act together first.

Tell me who you would take out of the three teams.

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