The second week in the NFL is one dominated by overreaction. If your team lost it was the end of the world and if you won you are going to the playoffs. However, with so much football left to be played, with the accompanying injuries, loss and gain of form, and everything that makes the NFL so watchable, means we should be weary of jumping from one extreme to another, although I clearly have a problem with the Jaguars again.

So lets remind ourselves of what actually happened last week, and how it might affect the upcoming games, but thanks to more work shenanigans I’m only going through tonight’s game now, but will be following up tomorrow with the rest of the week’s games and hopefully some adventures in game film. I will also mention that the lines look horrible!

Gee:    Week 1   11-5              Overall   8-8
Dan:    Week 1   8-8                Overall   8-8

Broncos @ Chiefs (-2.5)

The Chiefs started off with a solid win against the Texans in week one, with five sacks and an interception their defence picked up from where they left off last season. The 27-20 score hides the fact that the Chiefs were eighteen points up going into the last quarter, and Alex Smith threw for three touchdowns without an interception in a typically efficient performance. This week in their home opener they welcome the 1-0 Texans in a battle of good defences and questions of offence, but whilst there are very real questions surrounding the Broncos that I will get to in a moment, the Chiefs have a one of best all round backs in Jamall Charles, and will a tough opponent for any team visiting Arrowhead Stadium.

The Broncos got a win in an ugly game against the Ravens in week one, and we are already seeing the circus in full swing around Peyton Manning. The difference this year though is the arm strength might well be prohibitive to performance, and we are in the early part of the season when the weather is good. This could get ugly as the Broncos line is in flux, one of the all time great quarterbacks is suddenly reverting to a style offence he hasn’t played since his early years in the league, and the running game wasn’t exactly inspiring. The defence is going to be nasty all year with the pass rushing combinations of Von Miller, DeMarcus Ware, and Shane Rey look to be set to cause offence lines headaches which will only help a very good secondary.

This is a hard game for me to call, but I am very worried about the Broncos offence, and whilst the Texans have fearsome players on defence, the Chiefs are probably a better unit as a whole, and I just have this feeling that the Chiefs will have too much at home in the famously loud Arrowhead stadium.

Gee’s Pick:      Chiefs
Dan’s Pick:      Broncos