Here we are, staring at the start of week two and after a bad start I was able to take a two point lead over Dan in the pick’s competition, although not content with stumping us with trivia questions Dan’s dad has actually taken an early lead over both of us in the picks group by getting twelve games right. As usual there’s a couple of games that I lost that were narrow and I’m okay with those results, but as ever there are plenty of teams that I need to take careful stock of but now it’s time to start with the week two games.

Gee: Week 1 11-5 Overall 11-5
Dan: Week 1 9-7 Overall 9-7

Ravens @ Bengals (+0.5)

This is a horrible line as I’m nervous enough about facing the Ravens after their thorough beating of the Bills last week, but they won’t lack for motivation having been knocked out of the playoffs by the Bengals last season. The home teams generally have a better time of it in the Thursday night games but whilst this is a 3.5 point move from the default -3 for the home team, a half point really doesn’t help unless the Bengals manage a third tie in the last couple of season! My usual rule is to take the home team on Thursday unless there’s a very good reason not to, and I’m wary of reading too much into the size of the beating the Ravens gave the Bills but it was no doubt impressive. In the end I’m going to take Dan’s optimistic approach and avoid the emotional hedge but I don’t feel confident doing it, come on Bengals, don’t let me down now!

As for Dan, ‘Sorry Gee, I was impressed with how you looked against the Colts, especially in the second half, but I just can’t see the Bengals winning this one I’m afraid.’

Gee’s Pick: Bengals
Dan’s Pick: Ravens

Week 2 Trivia

And from Dan’s Dad:

‘In Week 1 I asked which NFL stadium had the 2nd highest elevation at 1070 feet (After Mile High which was just too easy!).

Neither Gee nor Dan troubled the scorers this week. Although Gee’s Mexico idea was very creative as a rule I’m staying within the Contiguous (or Lower) 48. Chicago on the bank of Lake Michigan only manages 591 feet with Buffalo is a little better with 751 feet but there are lots of opportunities to score over the coming weeks!

Moving on to Week 2 then:

This week I want to know what connects the following teams:

Chiefs, Packers, Raiders, Bengals and Bears.’