NFL picks 2018, Week 2: Will the Browns, Cardinals, or Raiders pull off an upset?

So much for the easy win. Every single member of our panel, human and otherwise, had the Saints walking to layup victory over the visiting Buccaneers. We were all wrong. Not that anyone was especially close to a clean sweep on the week.

It’s a timeless lesson about those so-called sure things.

Which picks could end up reminding us all, coin and computer too, about that ancient truism? Let’s start with the unanimous picks.

This week’s potential upsets

Nobody is picking the Bills to beat the Chargers this week, not even as the home team. Understandable. With the Browns tying last week, the Bills have an early lock on the claim to the NFL’s worst team. They’re going to start Josh Allen over Nathan Peterman this week, not that it matters for anything other than Sean McDermott’s credibility.

The only way this one could go belly up is if even more freakish injuries befall the Chargers. Given how snakebitten that team is, let’s not rule it out.

The coin came up in favor of the Cardinals this week. That was the only “member” of the panel taking them over the Rams. My question, who’ll be around longer, the coin or Sam Bradford?

It’s a clean sweep for the Broncos at home against the Raiders. I see no flaws in that logic.

Holdout pickers

We also have a taker for the Browns to beat the Saints in New Orleans this week, Pete Sweeney, our guest picker and the head honcho over at Arrowhead Pride. Last week’s guest picker went 11-5, tied for the best record of the week.

If there’s one pick that may burn us all, except for the coin, it’s the Colts at Washington. That game is already a little dicey because of the hurricane barreling for the East Coast. The NFL has said they’re monitoring the situation and evaluating contingency plans. Weather aside, I feel like the Colts could up winning this one. Maybe there’s an old-fashioned Andrew Luck comeback in the cards, remember those?

The Bengals got a vote of confidence for their Thursday Night Football game against the Ravens. Might end up being a smart hedge. Is one good Joe Flacco game, against the Bills nonetheless, really enough to justify our faith in him? Then again, that Ravens defense vs. Andy Dalton makes it hard for me to pick Cincy.

Maybe Matt Patricia realizes that this week is not actually a preseason game, and he’ll actually have the Lions ready to play against the 49ers after bellyflopping to the Jets on Monday. I’m not so optimistic, but the coin is!

Quick little reminder about our rules for picks here. Our panelists get the chance to change up to two picks by the end of the week, Friday, to reflect injuries, etc. Nobody changed their picks last week, but when they do, we’ll put an asterisk by it here.

Congrats on nobody losing to the coin, the very same 2007 quarter I used last week. It went 8-8, which I supposed is fitting for a 50-50 proposition in the first place.