A crazy Week 1 is in the books. Incredible comeback finishes abounded, a nice sating of our ravenous appetite for real football! Week 2 is always an interesting slate of games to forecast. Some cloud formations have changed after surprising kickoff games, both positively and negatively. The trick is to figure out which are ground clutter that will quickly pass off the radar and which are convection storms brewing. After a strong opening week forecast of 12-4, all the 500-millibar charts are pretty clear, but there is always the chance for an altered jet stream late in the week that turns that ubiquitous ?30% chance of rain? into needing a canoe to get your mail. Game of the Week New York Giants at Dallas: Jerry Jones gets to open his own private Taj Majal in prime time against the hated Giants. I keep vacillating between two schools of thought on this one. Part of me believes the emotion and team pride from breaking in the new stadium will carry the Cowboys. The other side of that coin is that there?s huge pressure on Tony Romo & Co. to not spill red wine all over the white Berber carpet. That hasn?t exactly been a strong suit for recent vintages in Dallas, and the Giants defense has a way of making even the steadiest hands wobble. I wouldn?t touch this game with any sort of monetary risk, but if you?re so compelled, I like the new stadium smell. Dallas 24, New York 20. Warm and sunny games New Orleans at Philadelphia: Two teams coming off blowout wins meet in a potential playoff-seeding derby. With McNabb almost certainly out, that leaves it to Kevin Kolb to try and beat an improved Saints secondary and outscore a New Orleans offense that was clearly in midseason form in their devastation of Detroit. I liked enough of what I saw from the Saints? OL and DL to believe they can handle the degree of difficulty jump from the Lions to the Eagles, even though Carolina?s OL is among the best and Philly treated them like a turnstile. Drew Brees can handle the pressure that Jake Delhomme & Co. could not. I liked the Saints 3-man defensive front, a nice in-game change of pace that will keep Kolb guessing. New Orleans gets an impressive belt-notching road win. Saints 33, Eagles 27. Indianapolis at Miami: It must be scary for Miami fans to know that the Colts didn?t play very well in their opener but still found a way to beat a decent Jaguars team. Miami was flat and ineffective on both sides of the ball, and it doesn?t get easier for Jake Long, going from John Abraham to Dwight Freeney. The short zone shell the Colts deploy against the pass creates problems for Chad Pennington, and the Wildcat appears declawed. These two have a history of getting into unexpected shootouts, and that could happen here if the Dolphins get an early lead. When you find yourself choosing sides in a shootout, go with the bigger gun and higher-caliber bullets. Colts 37, Dolphins 31. Baltimore at San Diego: Here are the inner machinations of the Risdon family. I was agonizing over this game, unable to decide which team I thought would win. I pried my wife away from ?I Didn?t Know I was Pregnant? and asked her for her thoughts. She knows football fairly well, but when she gave me her explanation of why Baltimore would triumph, I was reminded why I love her so darn much. She answered my question with two of her own: ?Is Norv Turner still coaching San Diego?? and ?Baltimore?s defense is healthy, right?? Yes on both accounts, and yes to Baltimore. Ravens 24, Chargers 23. New England at New York Jets: One thing I took from the Patriots? shocking MNF comeback win is how poorly their offensive line played. A great victory like that is a great kick-start to get other facets fine-tuned with confidence, but until the final 5 minutes of the game the Bills thoroughly won the battle up front. That does not bode well considering the pressure and talent of the Jets front-seven. I think the Patriots losing LB Jerod Mayo for at least six weeks is more decimating than the Bears losing Brian Urlacher for the year, and Leon Washington is just the type of back who can really take advantage. Jets 30, Patriots 20. Partly cloudy and breezy games Houston at Tennessee: The last thing the reeling Texans need after their pounding at the hands of the Jets is to travel to Tennessee. Jets players openly mocked the softness of the Houston offense, and it?s not like the Titans are any less physical, even sans Haynesworth. Mario Williams didn?t sniff Mark Sanchez, and a Titans line that handled Pittsburgh pretty well can keep Kerry Collins? scent a mystery too. Tennessee 28, Houston 17. Pittsburgh at Chicago: With the loss of two Chicago starting LBs and the turnover-plagued debut of Jay Cutler, it sure seems like Pittsburgh should cruise in this one. But beware the obvious! Chicago has the best record against the Steelers franchise of any other opponent, including 13-2-1 at home. A lot of those wins came back during the Halas era when the Steelers were doormats, but that?s still tough to ignore. If Chicago commits to pounding Matt Forte and brings the A-game pass rush they had in Green Bay, they?ve got a real good chance to knock off Pittsburgh. With Lawrence Timmons iffy and Troy Polamalu out, the Steelers have key defensive injury issues of their own that the Bears are well-equipped to exploit. The home crowd should provide enough frenetic energy to carry Chicago. Bears surprise the Steelers 24-20. Seattle at San Francisco: The 49ers pulled off an impressive opening win over division rival Arizona, while Seattle did the same to St. Louis. That makes this game very integral to deciding the NFC West race. Even though San Francisco tends to play better within the division, two things stand out that do not bode well in this matchup. Having seven 3-and-out series against Arizona?s defense isn?t likely to get easier against Seattle?s shutout-pitching D, which held St. Louis to 2-for-12 on 3rd down conversions. Just as impressive for Seattle was the play of their injury-ravaged OL, which kept Matt Hasselbeck from getting touched and gashed open some huge holes for Julius Jones. I just don?t think Seattle will make the mental gaffes that Arizona did, and the Niners aren?t dynamic enough on offense to outscore Seattle without some help. Seahawks 22, Niners 15. Carolina at Atlanta: This game is absolutely critical for the reeling Panthers, who cannot afford another early conference loss if they want to keep their playoff dreams from drowning. It won?t be easy against an Atlanta defense that looked both tougher and quicker than last year in nearly blanking Miami. I love how Tony Gonzalez has dynamically altered pass defense against the Falcons, and don?t be fooled by Carolina only allowing 82 yards passing last week--Philly had no reason to throw. I wouldn?t put it past Jake Delhomme to pull off an emotional comeback from last week?s disaster, but it?s to the point where I need to see it to regain my confidence in him. Atlanta runs to a 24-14 divisional win. Cincinnati at Green Bay: Lost in the miraculous way they lost to Denver was the near-complete incompetence of the Bengals offense against what figured to be a lousy Broncos defense. I don?t expect Laveraneus Coles to drop four balls in the first half again, but that wrinkled shirt needs a lot of ironing before it?s crisp and ready for Sunday bests. The Packers feed off the gut-check win over Chicago and fly high at home, though beware a very good Bengals secondary. Green Bay 27, Cincinnati 13. Arizona at Jacksonville: This is all about Arizona; the sluggish, out-of-sync Cardinals team that showed up last week has little chance, but the high-flying precision attack we all enjoyed watching last January should romp. Jacksonville?s offense had its own issues against a Colts defense that lacks the dynamic playmakers in the back 7 (or 8 in Arizona?s case), and the Cards D was not the problem. Arizona has struggled mightily in the Eastern time zone in September, having lost 14 of their last 16 qualifying trips. I see a low-scoring, field position battle that Jacksonville ekes out on a late field goal. Jaguars 19, Cardinals 17. Cold and rainy games St. Louis at Washington: The only question here is whether the Rams can avoid a second straight shutout to start the season. Washington was fairly game in their loss to the Giants and must avoid overlooking a vastly inferior foe. Look for a breakout week from Skins rookie Brian Orakpo in the Rams backfield. This is my survivor fantasy game pick for this week, good time to use the Skins. Washington 24, St. Louis 10. Oakland at Kansas City: For as little time as he?s spent in Oakland, Richard Seymour was the clear team MVP in their heartbreaking opening loss. Seymour bagged two sacks and was a consistently disruptive force. With his shocking trade from New England, Seymour could have gone to Oakland and sulked his way through the opener. Instead he came out fired up and with an infectious intensity that had a real impact on his teammates. They got themselves a positive winner, and the Raiders are better for it. Oakland 20, Kansas City 17. Minnesota at Detroit: Sorry my fellow Lions fans, the 1-24 string does not end here. And this time the refs won?t have to hand the game to the Vikings, or have Matt Stafford run out of bounds in the end zone. Vikings 36, Lions 16. Tampa Bay at Buffalo: A lot has been made about the recent history of Buffalo seizing defeat from the jaws of victory in dramatic fashion. What pertains to the forecast here is how they responded the following week. Last year after the Cleveland debacle, they bounced back to hang a 54-31 whipping on the (hapless) Chiefs. Two years ago they responded to the Cowboys collapse by nipping the Ravens (after a bye), and got pounded by Pittsburgh after the freakish opening loss to Denver. Two of the three epic failures have been followed by wins over ?down? teams (those Ravens finished 5-11, the Chiefs 2-14). Tampa Bay fits that ?down? category. Buffalo 29, Tampa Bay 17. Cleveland at Denver: This is a crazy reason to pick the Browns in this matchup of have-nots, but I?m heading to Cleveland this weekend. The last 5 times I?ve visited my home city during football season in the last two years, the Browns have come up victorious. Just don?t ask me how they?ll pull this one off, though I suspect Jamal Lewis and Shaun Rogers will play major roles against a Denver team that doesn?t counter either of them very well. Cleveland 16, Denver 13. Drinking in the Dorm Room Games 3-2 last week, 6-4 on the season. Big weekend for the MAC, as CMU used superlative special teams to knock off Michigan State in a game that sure didn?t feel like an upset, and Toledo clobbered Colorado 54-38 in a game that wasn?t really that close. With near-upset wins by Western Michigan and Eastern Michigan over Big 10 schools, and Bowling Green choking away a huge upset over Missouri, it?s hard to argue the MAC doesn?t belong in the expanded BCS argument. Even my Ohio Bobcats won a road game, in overtime at North Texas. Not exactly a marquee victory, but we?ll take it! Florida 44, Tennessee 17 California 36, Minnesota 34 Virginia Tech 26, Nebraska 20 Ohio State 40, Toledo 34 in a game I?ll be attending at Cleveland Browns stadium Michigan State 33, Notre Dame 31