“Pick ‘Em or Kick ‘Em”™: FGT VS. Urban Sports Scene 2021 Week 2 NFL Picks

By the Football Garbage Time Staff

If you followed last year, you won over 60% of your picks, and we aim to do even better this year.

And if you’ve been following us, you know that we here at Football Garbage Time have gone head to head against Wally, Will and Ray at Urban Sports Scene on our NFL Picks for the last 4 seasons.  Why?  Because they’re awesome competitors, they KNOW their sports, and, heck, they’re just good guys!  This year we’ll have their picks up right HERE, so keep it tuned in, to both us and them, because we’ll be picking all season all long.

Without further to do, here we go:

Week 2 Games

Ha Kung Wong’s Picks

Ha Kung’s Thoughts:

Last year I ended up with a 68.1% record for the season, so that’s six years in a row with over a 60% pick rate.  Plus, I had a 87.5% record on Locks of the Week and a 50% record on Upsets of the Week.  Don’t worry, I don’t plan on stopping now!

Let’s get to that Lock (for Survivor Leagues) and Upset for Week 2…

Lock of the Week ➡ Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-12.5) over Atlanta Falcons

Last week I went out on a limb based on preseason action and that did not work out.  So, back to basics, which means I think you should lock in the Bucs over the Falcons.  In Week 1, the Bucs has the 7th most yards and the 10th most points taking on a surprisingly solid Dallas Cowboys defense.  The Falcons, on the other hand, put up the 7th least total yards and 2nd least points against a middling Eagles defense.  The Falcons were a measly 3 of 14 on 3rd downs and showed zero ability to consistently move the ball on offense.  Perhaps Kyle Pitts eventually elevates this dismal offense, but for now, I’ll take the current Super Bowl champs.

Upset of the Week ➡ Dallas Cowboys (+3.0) over Los Angeles Chargers

Last week, I bought into preseason hype for the upset as well, but this time, I’m going to buy into what I saw in Week 1 from the Cowboys, and what I saw was a surprisingly spry and accurate Dak Prescott directing traffic with ease, even without help from Zeke Elliott.  Justin Herbert and the Chargers didn’t look bad, but they essentially got the win in Week 1 off a horrible Antonio Gibson fumble a few yards out from his own end zone.  Give credit where credit is due, the Washington defense is solid this year, but I see the Cowboys rebounding after almost beating the current Super Bowl champs in Week 1.

Joanne Kong’s Picks

Joanne’s Thoughts:

Cincinnati Bengals (1-0) @ Chicago Bears (0-1)

Even with a week 1 loss to the Los Angeles Rams (34-14), the Chicago Bears are favored to win in their season home opener, hosting the Cincinnati Bengals. The hype of the preseason and 2021 draft have created an optimism for several teams, the Chicago Bears being among them. In week one, the hype got the better of me, picking the Bears to beat the Rams, even with the Rams being ranked among the top defenses coming into the season. In week 2, both teams are more evenly matched. Even so…

  • Bears will have home field advantage and a more than likely full stadium to support their the Bears.

  • There a revenge game narrative. Andy Dalton will be facing off against his old team, the Bengals, which usually means he’ll play with some superhuman quartbacking skill only reached when playing your old team. We saw it in week 1 with Sam Darnold (Carolina Panthers QB) victory over the New York Jets.
  • Andy Dalton might be the starter, but Justin Fields had his moment in week.  And, we’ll probably see him on the field a little more in week 2.

  • The Bears did a good job at moving the ball, but continued to stall midfield, failing to convert four 4th down attempts. When you’re playing from behind, you have to try, but you can’t stall that often and be successful.
  • On defense, they allowed the Los Angeles Rams to score 34 points. That probably won’t happen in week 2 against the Cincinnati Bengals, but I’ve been wrong before, and they looked like a shadow of the Monsters of the Midway we were talking about over the last two years.

Fool me once, shame on you.

  • Joe Burrow is healthy, coming off a nail-biting win against the Minnesota Vikings.
  • In week one, the dynamic connection between Joe Burrow and rookie wide receiver, and former LSU teammate, Ja’Marr Chase lit up the field.

Expect to see more from this dynamic duo in week 2.

  • The Cincinnati defense was better than expected. In week 1, the Bengals defense had 3 sacks and 7 tackles for a loss. Knowing that Dalton struggles against pressure, the Bengals have a pretty clear road map as to how they can disrupt the Bears offense.

Fool me twice, shame on me. The Bengals take the win, leaving the Bears with an upset.

Scott King’s Picks

Scott’s Thoughts:

After week 1 I have nothing to say. I lost across the board and got knocked out in week 1 for the first time ever. This may be a dumpster fire. I’ll lock down the Packers as my knockout.

Wole’s Picks

Wole’s Thoughts:

Check out Wole’s thoughts on his picks in the recent Urban Sports Scene Podcast!

Ray’s Picks

Ray’s Thoughts:

Check out Ray’s thoughts on his picks in the most recent Urban Sports Scene Podcast!

Will’s Picks

Will’s Thoughts:

Check out Will’s thoughts on his picks in the most recent Urban Sports Scene Podcast!

George’s Picks

George’s Thoughts:

One of the great angles in week 2 is catching the public’s overreaction to teams and taking advantage. Most often it’s the 0-1 teams that are damned by their opening loss against 1-0 over celebrated for their opening victory.

The most obvious example is 0-1 Cleveland vs. 1-0 Houston and the Browns should be your eliminator this week.

There are a few 1-0 teams I am taking to beat 0-1 teams (like Miami over Buffalo, Arizona over Minnesota and Tampa Bay over Atlanta) so here are some 0-1 upsets for you.
Did you see how bad Tennessee was against Arizona. Absolutely horrible on both sides of the ball. And Seattle they won on the road at Indianapolis and Russell Wilson was cooking again. There’s no way . . . Seattle was struggling at home even before the pandemic. And Tennessee has the firepower to attack the Seahawks struggling secondary. Titans win.
Look at those Bengals! All JaMarr Chase needed was Joe Burrow. And they were much better than the Vikings for most of that game. And the Bears. Everyone saw on that on Sunday night. Andy Dalton he was terrible . . . Bears actually moved the ball really well and Dalton’s red zone turnovers sabotaged there upset chances. Not sure Cincinnati’s defense will be as tough as the Rams. Take Chicago.

Wasn’t Justin Herbert fabulous against that tough Washington defense. The Chargers went up and down the field and now they get a worse Cowboys defense . . . yeah and the Chargers nearly lost to Taylor Heinicke who moved the football on them. What’s a healthy and reinvigorated Dak Prescott going to do to them. It’s going to be a shootout and there are few teams I would take over Dallas in a shootout.

Week 1 Results

Current Standings

Check back next week for Week 2 results and Week 3 picks!

tagged with , ,