Was I right when I said last week that the only week of the season that is more difficult than week seventeen to pick winners is week one?  Unfortunately, that was about the only thing I was right about.

I was a measly one for three last week.  Now if this were baseball, I’d be feeling pretty good.  But it’s football, and 33% ain’t gonna’ cut it!  It wasn’t exactly a stellar way to start the season off, but I’m feeling much better about this week’s picks.

Let’s see what they look like.

This week’s Lock of the Week (1-0).

This is the only category I got right last week, so let’s see if I get a winning streak going here.  There were a couple of games that were tempting, but in the end, I’m going with the Houston Texans over the Tennessee Titans.

I know what you’re thinking.  Are you nuts!  The Titans shut down the mighty Steelers last week and the Texans had to come back from way down to beat the underdog Chargers.

Okay, let’s take a look at both of those games.

First of all, the Steelers are hardly considered mighty any more.  They have no running game at all, so the defenses can simply play the pass and they will keep Pittsburgh off the scoreboard.

And speaking of scoreboard, the Titans defense and special teams won the game.  Their offense was as impotent as the Steelers.

Meanwhile, the Chargers jumped to a big lead early.  In fact, they were up 28-7 shortly into the 3^rd quarter.  Watching them on the sidelines, you would have thought they’d just won the Super Bowl.  I guess nobody told them there were four quarters in a game, not 2 ½.

From that point on, Houston dominated on both sides of the ball, racking up 28 unanswered points.  Just think how the score would have looked if the Texans had played four quarters!

Something tells me they will show up for the opening gun this week.  Houston wins this one by at least two TDs.

This week’s Upset of the Week (0-1).

Okay, I’m still a little bitter that the Bengals fourth quarter meltdown cost me a win in this category last week, but I’ll get over it (eventually).

This week I only had two picks that were against the odds-makers.  One involves my home team Cardinals, so I’m going to leave that one alone.  It’s not that I’m superstitious or anything (knock on wood), but I’d rather not jinx them this early in the season.

So that leaves me with the Dallas Cowboys over the Kansas City Chiefs.

It sounds strange even saying that, doesn’t it?  Weren’t the Chiefs 2-14 last season, while the Cowboys were 8-8?  Did the hiring of Andy Reid really change things that much?

I know, we’re talking about the Cowboys here, the team that found more ways to collapse last season than a boxer on the take.  But losing to the Chiefs after they took the Giants defense apart last week?

I just don’t see it.  Since it’s at Kansas City, I’ll only pick Dallas by ten points.

This week’s Game of the Week (0-1).

This one has to be the easiest game to pick.

Hmmm.  Let me re-phrase that.  It is very easy to pick which game will be the game of the week.  Picking the winner…not so much!

By everyone’s preseason predictions, this should be the preview of the NFC championship game.  That’s right, I’m talking about the San Francisco 49ers at the Seattle Seahawks!

As you know, while most experts have picked the 49ers to win the NFC West, I’ve gone with the Seahawks to finish just above them.  One reason I chose to do so was because of this very game.

It’s week two, the 49ers have a lot more key players on their injured list than the Seahawks.  But most importantly, the game is in Seattle, the league’s official loudest place to come to play a football game.

Both teams have excellent defenses.  Both teams have powerful running backs.  Both teams have quarterbacks that can avoid sacks by using their legs.  So that leads us to the X-factor…the home crowd.

This game should be a fan’s dream to watch.  There will be great plays on both sides of the ball.  The game should come down to the wire, but ultimately, the home team will walk away with the win and become the team to chase for several weeks to come.

Seahawks win by a touchdown or less!