A tie goes to you sounds good. This week, I think i went up three... Tennessee beat Minnesota; cleveland beat the bengals, and Pittsburgh beat the Ravens.
We both took the broncos (fucking insane loss), arizona (also wrong)
Green Bay (wrong) Carolina (right) san diego (right) buffalo (right) dallas (wrong) and philly (wrong).... is that right?
So that would put me 2 (or... 1.5?) up overall?

I know it's your turn to go first, but I am hoping to get drunk enough to forget to make picks tonight, so I'll do mine now.

Atlanta at Carolina - The Falcons look good, but I'll still take the Panthers.
Cleveland at Cincinnati - I think I gotta take the Bengals. They looked good last week.
Houston at Jacksonville - Jags.
Denver at Kansas City - Broncos.
San Fransisco at New Orleans - Saints.
Arizona at New York Jets - Tough one, but I'll take the Cardinals.
Green Bay at Tampa Bay - Close one, but I know you'll take the Pack, so I'll take them too.
Minnesota at Tennessee - I'll stick to my guns. Vikes.
San Diego at Oakland - Chargers.
Buffalo at St. Louis - Bills.
Washington at Dallas - Cowboys.
Philadelphia at Chicago - No Westbrook could be an issue, but I still like the Eagles.
Baltimore at Pittsburgh - I really think that the Steelers are on the decline, so I'll take a shot here and pick the Ravens.

What a knockout. Good week for you.... down three; one overall. It's a long season, bucko.

(Yes, you're the man savagely beating me in the photo above)

Three!
Dallas (Pat) @ Green Bay (Josh)
Pittsburgh (Josh) @ Philly (Pat)
Carolina (Josh) @ Minnestoa (Pat)

Kansas City @ Atlanta
The Chiefs are awful. Actually, there are a lot of awful teams this year. Atlanta will, I guess, win this one. Falcons.

Oakland @ Buffalo
I'm looking forward to when they play New England. Bills.

Tampa Bay @ Chicago
At home. If they can beat the Colts, they can beat Tampa. Bears.

Houston @ Tennessee
Doing strangely well... Titans.

Carolina @ Minnesota
Two close losses, but I would think they could rebound if Carolina wasn't a surprising 2-0 with gutsy, gritty wins over the Chargers and Bears, two great teams. Steve Smith will get so excited he might just punch Ken Lucas again. Panthers.

Miami @ New England
Yes. Patriots.

Cincinnati @ NY Giants
Wow. Giants.

Arizona @ Washington
At home, and Arizona beat some awful teams. The 'skins do look good this year. Redskins.

New Orleans @ Denver
Going for two in the final minutes? Fucking awesome. This is why I'm a Broncos fan, and why you'll really be winning when you book our hotel in Denver next Fall. Broncos.

Detroit @ San Francisco
Detroit is suddenly bad again. I thought about this one for a long time. 49ers.

St. Louis @ Seattle
Hawks.

Jacksonville @ Indianapolis
Colts.

Pittsburgh @ Philadelphia
I think they're the best in the AFC, and yes, that means better than the Broncos. Game of the week, though. I have a feeling it may be counting for a point. Steelers (who it should be noted haven't won in Philly in over 40 years).

Cleveland @ Baltimore
This is where Cleveland starts winning. Browns.

Dallas @ Green Bay
Tough call. Green Bay hasn't lsot at home in the regular season since Oct. 7 last year, against a then-good Chicago team. Since then, they're amazing. They've beat two good teams this year, and Dallas is a great team. I am going to hope that the shorter week, the long game against the Eagles, and Green Bay's home field advantage will work. Shit. Depends on which Romo shows up. Packers.

NY Jets @ San Diego
I do think they'll start winning at some point. They're 0-2, but have scored only three points fewer than they've allowed. Talk about tight losses. Chargers.

OK, so I'm down 2 early. Lots of time left, and we all know that I know how to panic pretty well if it comes to that, so here's week 3:
Kansas City at Atlanta - Kansas City lost to Oakland, so I'll take the Falcons.
Oakland at Buffalo - Buffalo.
Tampa Bay at Chicago - I like the Bears to bounce back
Carolina at Minnesota - Well, shit, I'll take the Vikings.
Miami at New England - How do they do it? Pats.
Cincinnati at NYG - Giants
Houston at Tennessee - Well, they're 2 and 0, so I guess I take the Titans?
Arizona at Washington - The Cards beat 2 bad teams, so I'll take the Redskins.
New Orleans at Denver - Not to jinx it, but you got yourself a playoff team here. Broncos.
Detroit at San Fransisco - I'll take the 49ers.
St. Louis at Seattle - Yikes, that's ugly. Seahawks, I guess.
Cleveland at Baltimore - Browns.
Jacksonville at Indianapolis - That's tougher than it looks. I'll take the Colts.
Pittsburgh at Philadelphia - Game of the Week, and I'll take the home team. Eagles!
Dallas at Green Bay - Game of the Week pt. 2, but I assume we both take the 'boys.
Jets at San Diego - I'll take the Chargers. I don't know why.

So, with the Texans/Ravens bumped to November 9th, what's the deal? Do we carry over our predictions? I feel strongly about the Ravens, but at the same time think a lot can change in 7 weeks of football, and would prefer to be free to simply re-choose that game on Nov. 9. Thoughts?

3 this week!
I took your dare and the Vikes, you get the Colts.
I took the Jets you took... Sam Cassell? No wait...Matt Castle? I have no idea.
And I also am a little shocked that you took the Ravens, so I'll take my freebie with the Texans.

Okay week 2
Giants over Rams
Saints over Redskins
Bears over Panthers
Titans over Bengals
Vikings over Colts
Chiefs over Raiders
Bills over Jaguars
Packers over Lions
Seahawks over 49ers
Bucs over Falcons
Cardinals over Dolphins
Broncos over Chargers (I have looked at a lot of information before making that choice - I want to watch this game)
Jets over Patriots
Steelers over Browns
Cowboys over Eagles
Houston over Baltimore

Good luck!

I think we made the honour system work last year, but it may be a good idea to alternate who picks first. But still, honour system. Anyway, here are my Week 2 picks. Not too many tough calls here, if you ask me. We'll see.

Tennessee at Cincinnati
The Titans are reeling, and would lose to all but the worst tea... oh wait, right. Titans.

Green Bay at Detroit
Easy call. Packers.

Oakland at Kansas City
They actually looked pretty good against New England, while Oakland was obliterated by my good ol' Broncos. KC.

NY Giants at St. Louis
Wild guess: we pick the same team here? yes? Giants.

Indianapolis at Minnesota
I dare you. Colts.

New Orleans at Washington
One elite-offence against an average team. I like 'em. Saints.

Chicago at Carolina
Another tough one, but I'll go with the Bears. They were great last weekend, but so were the Panthers. I think there's a good chance we'll differ on this one. Bears.

Buffalo at Jacksonville
Remember when I kept picking the Bills last season, thinking they were better than they are? Yeah, but that was last season. Bills.

San Francisco at Seattle
Yeah. 'Hawks.

Atlanta at Tampa Bay
I'm not fooled by last week. Bucs.

San Diego at Denver
LT questionable, Merriman out. Yikes. Denver.

New England at New York Jets
Game of the week. Cassel hasn't started a game since high School. Yikes, again. Patriots.

Miami at Arizona
Mismatch. Arizona.

Pittsburgh at Cleveland
Big Ben. Steelers.

Philadelphia at Dallas
The new favourite. Cowboys.

Baltimore at Houston
The Texans mayyyy be distracted ("hut, hut, HURRICANE") so let's go with the Ravens. Uh, Ravens.

1-1.
A good start.

We need to decide what we're doing for the ticket-buying. Should the loser pay for hotel/food?

I'd suggest: each pay for own flight, food and booze; loser pays for tickets and hotel.

And just a tidbit from Shannon's blog, a guide to peeing:

#1. Ensuring that you do not to lean back too far. This can result in urine on your shoes and/or legs. In fact, a slight lean forward will help to alleviate this problem;

#2. Relax. Pushing too hard will cause a wayward stream that doesn’t hit the hole and may hit your own body or clothing;

#3. It is easier to squat all the way down instead of the halfer. The halfer can lead to burning thighs that result in intense stream. See point 2;

#4. Ensure undies are held far enough forward;

#5. Make the decision to be okay with either the door swinging open or the potential of being stuck with creepy crawlies in your stall. It is a grave error to decide midstream;

$6. If all else fails, and a mishap occurs, Do NOT turn the tap on in the stall. You may end up with a flood of epic proportions in the public stall.

The stakes are:
A date for either the first Vikings or Broncos home game next season, depending on the winner. Loser pays for the hotel, food, everything; each pays his own airfare.

So, win and the other guy has to pay for lodgings, aaaand put up with a trip to the home city of his rival's favourite team.




Deal?

We should really set the stakes before you fall too far behind.
You're more tied down than I am currently, so let me know what you think is a fair wager.

Two
Minnesota (Pat) @ Green Bay (Josh)
Washington (Josh) @ New York Giants (Pat)

We'll know tonight, I suppose.

Washington at New York
Washington looks good this year, and New York looks worse. Injuries have hurt both teams, and New York struggled at home last season at 3-5. Despite some injuries, I'll take Washington - Zorn seems to know what he's doing - and anticipate highly that Patrick did not do the same.

Detroit at Atlanta
Both these teams are awful, but one is worse. Detroit.

Seattle at Buffalo
Love them Seahawks. They have a shot at the NFC this year.

Jacksonville at Tennessee
They're finally going with Garrard full-on, and they only lost once (1 time) outside the AFC south last year. Anyhow, Tennessee isn't there yet. Look at their defence, and their WRs. Awful. Jags.

NY Jets at Miami
Jets. Moving on…

Kansas City at New England
Brady's playing, moving on…

Tampa Bay at New Orleans
Toughest call of the week, I'd say. I really like Tampa this year for some reason, notably their defence and what they can do at home. I also have a soft spot for Jeff Garcia. But the Saints will win this game. That offence is fucking ridiculous.

St. Louis at Philadelphia
Philly. (Though it may be worth noting that my Madden 09 simmed the Rams to an NFC Conference title)

Houston at Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh. (Schultz calls Polamalu the best player in the NFL? Say what?)

Cincinnati at Baltimore
Another tough call. These teams are awful. I think it comes down to strength vs. strength, and I think Baltimore's defence is still better than last year's underperforming Palmer. I'll take the Ravens, despite their record, at home.

Dallas at Cleveland
Not an easy call, but I'll take Dallas. Schultz picks the Browns to get to the conference final… ?

Carolina at San Diego
San Diego

Arizona at San Francisco
Arizona. They may actually be alright this year, and I couldn’t tell you who is the starting QB for the 49ers.

Chicago at Indianapolis
Indy

Minnesota at Green Bay
Green Bay at home with nearly all their starters from last year. Now if only I could remember the name of the guy they're missing...

Denver at Oakland
Denver, just because.

Culpepper retires.

And goes on the stereotypical Blame-Everyone-Else Rant that makes the NFL one of the most classless leagues.

You should be scared.
(Picks coming soon...)

Ah, week one. Hope and doubt are draped over every team. There are a lot of ifs, ands, and buts. But here is what I think. For now.

Redskins at Giants - I'm going go go ahead an say that without Osi, Strahan and Shockey, this team is significantly worse. But this is going to be a great atomsphere at home, and I really do think Eli is going to be great, so I'll say Giants.

Cincinnati at Baltimore - Both of these teams look bad this year, but the Ravens still have enough offense to make the Bengals look bad, so I'll take the Ravens.

NY Jets at Miami - No way I can choose the Dolphins until they show me something. Jets.

Kansas City at New England - Ha. Patriots.

Houston at Pittsburgh - The Texans may have a playoff team, but I still have to take the Steelers.

Jacksonville at Tennessee - I'm still not a Vince Young fan yet. Jags.

Detroit at Atlanta - Yikes, I'm taking the Lions?

Seattle at Buffalo - Could be fun, but I like the Seahawks while the weather's good.

Tampa Bay at New Orleans - I'll predict a bounce-back year for the Saints.

St. Louis at Philadelphia - I don't know why I'm hesitating, the obvious pick is the Eagles.

Dallas at Cleveland - Cowboys.

San Diego at Carolina - This could be the year for Rivers and the Chargers.

Arizona at San Francisco - There's too much potential in Arizona, but they say that every year. Still, Cardinals.

Chicago at Indianapolis - Even if Peyton isn't 100%, I still like the Colts.

Minnesota at Green Bay - Should be a great game, but the Vikings are better at this point in the year.

Denver at Oakland - The Raiders are playing on Monday Night Football? Broncos.