Week 2 Predictions for the 2025-2026 NFL Season

The Packers are the talk of the town recently especially with the addition of ex-Cowboy Micah Parsons. It seems most think that the addition of Parsons puts Green Bay back in the Super Bowl. That may be counting the chickens before they hatch but I believe the Pack is a better team than Washington. Somebody’s 0 has to go and it won’t be Green Bay at home.

You better believe John Harbaugh chewed into his defense after the fiasco 41-40 loss in Buffalo. Facing a Cleveland team that looks like they are going to have another long season, the Ravens are going to beat up on the Brownies.

The Bengals squeaked by the Browns last week and Joe Burrow did not have a great afternoon. Cincinnati is way better than what they showed at least offensively, and Cleveland did a poor job of exposing a suspect defense. The Bengals will rebound in a big way.

The Pittsburgh Steelers and their fan base can now see why they wanted Aaron Rodgers and not bring back Russell Wilson. The former Seahawks, Broncos, and Steelers quarterback was awful in his New York Giants debut. Rookie Jaxon Dart is breathing down his neck and it’s only a matter of time before the kid supplants Wilson behind center. The Giants are better than 2024 but the Cowboys held their own in Philadelphia last week and will win this one.

The Lions could not handle the Packers in their opener, and the Bears allowed a Minnesota comeback. Both teams did not play their best game and given Detroit Head Coach Dan Campbell’s demeanor, expect a much more physical game from Detroit this time out.

The Dolphins are being called the worst team in the league after just one game getting blown out by the Danny Jones-led Colts. They certainly don’t want to be embarrassed for a second week in a row. They are better than that terrible loss.

Both teams were involved in close games in week one but only the 49ers came away with a victory. I see another close battle in this one.

The Jets surprised many with their offensive play against the Steelers and Justin Fields perhaps proved to Pittsburgh replacing him with Russell Wilson last season after he led the team to four victories in the first six games was a mistake. While the Steelers did not provide much of a defensive test to Fields, Buffalo will. No way does Buffalo lose this game.

The Steelers wanted to get off to a fast start and thanks to Chris Boswell, he saved them from a 0-1 beginning. They have a great chance to improve to 2-0 with this game at home. Aaron Rodgers will get more comfortable in his new offense with every passing week and that should provide some caution to future teams down the road. Pittsburgh’s defense is better than what we saw in week one and Seattle comes off a loss heading into Acrisure Stadium where it is going to be LOUD. The Steelers win a second straight.

The Titans played a respectable game last week despite losing. The Rams also won a close game beating the Texans. I expect a low scoring affair with Tennessee narrowly earning the win.

The Cardinals return home to find a Panthers team that their coaching staff thought would be making strides in 2025. Instead, Carolina was dominated on the road last week by Jacksonville. It is expected that the Cards will surprise some teams this season with Marvin Harrison Jr. being a real threat.

The Colts were one of the biggest surprises of week one blowing out Miami with Daniel Jones looking like a reborn quarterback. The Broncos play defense. That will be in their favor as they win on the road.

When was the last time the Kansas City Chiefs found themselves in last place in the AFC West? It might be just one game but that is where they are at. Now to avoid losing their first two games to begin the season they must defeat the reigning world champions. Even playing at home, I say good luck.

To start their first game of the season with a quarterback making his pro debut, it was a slow start for J.J. McCarthy. After three quarters the Vikes were down 17-6 but McCarthy led his offense back for three straight scores to get back in front 27-17 and held off the Bears to win 27-24. This game marks one essentially still a rookie in McCarthy against last year’s starting rookie quarterback Michael Penix Jr. I’m favoring the Vikings at home.

Last week there were some high scoring games and a whole bunch of low scoring affairs. Both these teams combined in week one for 32 points with the Bucs scoring 23. Between Houston and Tampa’s season opening results, the point differential between them and their opponents was just eight points. This should be another close low scoring contest.

The Chargers opened their season by knocking off the AFC champion Chiefs. The Raiders had an easier opponent in the Patriots. Rookie Ashton Jeanty has high aspirations and lofty expectations yet for his first pro game he rushed for only 38 yards on 19 carries with only a nine-yarder as his long for the day. Geno Smith had an outstanding debut as a Raider with 362 yards passing but Justin Herbert was about as good with three touchdown passes and 318 yards passing. The Chargers are clearly the better team here.