NFL Game Picks and Survivor Pool Lock: Week 1

Are you ready for some FOOTBALL?

 

I know I am.

 

The 2013 NFL regular season kicks off in just a few hours from now. It's GREAT to have the NFL season back! But it also means that it's that time of year again. Time for my weekly NFL Game Picks and Survivor Pool Lock of the Week. Every year my goal is to get 180 games correct, which is the equivalent of nailing slightly better than 70% and being right on average on 10-11 games every week.

 

Last season I finished 164-91-1, which is only about 64%. Not great, but some years are like that. We'll see if I can do better in 2013.

 

In my Survivor Pool Lock's in 2012, I went 14-3. The week 2 loss by New England at home against the Arizona Cardinals and week 3 loss by New Orleans to the Kansas City Chiefs were brutal early season picks that doomed me. I also whiffed on Tampa Bay when they lost to the Eagles in week 14.

 

Like with my 2013 NFL Game picks, I will try to be better at the Survivor Pool Locks.

 

So without further ado, here are my week 1 NFL Game Picks:

 

Denver 27, Baltimore 20

Atlanta 34, New Orleans 28

Chicago 20, Cincinnati 17

Kansas City 23, Jacksonville 13

Cleveland 21, Miami 17

Detroit, 31, Minnesota 23

New England 35, Buffalo 21

 Indianapolis 27, Oakland 10

Seattle 20, Carolina 17

Tampa Bay 24, NY Jets 13

Pittsburgh 17, Tennessee 14

St. Louis 24, Arizona 20

San Francisco 30, Green Bay 24

Dallas 27, NY Giants 20

Washington 28, Philadelphia 24

Houston 24, San Diego 13

 

And there you have it: my week 1 NFL Game Predictions.

 

For my Survivor Pool Lock for Week 1 I have a few games to choose from that I am very confident in. But I hold to a couple of rules each season (which came back to bite me in weeks 2 and 3 last season) like preferring home teams, especially early in the season. The Jets and Bills are clearly outclassed this week, but they are both at home. Luckily there is another team that is possibly even in a worse situation: on the road against a 2012 playoff team; very suspect QB; in general, a lack of quality talent (with a couple of exceptions) both on offense and defense. That team shouldn't be hard to identify.

 

My Survivor Pool Lock for Week 1 is: the Indianapolis Colts over the Oakland Raiders.

 

I'll be sure to get these posted every Wednesday or Thursday throughout the rest of the 2013 season. Best of luck to everyone in your picks!