Latest / Sports History Network / Week Two 2026 NFL Picks: Complete 60‑Second Rundown Analysis
Transcript
- 0:47Hello my football friends, Darren Hayes of pigskindispatch.com welcome once again to the Pig Pen and it is time for us to do our picks for week two of the NFL season of 2026.
- 0:55I'm joined by Ed Cleese.
- 0:57We're going to do these picks in 60 seconds for each game or less.
- 1:01Ed, get through all 16 games.
- 1:03Ed, welcome back to the Pig Pen.
- 1:04Hello, Darren, how are you?
- 1:05I am doing great, Ed, and we have some great games coming up this week, maybe some really difficult ones to pick, but maybe you want to share some results.
- 1:14What happened last week between you and I and our little.
- 1:17You bet.
- 1:17So this year we're going to pick every game, every week.
- 1:19We're going to pick them in 60 seconds or less, as you said and we're going to keep track of the record.
- 1:23So we're going to both do straight up and against the spread straight up.
- 1:26You had a heck of a week last week, Darren.
- 1:28You went 11 and five, which was two better than me finishing at nine and seven.
- 1:33But Darren, if anybody out there was spending their heart or wagering their hard earned money on our picks, well, I won them a little bit of money going 9 and 7 against the spread, whereas they would have come
- 1:47up a little short following your recommendations.
- 1:51Against the spread you were 7 and 9.
- 1:53So you could say that the two records are a wash, but not financially.
- 1:59But they would have gone broke if they would have listened to me.
- 2:02Well, don't do that.
- 2:03Yes, well, hopefully.
- 2:04Well, you know, you would have won seven, lost nine.
- 2:07Hopefully, depending on what you're betting, it wouldn't have been too bad.
- 2:10But yeah, they would have lost with you.
- 2:11They would have won with me.
- 2:13All right, well, why don't we get to our picks for this week if you're ready to start this.
- 2:18I am ready, Darren.
- 2:20We're going to start on Thursday night.
- 2:22One of those weird Thursday night games.
- 2:24Our weird Thursday night game starts in our this week we have the Lions at Bills opening their new stadium.
- 2:29The Bills are four and a half point favorites.
- 2:31These are weird games.
- 2:33I think the new stadium even makes it strange too.
- 2:36Both offenses went bananas in week one, which of course will mean that this will be an ugly, choppy game.
- 2:42So I am picking the Bills to win, but the Lions to cover.
- 2:47Okay, well, I agree with you, the Bills to win, but I think the Bills cover because this is that grand opening and I think they're going to make a statement here just much like they did last week.
- 2:56But they're playing against much lesser Defense, let's say.
- 3:01Yes, sir.
- 3:02Moving down south, we have the Panthers who are two and a half point favorites on the road in Atlanta.
- 3:09The Falcons defense may not be awful, I don't know.
- 3:13But we know the Panthers defense probably is awful and that is leading me to pick a mild upset here with the Dirty Birds of Atlanta and a mild upset over the Panthers.
- 3:25So of course I'm picking the Falcons to win and cover.
- 3:29All right.
- 3:29Well, Bijan is a beast.
- 3:31I just saw that firsthand against my team last week.
- 3:34But I think the Carolina Panthers may have something going on down there because they, they lost the game, but they made it pretty close.
- 3:42Or yeah, they did lose last week, so.
- 3:45But I think they, they've got something going on.
- 3:47I think they cover and win the game.
- 3:49Okay, we got the Vikings at the Bears who are five and a half point favorites in Soldier Field.
- 3:55And I believe that I have finally, after over a year now come around and sold on the Bears.
- 4:00So no more doubting the Bears.
- 4:02They broke me.
- 4:04Carson Wentz is awful and the Bears are going to win this game by 10 or more points.
- 4:11I agree with you that the Bears are going to win big, but I think this one might be really a lot of fun because I think maybe the Vikings are getting a little bit of confidence in their offense.
- 4:19We know the Bears have their confidence going, but.
- 4:21But they'll cover in the win.
- 4:23Okay, we've got the Eagles headed to Music City.
- 4:25They are seven, seven point favorites on the road against the Titans.
- 4:30The Eagles offense survived on some big plays this past Sunday against Washington.
- 4:34Otherwise they did not look very good.
- 4:36The Titans look absolutely miserable against the Jets.
- 4:39I just kind of look for a typical Eagles game right here that's going to be a little bit head scratching.
- 4:44The Eagles are going to win, but somehow, some way the Titans are going to cover this number.
- 4:49Really?
- 4:49Okay.
- 4:49I don't believe that.
- 4:51I mean, I think the Eagles look sort of who we thought they were.
- 4:54They are just big on both the offensive defensive lines.
- 4:58I think they're just going to bludgeon the Titans around.
- 5:01Low scoring game, but they're going to win and cover.
- 5:03Okay, Steelers are headed to the New England Patriots where the Patriots are five and a half point favorites.
- 5:08I love this spot.
- 5:10I absolutely love this spot for the Patriots and I do not like it for the Steelers.
- 5:14There's a lot of reasons that go into that thinking for me.
- 5:17But the number one thing is the Steelers offense looks very stuck in neutral to me.
- 5:22Patriots have had a long time to prepare for this Everybody's down on the Patriots right now.
- 5:28I think they come out and they win this game fairly easily.
- 5:30Patriots winning cover.
- 5:32Well, I would say that if they had a particular wide receiver with the first initials AJ but they do not have that this week.
- 5:39And, and I think the five and a half, I'm surprised it's that big of a spread.
- 5:43Maybe because it's a home game for the Patriots.
- 5:45I think the Steelers are going to win outright, so I'll take the Steelers into points.
- 5:50Okay.
- 5:50The packers are four and a half point favorites on the road at the one and oh, New York Jets.
- 5:56The packers second half woes have followed them right into 2026.
- 6:01It's getting bad.
- 6:02It's getting ugly.
- 6:03I would probably say let's pump the brakes on the jets just yet.
- 6:06And for right now this is a somewhat reluctant pick from me because I am not high on Green Bay, but I'm going to say the packers do win and cover this number.
- 6:15I totally agree with you.
- 6:16I think the Green Bay packers are going to make a statement and come out and dominate in this game and they're going to win by double digits.
- 6:23Okay, the Browns, they are eight and a half point underdogs on the road in Tampa Bay.
- 6:29I have no clue how Todd Monken can start Sean Watson right now.
- 6:33I.
- 6:33I don't think there's any way that he can start him next week when they go home.
- 6:37I really don't know what's happening there.
- 6:39I will say this though, Darren, Vegas doesn't give money away and so Tampa Bay is going to win this game.
- 6:46But somehow, much like the Titans, the Browns are going to cover the spread.
- 6:50I would have loved to say that.
- 6:51I'd love to say the Browns would cover and stay within eight and a half points.
- 6:55I'm not a believer in them and after watching last week, I'm definitely not a believer in them.
- 7:00I'm going to take Tampa Bay in the points.
- 7:01Good.
- 7:02The Saints are at the Ravens.
- 7:04The Ravens are 8 1/2 point favorites at home.
- 7:07Very impressive debut for Baltimore.
- 7:09I do think the New Orleans defense is better than they probably looked on Sunday.
- 7:13For a while there they were really playing fairly well.
- 7:16I think this is going to be a close game.
- 7:17The Ravens are going to win late, so the Saints are going to cover.
- 7:20I right on board with you.
- 7:22I think the same way I think the Ravens win.
- 7:25Saints stay with them though.
- 7:26Less than eight and a half points.
- 7:28Okay, we got the Bengals at the Texans who are two and a half point favorites down in Houston.
- 7:33The Bengals defense was better last week, but they were also aided by some really butterfingers.
- 7:40Baker Mayfield plays.
- 7:41So it's a little bit hard to get a gauge on exactly what that is.
- 7:45Much like the New England game, I really like this spot for the Texans.
- 7:49They are going to win this game.
- 7:50They're going to cover the spread and it's not going to be that close.
- 7:53I'm right on board with you because I think that the Texans maybe feel a little bit slighted losing that one to the Bills so close.
- 8:01I think they're going to take care of the Bengals at home.
- 8:04Okay.
- 8:05Moving to the late games on Sunday, we have the Jaguars playing at the Broncos.
- 8:08The Broncos are two and a half point favorites.
- 8:11It's always hard to tell what is real Week one, what is fake, what is not.
- 8:14I actually have a gut feeling that what we saw from both of these teams in Week one is kind of real.
- 8:21I realized that the Jags were playing the Brown, the Browns, and that's hard to gauge.
- 8:25And the Broncos kind of got smoked by the Chiefs.
- 8:29But I actually think Jacksonville is going to go out to Denver and win this game outright and pull the upset and it'll be a sign of things to come the rest of the year.
- 8:37Now, we talked about it the other day on our history thing that the first the Week one win by the Jags.
- 8:43That's nine regular season wins in a row.
- 8:46I think that streak stops now because Denver is going to win this and cover the points.
- 8:51Okay, we got the Raiders at the Chargers, who are surprising 0 and 1.
- 8:55The Chargers are 7 point favorites.
- 8:59I'm predicting a bounce back from the Chargers here in a fairly resounding fashion.
- 9:03But my antenna is up on them and this could be a fool me once type situation.
- 9:09I'm going to let him maybe fool me one more time.
- 9:11So I'm picking the Chargers to cover this number.
- 9:14Yeah, I'm a little bit skeptical too, but I have to believe a Harbaugh team is not going to go down two weeks in a row without swinging.
- 9:23I think they are going to cover and win this game.
- 9:25Gotcha.
- 9:26The Commanders are at the Cowboys.
- 9:27The Cowboys are four and a half point favorites.
- 9:29I do not like this game in any way.
- 9:31In terms of predicting it, I think it's the hardest game on the board to get a feel for.
- 9:36The Cowboys defense was awful on Sunday night, almost embarrassingly so.
- 9:42But again, we know that sometimes week one is a fake out.
- 9:46Washington's offense was pretty bad through three quarters and then caught fire.
- 9:49So what's real.
- 9:50What's not, what to expect in this game.
- 9:52I really don't know.
- 9:53I'm just kind of flipping a coin here saying it'll be a close game but like Dallas is going to win, they're going to win it late and they will actually cover the number.
- 10:02Yeah, I'm right on board with you here.
- 10:04I don't think that was a Dallas team that, that we're going to see the rest of the year.
- 10:07I think they're going to have a lot more consistency on offense coming up going in the season.
- 10:12I think their defense is going to start to gel a little week and it's going to start this week.
- 10:16And I'm sorry Ed, but it's going to probably be a double digit win for the Cowboys.
- 10:20Okay, get the Seahawks at the Cardinals.
- 10:22The Seahawks are four and a half point favorites.
- 10:25All right, Arizona, if you really want to get our attention, let's do it again.
- 10:29That's kind of my thought here.
- 10:31Even without Sam Darnold, I'm going to go ahead and continue to doubt the Cardinals for now and think that that was a week one anomaly.
- 10:38I like the Seahawks to win this game.
- 10:39I like them to cover that number.
- 10:41Yeah, I think coach has got something going on to help his defense stop that Cardinals offense a little bit.
- 10:49He's going to have something waiting for him.
- 10:51I think they're going to have time to prepare, you know, their quarterback this week or not.
- 10:56So throwing middle of the game without Darnold.
- 10:58I think the Seahawks are going to cover this and cover it easily.
- 11:01Okay.
- 11:02Moving on to San Francisco.
- 11:04We have the Dolphins are at the 49ers.
- 11:07The 49ers are 13 and a half point favorites, which is a giant number in the NFL.
- 11:11I said last week, beware of the giant number and the Cardinals covered it.
- 11:16And I really want to pick Miami in this game because history tells us that the big underdog covers more often than not, but I just cannot do it.
- 11:26Based on what I saw from these two teams last week, I had no idea how this stays competitive.
- 11:31So I'm picking the Niners to cover the big number.
- 11:33Yeah.
- 11:34And unless Larry Zonka and Dan Marino and Mercury Morris are coming out of retirement, I would like to say the Dolphins could cover, but I don't think they're going to.
- 11:44I think this is going to be a big number and the Dolphins are going to not make that.
- 11:48Yep.
- 11:49Colts at Chiefs on Sunday night.
- 11:50Chiefs are six and a half point favorites.
- 11:52There's another game I really, really like.
- 11:54It'll Be close.
- 11:56The Colts are going to cover this number.
- 11:59I will say, though, that this is going to be like the first Mahomes moment that we've seen in a while.
- 12:04It'll be a late game, comeback, overtime, something like that.
- 12:07Mahomes will pull it out late, but the Colts are going to cover.
- 12:11I'm.
- 12:12I don't know.
- 12:12I think after the end of last year and watching last week's game with the Colts, I'm not a believer in them.
- 12:18I don't think they're as good as what people are touting to be.
- 12:21And I think the Chiefs are.
- 12:23I think the Chiefs are going to dominate this game and cover the points.
- 12:26Okay, Got the Giants at the Rams.
- 12:28The Rams are given seven points at home.
- 12:31It's kind of funny how the narratives can change even after just one week.
- 12:35This won't be a blowout, but the.
- 12:38It'll be somewhat methodical for the Rams.
- 12:40They will bounce back even without Miles Garrett.
- 12:43This defense for the Rams is much superior to what the defense that the Giants just carved up against Dallas.
- 12:51They're going to have a tougher sledding in Los Angeles.
- 12:54McVeigh's had two weeks or almost two weeks to prepare for it, and the Rams are going to win this game.
- 12:59They're going to pull away late and cover the spread.
- 13:01Yeah, this is a really tough one to pick.
- 13:03I'm not even sure if Aaron Donald will be playing in this game.
- 13:06Maybe get some spot duty here on some downs, you know, but the Giants looked pretty good and they had some long series of offense like we talked about the other day.
- 13:16But I think the Rams, they have to make a statement.
- 13:19They got embarrassed that week one and.
- 13:21And they're going to come out and embarrass the Giants in this one cover.
- 13:24Gotcha.
- 13:25That's it.
- 13:27All right.
- 13:27Well, what are your feelings here so far into the season, Ed, and maybe some insights you have.
- 13:33Yeah, it's always that we always try to think about the fake outs.
- 13:36Right.
- 13:36So what.
- 13:36What did we see in week one that's real?
- 13:39What is.
- 13:40You know, last year we all remember week one, the Raiders went to the Patriots.
- 13:44The Raiders behind Geno Smith, lighting up.
- 13:46The Patriots won that game.
- 13:48The rest of the year, Darren, The Raiders went 2 and 14 and the Patriots went 14 and 2.
- 13:54That's why we can't go too overboard about the Rams offense looking bad or the Cowboys defense looking so bad or the Chargers looking everything looking bad against.
- 14:07Against the Cardinals.
- 14:09So.
- 14:09But the couple things that I do think are real is the Number one thing that stuck out to me is I'm not feeling it with the Broncos.
- 14:17I think something is off there.
- 14:19And that's why I really kind of like this game, because this could be like a tell the truth kind of game.
- 14:26Truth or dare, almost.
- 14:27Right.
- 14:27So if the Jags win this game and they go 2, 0 and the Broncos go 0 and 2, you've got real trouble for Denver now.
- 14:34And that's.
- 14:35That.
- 14:35That's probably the.
- 14:36That's one that really sticks out to me.
- 14:37The other one is, is.
- 14:38Is your.
- 14:39Your Steelers game.
- 14:40The fact that the Steelers went to New England last year and won, the fact that the Patriots had this week and a half of kind of being slung through the mud everywhere.
- 14:51You go in the media now all of a sudden saying, drake Mace terrible and he stinks and he's overrated.
- 14:56This just builds to me to be a game where we're going to see the AFC champs bounce back.
- 15:03Interesting.
- 15:04Now, what do you think?
- 15:05Let's go back to the Denver situation you were just talking about.
- 15:09Do you find it maybe part.
- 15:11Part of that problem is that Sean Payton is not calling the offensive plays in that game.
- 15:16They had who they have.
- 15:17Davis, Webb, I believe, calling him for him.
- 15:19Yes.
- 15:20And I don't.
- 15:20I don't know.
- 15:21I.
- 15:21I just know that for a while now, that offense.
- 15:26I don't know, it's.
- 15:27There's something even in the.
- 15:29Even in the game they won against the Bills where, you know, Knicks is hard to.
- 15:32For me to read.
- 15:34Right.
- 15:34So I don't really.
- 15:36I don't really know what it is about the Broncos.
- 15:38You know, getting run over by Walker was also disconcerting because that's something they're supposed to do really, really well.
- 15:45So I don't know if it's the play calling, but there's something that I didn't like Monday night that I think goes beyond the typical Week one stuff.
- 15:53Maybe it is the play calling.
- 15:55Yeah.
- 15:56I think that might be something that sticks out.
- 15:57But you're right, they're supposed to be known for one of the top defenses, and they just got bludgeoned by the Super Bowl MVP of last year.
- 16:06Yes.
- 16:06And then the other thing that really stuck out, I mentioned it briefly, is, you know, I have been a Bears doubter.
- 16:11I've kind of.
- 16:12I predicted them to come back.
- 16:13I kept predicting them.
- 16:14If you remember last year, Darren, like, every week I'd be like, this is the week they come back down to earth.
- 16:19This is the week to come down to earth.
- 16:20And then this year I picked them to be a little disappointing.
- 16:23And then now it's like, okay, I might just have to say, I give up.
- 16:27I'm wrong, I'm wrong.
- 16:28You win.
- 16:29Bears fans.
- 16:30That's a good, that is an explosive offense.
- 16:34It is impressive.
- 16:36I don't think the Carolina defense is very good.
- 16:39However, if you do what Chicago did in any NFL game, in any city, anytime, any season, whatever, you take notice of that.
- 16:48And I think they are.
- 16:50I said I do not like Carson Wentz.
- 16:52I think that's the Vikings offense is immediately going to revert to what it was last year now.
- 16:58And I think Minnesota is in big trouble.
- 16:59And I think for a while, at least right now, we might see the Bears roll.
- 17:04Yeah, well, I'm glad that one of us, I think, took the Bears to win that division or preseason.
- 17:11It was not, it was not me and the team I did take.
- 17:14Boy, the Lions have some serious back end problems on defense.
- 17:18I mean, that is bad.
- 17:20I know Joy Porter Jr.
- 17:21Is out there.
- 17:22It sounds like maybe as a potential trade piece and I would think Detroit would be a hot landing spot for him.
- 17:30Yeah, that's, there's been a lot of talk about that in the Western Pennsylvania papers and that's being one of the landing spots.
- 17:36A couple other teams were in the mix too for jpj, but I think the Steelers are going to end up keeping him and he's going to either get the franchise tag slapped on him next year and then they'll
- 17:46renegotiate, but they're not going to negotiate during the season.
- 17:49So if he wants to play this year, you better not do a levy on Bell because we saw what that, how that worked out.
- 17:54Yes.
- 17:55Yeah, the Steelers are going to win that battle.
- 17:57And then the other thing that I'm really, I'm kind of rooting for this week, Darren, is I mentioned it in the picks.
- 18:03I don't know how desean Watts, how Todd Monken is going to be able to start DeSean Watson when they go back to Cleveland next week, but I really, really hope he does because I want to see that.
- 18:15I want to see Watson start at home and I want to witness the mass revolt that will happen because I don't think we've ever, I don't think there's ever been this much self loathing from a fan base.
- 18:29Meaning like I think there's like fury from Cleveland right now.
- 18:33Not necessarily like the typical hang our hats, we stink bags over our heads.
- 18:39I think they are infuriated with all of this and Watson is catching the brunt of it.
- 18:45And if they're probably going to be 0 and 2 when they go home next week and if he starts, that's almost going to be like a road atmosphere for the Browns at home because the fans will turn on
- 18:57them before the ball is ever kicked.
- 18:59So I guess I'm kind of hoping that he does just well enough that he stays the starter, so.
- 19:04I can see that.
- 19:05But I bet you I know who's smiling.
- 19:07Probably behind closed doors, the.
- 19:09The whole Sanders family has a big smile on their face because I think their guy will be starting here before week three.
- 19:17And then, then it almost doesn't matter how well he plays or not, because he just won't be Deshaun Watson.
- 19:23So, you know, if he's just bad and not awful, it'll feel like a breath of fresh air.
- 19:28You know what I mean?
- 19:29So it's not a bad spot for Sanders to be in if that does happen.
- 19:34And they still have the, the other guy that, the Oregon quarterback from last year, his name escapes me, but.
- 19:40Gabriel.
- 19:41Yes.
- 19:41Yes, they still have him.
- 19:43So maybe, maybe he's in the mix this year, too.
- 19:46Yes.
- 19:46The first two fail.
- 19:47Yes.
- 19:48So possible they got.
- 19:49They got a lot of quarterbacks there that you do not want starting, so they can just kind of do the merry go round like they've done since 1999.
- 19:59Let me, let me ask you this.
- 20:00Is the starting quarterback for the Browns 2027 season on the roster right now?
- 20:06No.
- 20:07I agree.
- 20:08No.
- 20:09But I will make this prediction.
- 20:11Whoever it is will also not be good.
- 20:14Yeah.
- 20:16Yes.
- 20:17Arch Manning might be doing everything in his power to not look too good the rest of the season right now.
- 20:24Well, they should have a lot of draft picks with the Miles Garrett trade and some other activities that they had.
- 20:30So they might have some really good picks coming up.
- 20:32Yes.
- 20:33The Browns are that.
- 20:34I'm sure you've seen the meme where the person is holding the other person's eyes wide open.
- 20:38That's the Browns right now.
- 20:39It's almost like you have to, like, I.
- 20:41Nobody should have to watch it, but we all kind of want to.
- 20:45This is like the ultimate car wreck, train wreck.
- 20:48You can't look away.
- 20:49It is what.
- 20:50What a mess, but in a.
- 20:52In a kind of an entertaining way.
- 20:55Yeah, most definitely.
- 20:56Well, you have anything else before we wrap it up here?
- 20:59I will.
- 20:59I will wrap it up with my team.
- 21:01The one thing I, I am.
- 21:02I'm.
- 21:02I, I made the pick and it's a total coin flip.
- 21:05I'm going to make one specific prediction we saw it in the fourth quarter.
- 21:09Jane Daniels is going to light it up on Sunday.
- 21:12He is going to he.
- 21:13Now that doesn't necessarily mean they'll win because I'm not sure how we cover their receivers either.
- 21:17So I'm kind of predicting a high scoring game, but I think we're going to start to see that.
- 21:212024 Jaden Daniels and the fourth quarter.
- 21:24Darren, he was 9 of 11 for 100 yards and two touchdowns and made all the clutch plays down the stretch.
- 21:31The two point conversion call was a terrible call, but that really wasn't.
- 21:34That was a do or die play.
- 21:35They should have put it in Jaden's hands because he was cooking.
- 21:38Yeah, I would think Jaden Daniels should be expected to, to go out against the defense he's playing against this week.
- 21:45So but yeah, should prove to be some, some good things for his stats and if you have him as a fantasy player.
- 21:53Yes.
- 21:53And just remember I've tried to warn you about what's going to happen in New England this week.
- 21:57So remember that.
- 21:58Okay?
- 21:58All right.
- 21:59Warning, warning foretold there.
- 22:01All right.
- 22:01All right, Ed.
- 22:02Well, thank you for joining us again.
- 22:03And folks, if you want to catch it, you know, make sure if you missed yesterday's history of week one, we had some great historical things on YouTube and on the podcast.
- 22:12Tune in next week.
- 22:14We will make our picks again.
- 22:15We also have a segment where we talk about the history of week two as we do each and every week here with Ed Cleese.
- 22:21Ed, thanks for joining us and we'll talk to you again real soon.
- 22:24See you next week.
- 22:26We're taking a peek over at the.
- 22:27Chains and the down marker.
- 22:28It's fourth and long.
- 22:29We're gonna have to punt the ball and get on out of here.
- 22:31But we'll have another series tomorrow for your football history headlines, so be sure to tune in.
- 22:35We invite you to check out our.
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