Week two of the 2011 NFL season is upon us and unfortunately if you're in the Bay Area, you're stuck with just two games before Sunday Night Football. The good news is that one of them is the 49ers-Cowboys game (hurray for no blackouts). The Raiders-Bills game will be here this morning, but other than that you'll have to settle for the Red Zone channel (as I prefer to do), make sure you have DirecTV's NFL Sunday Ticket, or find a bar. Given the potential for a bad ending to the 49ers-Cowboys game, a bar might be the best option (I kid).
The morning slate of games features some interesting games and some fairly brutal games. The Bears versus the Saints could be a fun one depending on how the Bears handle Drew Brees and company. I actually think Raiders-Bills is an interesting matchup. You've got two teams battling for a rare 2-0 start coming off interesting wins in week one. The Bills blasted a questionable Chiefs team while the Raiders defeated a fairly awful Broncos team. Both have plenty to gain, but I think a Raiders win means a lot more than a Bills win. The Raiders are playing on a short week and are the west coast team playing an early game. The deck is stacked against them.
The bizarro matchup of the day is probably Cleveland versus Indianapolis. The Browns are favored at Indy, which is something nobody would have predicted a month ago. I actually think Indy wins this one and I don't think they're going to be quite so number one pick overall god-awful this year. I think that if Kerry Collins gets the time to adjust to this system and his new teammates, the Colts could be perfectly slightly better than mediocre. Bad enough not to make the playoffs, but not bad enough for top picks status. I think I'm in a minority with this view.
We'll be back with a 49ers-Cowboys game thread around 12 or 12:30, but in the meantime, enjoy some morning football.