Week two is coming up, half the teams are undefeated, half the teams are winless. And already pundits are breaking out some obscure stats about how a team's week one performance effectively sets the tone for the rest of the season. Here's my favorite stat nugget about opening weekend: the 46 Super Bowl winners have a 37-8-1 record in the kickoff weekend games of their title seasons. Now how about that! Should the winless teams declare the season over already?
And there's more: Since the move to a 16-game schedule in 1978, of the 490 teams that won their openers, 258 made the playoffs. Of the 490 losing teams, only 116 made the playoffs.
But it's not too late for losing teams: Since realignment in 2002, 70 of the 120 playoff teams (58 percent) began the year at either 1-1 or 0-2. But the chances of an 0-2 team making the playoffs are decidely slim. Since 1990, 184 teams started 0-2. Only 22 of those teams made the playoffs (12 percent).
People come up with the strangest stats. Having said that, after the break we take a stab at predicting this weekend's game outcomes. Oh, and a little shocker right up front: this week we're taking the Cowboys unanimously.
Below are our Week 2, 2012 picks. Agree, Disagree? Let us know about it in the comments section.