If you came moseying over to the website Friday looking for my Week 3 survivor recap and picks, and didn’t see it, you probably figured I just gave up after that debacle last week. Here I am though. Yes, I have that much nerve to keep posting my “best of” survivor picks even though last week, my first week of the season writing them, was a complete mess.

Number one pick, the Packers, lost to the Bengals. Now that would have been something if they pulled it out in the end, which they came extremely close to doing, but they sure didn’t deserve it the way they played. Number two pick, the Titans, got into an improbable shootout with the Texans, and lost. Where was that vaunted Titans defense? They held the running came in check but couldn’t stop the Matt Schaub to Andre Johnson connection. If you had told me going into the game that RB Chris Johnson was going to accumulate over 280 combined yards, score 3 TD and the Titans were going to score 31 points, and lose, I’d say you’re crazy. I still can’t believe it.

At least number three pick, the Vikings, came through for us. Of course to top it off I went and jinxed myself with that small bet on the Patriots over the Jets. In typical Patriot top-secret fashion there was no indication Wes Welker would not play last week, but it seems doubtful that would have made the difference. Just like the Packers, the Pats were having a ton of protection problems forcing Tom Brady to move and hurry himself all game, effectively taking Randy Moss, with a little help from Darelle Revis, out of the game.

Shall we go through the walk of shame from the survivor pool? It is going to be tough to mention everyone, so lets just look at the numbers. We had 80 entries going into Week 2 and we lost 20 on the Packers and 12 on the Titans. The most popular pick of the week was the Redskins with 26 picks. Other than the handful of Redskins homers in the crowd, that one surprised me a bit. Personally, I just didn’t trust the Redskins offense to score enough points to get the win with a lot of confidence. That was rather accurate, as they only mustered 3 FG and 9 points. Thankfully for the 26 entries, they played a team with an absolutely terrible offense, the Rams, who only managed to score once all game, for a 9-7 final score. Boy, that Greatest Show on Turf thing is just a distant memory now.

For my picks this week, I did something a little different in that I posted them somewhere else, a website called Bleacher Report which I happened along to Friday night. It is a community based sports website where anyone can contribute an article. Check out my survivor picks article for reasons why I like the Ravens, Eagles and, uh…, Packers (I know, I know), as the best picks this week.

Same drill as last week. If you are still alive in our survivor pool, get your pick in before the Sunday at 1:00pm Eastern deadline, and good luck!

Week 2 already? Or should I say, Friday already? Where does the week go? The transition pre-season to Week 1 and then post-Week 1 is always tough every year, just getting back into the regular routine. Between posting Week 1 stats here and at FF Today, posting weekly projections here (Dave just kind of sprung that on me last minute, but they are much appreciated) and at FF Today, plus all the new hockey content, it has been one hectic week. I even managed to squeeze in a huge semi-final win with my soccer team last night, 6-5 on penalties (7 shooters) after a miserably refereed 2-2 regulation score, so I’m still pretty stoked about that.

Lets talk about the survivor pool though. 86 entries! Plus 1 still pending payment, so potentially 87! That is a new record, and thanks to all of you for signing up. If we spread the word a little more and top 100 for next season, we could even spill onto a second page of results. Wouldn’t that be special. The prize pool this year is up over $1,600 Canadian. Nice!

As far as spending that goes, I’d say snow blower for myself, but unless there is an unlikely mass exodus this week with me the last person standing, I’m not going to be able to wait for that purchase. Something for spring perhaps? New golf clubs anyone? Well, dream away, we still have a ways to go. There aren’t 86 other entries to beat out, but now 79. Walk of shame time…

basommerville and da_ghost took the Panthers expecting a big bounce back game from Jake Delhomme’s playoff debacle. Delhomme had other ideas showing the, “he can’t be that bad again” crowd that he can in fact, continue to be that bad. darosa7 and packerswhat suffered a Super Bowl hangover of their own backing the Cardinals. AirGordon and cbob9999 were all set with the supposedly upstart Texans at home facing a rookie QB. Instead the Texans were completely flat in this game and the Jets sold thousands more Mark Sanchez jerseys since Sunday. Finally Cacciatorini picked the Bengals. I liked that pick, and could totally understand the reasoning behind it, but no one could have predicted this…

I find it funny that some people are adding Brandon Stokley to their fantasy teams this week. Folks, he ain’t doing that again.

Now, on to this week! For those who are out, thanks, it was nice knowing you. For those still alive, make sure to get your pick in prior to the deadline, 1:00 Eastern on Sunday. By no means am I trying to influence your decision. These are as they say, for entertainment purposes only, but here are some of the games you might consider for Week 2.

Green Bay Packers over Cincinnati Bengals – Crushing defeat for the Bengals who I do believe are improved this season. LB Keith Rivers looks good. Chad Ochocinco is in his happy place. The Bengals will win some games this year, but the Packers when they are on their game are at a higher level. The new defense obviously rattled Jay Cutler and kept Matt Forte in check. The Packers offense wasn’t clicking as well as expected, but that tends to happen against the Bears. Home game for the Pack. They should be sitting 2-0 after this week.

Tennessee Titans over Houston Texans – As mentioned above, the Texans were flat in Week 1. They are due for a big wake up call, but even a 5-alarm firebell isn’t going to get them up enough to drop the Titans in Tennessee’s home opener. The Titans played excellent a week ago Thursday, but it was against the world champs and they came up a bit short. With plenty of days to prepare for this division game, they should secure a win with relative ease. Expect next to nothing from Texans’ RB Steve Slaton, again.

Matt Stafford = Ricky Vaughn?

Minnesota Vikings over Detroit Lions – Another division game, which is somewhat of an avoid situation for survivor pools, but when your other choices are marginal you have to call them as you see them, and this looks like a good time to back the Vikings. Are the Lions going to break their losing streak this week? Probably not. It was mainly special teams that kept them in the game against the Saints. Otherwise the defense got torched, and rookie QB Matthew Stafford was like Ricky “Wild Thing” Vaughn from Major League. Now that is how a rookie QB is supposed to play! Adrian Peterson… oh yeah, this guy is good. That Favre guy can still sling it no matter how many people think he should retire. Vikings win.

I just dropped $20 on the Patriots -3.5 +100 over the Jets, which makes me wonder why they didn’t make my top 3. Well, in a survivor all-or-nothing format I wouldn’t take the Pats, but I’m certainly not ready to support all the Mark Sanchez hype just yet, so why not a quick bet to try to double my money? As usual, good luck to everyone in all of your Week 2 endeavours.