Outrageous predictions for Week 2 of the NFL season

Week 1 of the NFL season brought us a ton of surprises. Nick Foles led his St. Louis Rams to an upset home win over the two-time defending NFC champion Seattle Seahawks. In his first NFL start, Tyrod Taylor led the Buffalo Bills to a surprising win over the Indianapolis Colts.

Meanwhile, the San Francisco 49ers laid the smack down against a team in the Minnesota Vikings that many had pegged to make the playoffs.

This promises to be a theme throughout the 2015 season — an NFL world shocked by situations that arise in games and outcomes of said games.

In what will be a weekly article on this page, we check in six outrageous predictions for Week 2 of the NFL season. Some of these will likely come to fruition, while most will be left in the dustbin of Internet predictions. Either way, it's all about having fun.

1. DeMarco Murray goes for 200-plus yards against former team

Fresh off a Philadelphia Eagles debut that saw him go for nine yards on eight attempts, Murray is going to want to prove his worth against his former Dallas Cowboys teammates. With Philadelphia also facing the potential of falling to 0-2 on the season, it's definitely going to need Murray to step up in this one.

Dallas will still be without Rolando McClain in this game, giving Philadelphia a bit of a mismatch against the road team if its running backs can hit the second level. In addition to this, there's no telling how defensive tackles Tyrone Crawford and Nick Hayden will hold up against a better Eagles offensive line than the one they faced last week in New York.

This will all depend on the Eagles actually finding a run-pass balance on offense. After all, Sam Bradford dropped back to pass on 52 of Philadelphia's 74 offensive plays in Week 1. That's simply not acceptable, and Chip Kelly knows it.

2. Jay Cutler outplays Carson Palmer, John Fox gets first win as Chicago Bears coach

This actually isn't the most unrealistic of scenarios. We have seen Palmer's stats over his past 16 games — 4,466 passing yards, 30 touchdowns, 14 interceptions and a 14-2 record. When comparing to other quarterbacks in their past 16 games, Palmer is among the best in the NFL. For his part, Jay Cutler has 40 turnovers over his past 27 starts, posting a 10-17 record during that span. So where are we going with this?

Prior to a second half collapse against Green Bay last week, the Bears looked like a much more well-rounded team under John Fox than in previous seasons. Small sample size aside, there is some hope that the new head coach has his team ready to play competitive football on a consistent basis.

The defense will definitely struggle against Carson Palmer and Co., but there is a decent chance Cutler can go toe-to-toe with the veteran, especially if he can continue to get help from Matt Forte in the ground game. While Arizona likely comes out on top in this one, we can all expect a more competitive game than originally anticipated.

3. Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers game decided on special teams

For all the talk about Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, Marshawn Lynch and Eddie Lacy, this Seahawks-Packers game might not be decided by on offense. And while both teams can boast about their star power on defense, it's the special teams that could make a difference here.

Enter into the equation Seahawks receiver Tyler Lockett, who has a chance to be one of the most-dynamic special teams players in the NFL as a rookie. In his first attempt at returning a punt in the regular season, the second-round pick took it to the house against the St. Louis Rams last week. This came on the heels of multiple touchdowns on special teams during the preseason. A special teams touchdown coupled with another nice return could set up what is a struggling Seahawks offense to do some damage against the Packers defense.

On the other side, the Packers have an electric rookie of their own in wide receiver Ty Montgomery. The Stanford product tallied 106 yards on three kick returns last week, including a long of 46. While Micah Hyde is slated to be the primary punt returner, I wouldn't be surprised to see the rookie get a look or two here on Sunday night.

So much focus is placed on how offenses and defenses perform within a specific game. But as we saw in the NFC Championship matchup between these two teams last January, special teams can play a vital role. Look for this to happen in Week 2.

4. New York Jets defeat the Indianapolis Colts on Monday Night Football 

Okay, we have gone ahead and lost our minds here. A Ryan Fizpatrick-led Jets team going into Indianapolis and beating the Colts. It's a thought that didn't even cross our minds a few short weeks ago. Now, after what we saw from each team in Week 1, this possibility isn't anywhere near as remote as it was before.

The biggest mismatch in this game has to go to the Jets in the trenches. Indianapolis' offensive line was thrown off the line of scrimmage on a consistent basis against a fierce Buffalo Bills defensive front last week. Center Khaled Holmes and guard Lance Louis simple looked over-matched. It doesn't get much easier against a Jets defensive line that is among the best in football. If the Colts are dominated in the trenches here, it opens up a pretty big opportunity for the road team to steal this suddenly intriguing Monday Night Football matchup.

5. Robert Griffin III replaces Kirk Cousins under center in Washington

For all the talk about RGIII's struggles, people seem to forget just how bad Cousins has been recently. Dating back to Week 4 of last season, the former Michigan State standout has posted a 1-4 record with six touchdowns and 10 interceptions in his past five starts. During that very same span, Cousins' quarterback rating of 72.7 is lower than that of the much-maligned current Redskins backup.

And while it would make sense for Washington to actually give Cousins a bit more time to prove he can lead them to a win or two, there's no rhyme or reason to what that organization has done at the quarterback position over the past several seasons. Simply put, the Redskins are one of the most inept franchises as it relates to evaluating quarterbacks currently on their roster.

Attempting to understand what Jay Gruden might do at the quarterback position is akin to predicting the end of Fight Club. We simply have no idea what is going to happen here until Gruden ultimately makes the decision. What we do know after 17 games with the team is that he's not afraid to have the quick trigger with his quarterbacks.

6. San Francisco 49ers offense lights up Pittsburgh Steelers defense

Fresh off a Week 1 performance that saw Colin Kaepernick and Co. put up nearly 400 yards and 26 first downs against a pretty good Minnesota Vikings defense, San Francisco is primed to put up another good offensive performance. That's only magnified by the shocking regression of Pittsburgh's defense under first-year coordinator Keith Butler.

Pittsburgh's defense missed a total of 16 tackles against the Patriots last week. Meanwhile, 49ers running back Carlos Hyde broke seven tackles in a 182-yard performance against Minnesota. What makes this a mismatch in San Francisco's favor is that Jim Tomsula's team has the Steelers stuck between a rock and a hard place. If Pittsburgh decides to stack the box against the run, it will open up passing lanes for what looks to be an improved quarterback in Kaepernick. And considering Steelers corners allowed 11-of-14 passes to be completed against them last week, that might not be a good game plan for the home team.

Realistically, we would expect both teams to get back to where they were prior to the regular season. Pittsburgh was considered an under-the-radar Super Bowl contender while San Francisco looked completely lost. However, there is a decent chance their Week 1 performances could continue into this weekend. If so, San Francisco might very well roll for the second consecutive week.

Check out Vincent's other work on eDraft.com and follow him on Twitter @VincentFrankNFL.