New England's defense is likely salivating at the opportunity to play against a rookie quarterback in Jake Locker, and NFL experts are respecting its ability by picking the Patriots across the board.
Tennessee is poised to be a good team with a winning record this season, but New England is a Super Bowl pick for many. Joel Thorman of SB Nation acknowledged the Titans' talent, but still chose the Patriots to win a close one Sunday in his Week 1 NFL picks post.
You can't pick against the Patriots, not this early. We know who they are and that's an elite team. We don't know who the Titans are yet.
Score: 27-21
Elsewhere, two of USA Today's six pickers considered the Patriots their "lock" for the week, while New England was the pick across the board at ESPN, CBS, and Yahoo!. Pick'em users at ESPN and Yahoo! also sided with the Pats, as did ESPN and CBS' prediction algorithms.
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