NFL 2026-27 Week 2 Preseason Predictions

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By: Evan Troxel

These are my predictions to win and lose this week's National Football League preseason games for "Week 2" (unless you are the Arizona Cardinals or the Carolina Panthers, then it is "Week 3") from Thursday, August 20th, 2026, through Sunday, August 23rd, 2026!

Thursday, August 20th, 2026

Las Vegas Raiders at Houston Texans, ESPN, 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time

I was correct about last week's Arizona Cardinals at Las Vegas Raiders game. The Cardinals had a better preseason last year (2-1) than the Raiders (0-2-1). I was WRONG about last week's Los Angeles Chargers at Houston Texans game. The Chargers had a worse preseason (2-2) last year than the Texans (2-1).

This will be the Texans last home game of the preseason.

This is the 18th game of the NFL's 2026-27 preseason.

I use Gematria to show how each team could win or lose each game! Gematria is basically assigning numeric values to letters. So, in the most simple cipher of Gematria (also known as the "ordinal" cipher), for instance, A = 1, B = 2, C = 3, etc. There are many different ciphers in Gematria. So, I could assign different numeric values to each letter. The reverse cipher of Gematria is, Z = 1, Y = 2, X =3, etc.

In Gematria:

"Eighteen": 73/46/143/35

"Eighteen" is broken down into one number for each cipher as 1/1/8/8. Because 7+3 = 10 and 1+0 = 1. 4+6 = 10 and 1+0 = 1. 143 = 1+4+3 = 8. 35 = 3+5 = 8.

"Eighteenth": 101/56/169/43

2/2/7/7

"Thursday": 116/35/100/46

8/8/1/1

"ESPN": 54/18/54/18

9/9/9/9

"Las Vegas": 86/23/130/49

5/5/4/4

"Raiders": 74/38/115/52

2/2/7/7

"Las Vegas Raiders": 160/61/245/101

7/7/2/2

"Houston": 112/31/77/32

4/4/5/5

"Texans": 83/20/79/34

2/2/7/7

"Houston Texans": 195/51/156/66

6/6/3/3

"Thursday" perhaps wasn't a factor last week as both the Raiders and the Texans don't have a "1" or an "8" when broken down to one number in the four base ciphers of Gematria.

According to ESPN.com's NFL schedule, the Cardinals-Raiders game last week was the fifth of the preseason and the fourth of last week's preseason games.

"Fourth": 88/34/74/29

7/7/2/2

"Four": 60/24/48/21

6/6/3/3

"Fifth": 49/31/86/23

4/4/5/5

"Five": 42/24/66/21

6/6/3/3

The "Las Vegas Raiders" lost last week. 7/7/2/2 ("Fourth").

"Arizona" 84/39/105/42

3/3/6/6

"Cardinals": 81/36/162/63

9/9/9/9

"Arizona Cardinals": 165/75/267/105

3/3/6/6

"Four" and "Five" is 6/6/3/3. "Arizona" and "Arizona Cardinals" is 3/3/6/6.

The Arizona Cardinals won the game last week with two ciphers in their favor "reversed" and the Las Vegas Raiders won with one cipher in their favor that was not reversed ("Fourth", "Las Vegas Raiders").

"Los Angeles": 109/37/161/53

1/1/8/8

"Chargers": 79/43/137/47

7/7/2/2

"Los Angeles Chargers": 188/80/298/100

8/8/1/1

"Los Angeles Chargers" and "Thursday" are both 8/8/1/1. It is important to remember that the Chargers were on the road last week in "Preseason Week 1".

The Chargers-Texans game was the fifth game of Preseason Week 1 and the sixth game of the 2026-27 preseason according to ESPN.com.

"Sixth": 80/26/55/28

8/8/1/1

"Six": 52/16/29/20

7/7/2/2

"Chargers" is 7/7/2/2 like "Six" and "Los Angeles Chargers" is 8/8/1/1 like "Sixth". "Los Angeles": 1/1/8/8 is the reverse of "Sixth" 8/8/1/1.

"Houston" is 4/4/5/5 like "Fifth" and "Houston Texans" is 6/6/3/3 like "Fifth". "Texans" 2/2/7/7 is the reverse of "Six" 7/7/2/2.

The Chargers won with two ciphers in their favor and one in their favor in reverse. They also had the "Thursday" cipher in their favor.

The Texans had two ciphers in their favor and one in their favor in reverse.

It made sense for the Chargers to win since it was all about the number six, as in the sixth game of the entire preseason. Houston had two fives in their favor and one six in their favor but it was in reverse order I guess.

The "Raiders" and "Texans" each have 2/2/7/7 in Gematria for the "Eighteenth" game of the NFL preseason. The "Las Vegas Raiders" also have 7/7/2/2 for the reverse of 2/2/7/7.

This is also the first preseason game of "Week 2"!

"First": 72/27/63/36

9/9/9/9

"One": 34/16/47/11

7/7/2/2

The Raiders got beat by the "Cardinals" last week ("First", 9/9/9/9). "Las Vegas Raiders" is also 7/7/2/2 like "One" is 7/7/2/2.

I think the Raiders have a good chance to win since it will be the "seven" date of the year as it is the 232nd day of the year and the 142nd day of the year if April 1st is the start of the current year.

"Seven": 65/20/70/25

2/2/7/7

"Seventh": 93/30/96/33

3/3/6/6

"Raiders" and "Texans" are 2/2/7/7 (like "Seven") and "Houston Texans" is 6/6/3/3 which is the reverse of "Seventh" (3/3/6/6).

Thursday, August 20th, 2026, is the "two"-date numerology.

"Two": 58/13/23/14

4/4/5/5

"Second": 60/24/102/30

6/6/3/3

"Houston" (4/4/5/5) is like "Two" and "Houston Texans" (6/6/3/3) is like "Second".

This game is a toss-up, but I think I am leaning in the direction of the Houston Texans to win this game. Fernando Mendoza is a rookie and he is by far the worst starting quarterback that I have ever seen! If the Raiders win, it will be in part because that this is a road game for the Raiders and not a home game.

(Predicted on Thursday, August 20th, 2026, at 11:57 a.m. Eastern Time)

8 p.m. Eastern Time

Prediction to win: Houston Texans

Prediction to lose: Las Vegas Raiders

Result (Win or Loss):

"San Francisco 49ers" at "Los Angeles Chargers", NFL Network, 10 p.m. Eastern Time

(Predicted on Thursday, August 20th, 2026, at 11:57 a.m. Eastern Time)

Prediction to win: Los Angeles Chargers

Prediction to lose: San Francisco 49ers

Result (Win or Loss):

Friday, August 21st, 2026

New York Jets at Pittsburgh Steelers, NFL Network (7 p.m. Eastern Time)

Carolina Panthers at Jacksonville Jaguars, ESPN Unlimited (7:30 p.m. Eastern Time)

Green Bay Packers at Denver Broncos, NFL Network (9 p.m. Eastern Time)

(Predicted on Thursday, August 20th, 2026, at 11:59 a.m. Eastern Time)

Prediction to win: Pittsburgh Steelers, Jacksonville Jaguars, Denver Broncos

Prediction to lose: New York Jets, Carolina Panthers, Green Bay Packers

Result (Win or Loss):

Saturday, August 22nd, 2026

Washington Commanders at Detroit Lions (12 p.m. Eastern Time)

Buffalo Bills at Cleveland Browns, NFL Network (1 p.m. Eastern Time)

Atlanta Falcons at Indianapolis Colts (1 p.m. Eastern Time)

Baltimore Ravens at Minnesota Vikings, ESPN Unlimited (1 p.m. Eastern Time)

(Predicted on Thursday, August 20th, 2026, at 12:01 p.m. Eastern Time)

Prediction to win: Detroit Lions, Buffalo Bills, Indianapolis Colts, Baltimore Ravens

Prediction to lose: Washington Commanders, Cleveland Browns, Atlanta Falcons, Minnesota Vikings

New Orleans Saints at Los Angeles Rams, ESPN Unlimited (4:00 p.m. Eastern Time)

New York Giants at Miami Dolphins, NFL Network (4:00 p.m. Eastern Time)

(Predicted on Thursday, August 20th, 2026, at 12:02 p.m. Eastern Time)

Prediction to win: Los Angeles Rams, New York Giants

Prediction to lose: New Orleans Saints, Miami Dolphins

Chicago Bears at Cincinnati Bengals (7 p.m. Eastern Time)

Philadelphia Eagles at New England Patriots, NFL Network (7 p.m. Eastern Time)

Kansas City Chiefs at Tampa Bay Buccaneers, ESPN Unlimited (7:30 p.m. Eastern Time)

Dallas Cowboys at Arizona Cardinals, NFL Network (10 p.m. Eastern Time)

(Predicted on Thursday, August 20th, 2026, at 12:09 p.m. Eastern Time)

Prediction to win: Cincinnati Bengals, New England Patriots, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Dallas Cowboys

Prediction to lose: Chicago Bears, Philadelphia Eagles, Kansas City Chiefs, Arizona Cardinals

Sunday, August 23rd, 2026

Seattle Seahawks at Tennessee Titans, FOX, 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time

(Predicted on Thursday, August 20th, 2026, at 12:10 p.m. Eastern Time)

Prediction to win: Seattle Seahawks

Prediction to lose: Tennessee Titans

Those are all of my predictions for right now! Be sure to come back to this page for my re-predictions of my NFL original predictions for Preseason Week #2, (and also to see how many wins and losses I actually get with my original predictions and my re-predictions for Preseason Week #2). Also, be sure to come back to this website for my predictions to win and lose for next week in Preseason Weeks 1, 2, 3 and 4 (and for every single week after that for the entire 2026-27 National Football League season or until as long as I want to keep making predictions)!

Be sure to follow me on my various social media which you can find on this page on my personal website for right now. Also, be sure to follow me on Twitter/X @Evan_Troxel. Also, be sure to definitely follow me on Gab @Evan_Troxel and Telegram as well in case I ever get censored and banned from X and Facebook!

I reserve the right to change my predictions before game time. I also can change my predictions AFTER game time ONLY if I decide BEFORE game time that I want to change my predictions and I just do not have access to the Internet before game time.

LEGAL NOTICE: I DO NOT endorse and I do not encourage people to gamble or bet your own money and other people's money at all! These predictions are not meant to be taken as extremely serious advice for betting and gambling purposes anytime at all in the near future!