He was big, he was lovable, he was everyone’s leader and often their conscience.

But most important, Vince Wilfork was one heckuva football player. It was fitting that he was inducted Saturday in sun-splashed skies outside of Gillette Stadium, because as serious as Wilfork was as a player, you knew there was sunny disposition in there.

He reportedly gave quite a speech on Saturday, talking about dealing with the death of his parents shortly before the Patriots drafted him. He was emotional, and his best message: “You’re not just my fans, you’re my family.”

It’s a pity he wasn’t a Patriot for his entire career, but he’s a Patriot again now. The Patriots are trying to continue the excellence he brought up front with players like Christian Barmore, who will be a big factor in what promises to be a physical battle trying to contain Lamar Jackson. We’ll likely see Big (well, not so big now as he looks great) Vince there as well.

Meanwhile, time to recover from an embarrassing second straight sub-.500 week:

PATRIOTS 17, RAVENS 14

Tough call, but the Patrtios seem to have success in limiting Jackson, especially at Gillette. Defense has been the strength of this team the first couple of weeks and it’ll be the same with a little home momentum on Sunday and we’ll see that beleagured John Harbaugh look again.

BILLS 30, DOLPHINS 13

Tua vs. Josh? C’mon. We don’t care how many witty responses Miami coach Mike McDaniel has, the Bills can put up points and will be able to get after the opposing QB if they get out to a big lead. They’ll SPF up, you can be sure. But, they will have to overcome the season loss of talented safety Micah Hyde.

BENGALS 30, JETS 7

The Bengals and Joe Burrow take out the frustrations of the first two weeks on the poor Jets and Joe Flacco. We don’t think the Bengals will make the playoffs, but they’re still too good to start 0-3.

TITANS 24, RAIDERS 17

Two 0-2 teams, fairly surprising, right? And that means something has to give and it’s probably going to be a tough 0-3 start for old friend Josh McDaniels. Titans will just keep force feeding Derrick Henry.

BUCS 30, PACKERS 27

FOX must have lobbied the NFL hard to keep this game off prime time, as it should be a good one. Neither team looks as good as they did a year ago, and Brady has a short fuse these days. But he’ll be smiling after this. Cole Beasley makes a difference.

CARDINALS 35, RAMS 31

Cardinals’ great luck continues, and so does a Super Bowl hangover for the Rams. Kyler Murray doesn’t study much film, but he sure can run around and make things happen. If the Cards can keep Aaron Donald from hurting anyone with a helmet, they have a good shot here.

BRONCOS 17, 49ERS 14

Jimmy G is back in the saddle, but Russell Wilson is the other QB and he’s better. San Francisco can make up for some of that gap with coaching, but not enough on the road.

LAST WEEK: 3-4

SEASON: 6-8

Tom King may be reached at tking@nashuatelegraph.com. Also, follow King on Twitter (@Telegraph_TomK).