Week Two might be the hardest week of all to make game picks in the NFL. Everyone’s overreacting to one-week samples and throwing out all their work from the offseason. While you can’t completely disregard Week One’s action, it’s important to keep perspective when analyzing the NFL betting lines and odds for the upcoming slate of games.<\/p>\n
Cam Newton<\/a><\/strong> didn\u2019t look great in his season debut, but he should get better with time. The former first-overall pick battled injury throughout the second half of 2018 and suffered a foot injury in the 2019 preseason. He needed some time to knock off the rust and should be better against a subpar Tampa Bay defense.<\/p>\n The Jameis Winston<\/a> <\/strong>era needs to come to an end. No matter how many garbage time yards he gets, he\u2019s never going to be capable of carrying a team. He turns the ball over at an alarming rate, and the rest of the team isn\u2019t good enough to carry his mistake-prone style of play. It\u2019s a Thursday Night game, so anything can happen. That said, everything is pointing towards the Panthers in this one.<\/p>\n Pick: Panthers win, beat spread<\/strong><\/p>\n The Tennessee Titans laid the hurt on an unprepared Cleveland Browns team in Week One, but they\u2019re set to take a step back in Week Two. As mentioned in last week\u2019s article<\/a>, it wasn\u2019t surprising to see Cleveland come out of the gate slow. That game wasn\u2019t as much of a blowout as the final score would suggest, yet Tennessee seems to be getting the better odds due to that one outing.<\/p>\n Vegas appears to be overlooking the fact that the Indianapolis Colts went on the road and went blow-for-blow with one of the best teams in the NFL. Jacoby Brissett<\/a><\/strong> is no Andrew Luck<\/a><\/strong>, but he\u2019s capable of running this offense. Indianapolis has one of the best rosters in football and should be able to go on the road and beat Tennessee.<\/p>\n Pick: Colts win, beat spread<\/strong><\/p>\n This is easy money. Even without Melvin Gordon<\/a><\/strong> and Derwin James<\/a><\/strong>, the Los Angeles Chargers are going to be one of the best teams in football. The defense has enough playmakers to still be dangerous while Austin Ekeler<\/a><\/strong> is more than capable of serving in a featured role. Philip Rivers<\/a><\/strong> is still a great quarterback and this team should be one of the Super Bowl finalists.<\/p>\n The Detroit Lions, meanwhile, couldn\u2019t even beat an objectively bad Arizona Cardinals team. Matt Patricia<\/strong> is still figuring out the whole head coaching thing, and the roster is littered with holes. Lock in this bet before the line changes.<\/p>\n Pick: Chargers win, beat spread<\/strong><\/p>\n This one is going to be tough to watch. On paper, the Buffalo Bills have a solid roster with a borderline top-10 defense. The offensive line is average, Devin Singletary<\/a><\/strong> looks promising, and the wide receivers have a solid complementary skills set. The biggest problem is quarterback Josh Allen<\/a><\/strong>, who still misses throws and struggles to read defenses and misses too many easy throws.<\/p>\n The Giants are similar in that they also have a quarterback in Eli Manning<\/a><\/strong> who misses too many open reads. The biggest difference between these two teams is that the New York Giants have a bottom-five roster in the league. Winning on the road isn\u2019t easy in the NFL, but the Bills should be up for the task.<\/p>\n Pick: Bills win, beat spread<\/strong><\/p>\n The Baltimore Ravens crushed the Miami Dolphins in Week One and have the chance to do the same to the Arizona Cardinals in Week Two. Arizona is better than Miami, but they might just be the second-worst team in the league. The Ravens proved they have what it takes to demolish inferior competition, but this spread is too large. Crushing an opponent by this much in consecutive weeks is ridiculously hard to do in the NFL. Additionally, the Cardinals actually looked like an NFL-caliber team in Week One, which is more than the Dolphins could say.<\/p>\n Pick: Ravens win, don\u2019t cover spread<\/strong><\/p>\n This game isn\u2019t going to be close, but it\u2019s hard to bet on a spread this large. The Patriots only have one win in Miami since 2012, and former Patriots linebackers coach Brian Flores<\/strong> is now running the show for the Dolphins. Patriots assistants typically succeed against New England in their first go-round, and the Patriots usually struggle when traveling south.<\/p>\n That said, the difference in talent between these two teams is just too much to overlook. The Dolphins traded away almost all of their good players, and the remaining players are reportedly trying to force their way out. On the other side of the coin, the 2019 New England Patriots could very well be the best ever incarnation of this team. History suggests that New England won\u2019t cover the spread, but this situation is just too favorable for New England.<\/p>\n Pick: Patriots win, beat spread<\/strong><\/p>\n The Washington Redskins put up an impressive fight in Week One against the Philadelphia Eagles, but you shouldn\u2019t expect that to happen again. The Philadelphia Eagles have one of the best rosters in the league, but the Cowboys aren\u2019t far behind. Even when giving Washington a 17-point head start, the Eagles still managed to take a 12-point lead late into the fourth quarter. If it weren\u2019t for a meaningless touchdown with six seconds left on the clock, the Eagles would have beat the spread.<\/p>\n Look for the Cowboys to put away the Redskins early. Kellen Moore<\/a><\/strong> is the breath of fresh air this offense desperately needed, and Dak Prescott<\/a><\/strong> looks like a new man in this scheme. The defense should be one of the best in the league and this should be a one-sided affair.<\/p>\n Pick: Cowboys win, beat spread<\/strong><\/p>\n Deshaun Watson<\/a><\/strong> looked as good as ever in Week One, but the team around him still has a lot of holes. Even with Laremy Tunsil<\/a><\/strong>, the offensive line still looks like one of the worst units in the league. The secondary has holes everywhere and J.J. Watt<\/a><\/strong> is the only difference-maker on defense. Watson is good enough to overcome a lot of these flaws, but he\u2019s going up against what should be one of the best defenses in football.<\/p>\n The reason for this large point spread is sixth-round rookie Gardner Minshew<\/strong>. With Nick Foles<\/a><\/strong> sidelined, the untested Minshew is set to start for the foreseeable future. Minshew obviously has a small track record, but he looked good in Week One. Additionally, the analytics department over at Pro Football Focus believes Minshew has the tools<\/a> to be a solid fill-in for Foles. The Texans will probably win this one, but Jacksonville can keep it close by playing good defense and mistake-free football on offense.<\/p>\n Pick: Texans win, don\u2019t cover spread<\/strong><\/p>\n The Pittsburgh Steelers had a brutal Week One, but Vegas doesn\u2019t think that will affect them moving forward. Life without Antonio Brown<\/a><\/strong> isn\u2019t going to be easy, but facing off against the New England Patriots on the road was probably the worst matchup imaginable. Hosting the Seattle Seahawks should be the perfect cure for their Week One woes.<\/p>\n Russell Wilson<\/a><\/strong> is great, but the rest of the team is in trouble. The defense allowed John Ross<\/a><\/strong> to go wild in Week One, so Juju Smith-Schuster<\/strong><\/a> should have a huge day in Week Two. Additionally, Pittsburgh\u2019s defense is considerably better than Seattle\u2019s and Seattle\u2019s offense lacks proven playmakers outside of Tyler Lockett<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Pick: Steelers win, beat spread<\/strong><\/p>\n The Cincinnati Bengals almost pulled the Week One upset against the Seattle Seahawks, but this time they\u2019ll do the job against San Francisco. The 49ers crushed Tampa Bay in Week One, but that was mostly due to atrocious quarterback play by Jameis Winston. Jimmy Garoppolo<\/a><\/strong> still doesn\u2019t look comfortable and there simply aren\u2019t enough playmakers on either side of the ball. Nobody\u2019s confusing the Bengals with the 1972 Dolphins, but they have enough pieces to beat the 49ers at home.<\/p>\n Pick: Bengals win, beat spread<\/strong><\/p>\n The Packers might have a winning record, but they sure didn\u2019t look good in Week One. Aaron Rodgers<\/a><\/strong> wasn\u2019t comfortable in Matt LaFleur<\/strong>\u2019s offense, and LeFleur inexplicably tried to continuously run Aaron Jones<\/a><\/strong> up the middle despite the lack of success. This uncomfortable play combined with the inefficient playcalling implies that the Packers are going to need a few weeks before they start clicking on offense. While the defense looked great in Week One, they got bailed out by Mitchell Trubisky<\/a><\/strong> missing a few open throws. It\u2019s an improved unit, but they\u2019re not quite as good as the Week One box score would suggest.<\/p>\n The Minnesota Vikings are also looking to establish the run, but they\u2019re actually able to do it. When healthy, Dalvin Cook<\/a><\/strong> is a top-five running back, and he looked great in Week One. Even if this turns into a shootout, Kirk Cousins<\/a><\/strong> proved last year he can go blow-for-blow with Rodgers so long as he has a healthy Adam Thielen<\/strong><\/a> and Stefon Diggs<\/a><\/strong>. Minnesota\u2019s defense has the talent to be a top-five unit and played up to their abilities in Week One.<\/p>\n Pick: Vikings win, beat spread<\/strong><\/p>\n The Oakland Raiders had an encouraging victory against the Denver Broncos, but they\u2019re not ready for the Chiefs. Even without Tyreek Hill<\/a><\/strong>, this offense is still one of the best and most explosive units in football. They dropped 40 on a good Jacksonville defense despite missing Hill for the majority of the contest, and Oakland\u2019s defense isn\u2019t nearly as good as Jacksonville. Derek Carr<\/a><\/strong> and company won\u2019t be able to keep up with this barrage, even if the comforts of the Black Hole.<\/p>\n Pick: Chiefs win, beat spread<\/strong><\/p>\n This one is going to go down to the wire. The Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans Saints both have a case to be top-five teams in the NFL. This one carries a little extra passion than most games thanks to how last season ended for the Saints. Drew Brees<\/a><\/strong> doesn\u2019t play as well on the road, which gives Los Angeles a decent advantage. Additionally, the Saints might not play disciplined football if they\u2019re still not over what happened in the 2018 NFC Championship Game.<\/p>\n Pick: Rams win, beat spread<\/strong><\/p>\n How in the world are the Broncos favored in this one? Mitchell Trubisky isn\u2019t a good quarterback, but the rest of the roster is loaded. Matt Nagy<\/strong> has the ability to make Trubisky somewhat effective through his scheme, and Vegas looks like they\u2019re overreacting to an ugly season debut. Joe Flacco<\/a><\/strong> is still bad, and Denver\u2019s defense allowed Derek Carr to hang 24 points on them in the opener. The Bears should win this one by a comfortable margin.<\/p>\n Pick: Bears win, beat spread<\/strong><\/p>\n This is going to be another fun game to watch. The Falcons offense struggled in Week One, but there\u2019s no reason to overreact to one bad game. Atlanta had a similarly underwhelming opening performance last season yet had one of the NFL\u2019s best offenses in 2018. The talent is there, and they\u2019re going to remain an elite offense. The defense, on the other hand, could be an issue. The unit was bad last year even when Deion Jones<\/a><\/strong> was healthy and it didn\u2019t look any better in Week One.<\/p>\n The Eagles, meanwhile, might have the most complete team in the league outside of New England. Carson Wentz<\/a><\/strong> is healthy and the Eagles simply looked unstoppable in the second half of Week One. The defense is talented and the offense has top-five potential. Take the Eagles to win in what should be an entertaining game.<\/p>\n Pick: Eagles win<\/strong><\/p>\n Main photo:Tennessee Titans (-3) vs Indianapolis Colts<\/h3>\n
Detroit Lions vs Los Angeles Chargers (-2.5)<\/h3>\n
New York Giants vs Buffalo Bills (-2.5)<\/h3>\n
Baltimore Ravens (-13.5) vs Arizona Cardinals<\/h3>\n
Miami Dolphins vs New England Patriots (-14.5)<\/h3>\n
Washington Redskins vs Dallas Cowboys (-7)<\/h3>\n
Houston Texans (-9.5) vs Jacksonville Jaguars<\/h3>\n
Pittsburgh Steelers (-4) vs Seattle Seahawks<\/h3>\n
Cincinnati Bengals vs San Francisco 49ers (-1.5)<\/h3>\n
Green Bay Packers (-3) vs Minnesota Vikings<\/h3>\n
Oakland Raiders vs Kansas City Chiefs (-8.5)<\/h3>\n
Los Angeles Rams (-3) vs New Orleans Saints<\/h3>\n
Denver Broncos (-1) vs Chicago Bears<\/h3>\n
Atlanta Falcons vs Philadelphia Eagles (EVEN)<\/h3>\n
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>