NFL Week 2 Best Games, Gambling Picks and Fantasy Rankings
Kansas City Chiefs vs Cincinnati Bengals
Kansas City and Cincinnati have quickly turned into two of the biggest rivals in the NFL. Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow are both top-5 quarterbacks. Each of them has bested the other in the regular season and playoffs. I’m excited to see how today’s game goes. All signs point to Kansas City winning this game easily. They’re a five-point favorite at home. The Chiefs also are much healthier and have 3 extra days of rest. All that being said, I’m sure this game will go down to the wire as all Chiefs games seem to do.
Houston Texans vs Chicago Bears
Caleb Williams was terrible last weekend. The Bears’ defense was the only way Chicago was able to win that game. How Caleb rebounds will lead every morning talk show on Monday. He won’t be able to hide in the noon slate this week as this game is in primetime. All eyes will be on him, and you can bet most will be comparing him to CJ Stroud to see how he stacks up against a different quarterback who was excellent in year 1.
Tennessee Titans vs New York Jets
Everyone thought the Jets would live off their defense this year. That if Aaron Rodgers could just be an average quarterback, the Jets would win 10+ games. I’ll admit I was in that group. I know it was Week 1 and we shouldn’t overreact, but that showing was bad. San Francisco is a great offense. No doubt. But they aren’t that good, especially without Christian McCaffrey. Jordan Mason made the entire New York defense his you know what. The Jets defense must come out hot Sunday. If they have another bad game against this Titans’ offense, fans might start pressing the panic button.
The Titans held Chicago’s running backs to just 3.1 YPC last week. It was clear Breece Hall is going to be the focal point of the offense for New York. If the Titans can stimy him as well, Rodgers might be in for another long day. As long as Levis doesn’t make any back breaking decisions, I like Tennessee in this game.
Kansas City Chiefs pk / Philadelphia Eagles -.5
Our first 6-point two team teaser of the year. I don’t like the Bengals or the Falcons offenses currently. Kansas City should be able to keep the train rolling and I don’t think Burrow will be able to keep up. The Bengals are also dealing with some injuries on offenses whereas the Chiefs are healthy and rested.
It’s a similar handicap for Philadelphia. The Atlanta offense looked slow with Kirk still getting into the swing of things. You could tell he’s not 100% yet and I don’t think 5 days of practice is going to change that. I am a little worried about Philadelphia coming back from Brazil, but the time zones are very similar (only one hour apart). The jet lag shouldn’t be near as bad as the teams coming back from London/Germany.
We don’t love much else on the board. The leans on current lines would be Tampa Bay +7.5, Titans +3.5, Colts -2.5. Tampa Bay is dealing with a lot of injuries in the secondary. Amon-Ra St. Brown might be a player to look at for prop opportunities. I already said I like the Titans, I just don’t trust Levis, especially given how motivated the Jets defense will be. Colts should be able to handle Malik Willis easily. However, it’s a known fact teams play much better in the first week after their starting quarterback goes down with an injury. Everyone plays harder to make up the difference.
