Sometimes as a sports bettor you have to bite down hard on your gumshield and unload – that’s exactly what we thought as we made our Week 2 NFL picks.
There are some terrific wagers out there if you have the cojones to get involved, so let’s give you our rationale for throwing down dollars on some pigskin this Sunday.
Here are our predictions and picks for a fantastic slate of games:
Sunday September 19
Buffalo Bills @ Miami Dolphins (1pm ET)
Yes Buffalo lost at home to Pittsburgh last week, and yes Miami won in New England. But both were ugly games and the Dolphins likely got the Pats at the best time. We expect Josh Allen to be more like Josh Allen this weekend and we expect the Buffalo defense to make Tua look more like 2020 Tua.
OddsCritic Pick: Buffalo (-3.5) to beat Miami at -105 (DraftKings)
New Orleans Saints @ Carolina Panthers (1pm ET)
The Saints looked absolutely terrific in destroying Green Bay in Week 1 as Jameis Winston tossed five touchdown passes. Carolina meanwhile defeated the woeful Jets and not exactly easily. Saints again – in a canter.
OddsCritic Pick: New Orleans (-3.5) to beat Carolina at -104 (Resorts)
Cincinnati Bengals @ Chicago Bears (1pm ET)
Joe Burrow and the Bengals shocked Minnesota in Week 1 while the Bears were ugly in that 34-14 loss to the Rams in Los Angeles. Oh, and they also made a terrific mess of their QB situation – with Andy Dalton and Justin Fields sharing snaps. It appears Dalton will start again against his old team Sunday, which is enough for us to pick Cincy.
OddsCritic Pick: Cincinnati (+2.5) to beat Chicago at -110 (BetMGM)
Houston Texans @ Cleveland Browns (1pm ET)
Houston, the consensus pick to be the worst team in the NFL in 2021, shocked everybody by trouncing Jacksonville in Week 1. We put that mostly on the Jags though with Urban Meyer at the controls. Normal service should be resumed this week – we expect Cleveland to go big in covering a sizeable spread.
OddsCritic Pick: Cleveland (-13) to beat Houston at -104 (Unibet)
Denver Broncos @ Jacksonville Jaguars (1pm ET)
The Broncos easily saw off the Giants in New York to kick off their season, while the Jags were embarrassed in Houston. Expect talent-laden Denver to take another step towards a winning season by covering in Florida.
OddsCritic Pick: Denver (-6) to beat Jacksonville at -110 (BetMGM)
Los Angeles Rams @ Indianapolis Colts (1pm ET)
Last week Indy was undone by an NFC West powerhouse in Seattle, with Russell Wilson at the controls. This week it gets another formidable foe from football’s hottest division, and we expect a similar result. Just substitute Matthew Stafford for Wilson.
OddsCritic Pick: Los Angeles Rams (-3.5) to beat Indianapolis at -104 (Resorts)
Las Vegas Raiders @ Pittsburgh Steelers (1pm ET)
An upset win in Buffalo showed that rumors of Pittsburgh’s demise had been very much exaggerated. The defense was stellar and should set the tone for a dominant victory in the home opener. Vegas got slightly lucky vs Baltimore – it won’t happen again.
OddsCritic Pick: Pittsburgh (-6) to beat Las Vegas at -109 (Resorts)
New England Patriots @ New York Jets (1pm ET)
These two teams were both offensively challenged in Week 1 and both have rookie quarterbacks at the controls. This. one figures to be an ugly affair and while we expect New England to win, taking the ‘Under’ on total points is the play.
OddsCritic Pick: Under 43 total points at -105 (PointsBet)
San Francisco 49ers @ Philadelphia Eagles (1pm ET)
This one should be a beauty. San Fran dropped 40 on lowly Detroit last week but conceded more than 30 in the process – not good. Philly meanwhile looked pretty good in a convincing win in Atlanta. We expect a close game and one with plenty of points. Take the ‘Over’.
OddsCritic Pick: Over 49.5 total points at -105 (BetMGM)
Minnesota Vikings @ Arizona Cardinals (4.05pm ET)
Kyler Murray and the Cards looked terrific last week in destroying the Titans in Tennessee. Minnesota meanwhile dropped a shocker in Cincinnati despite a late rally. The -4 wth + odds about Arizona looks a gift from God. Why not take it.
OddsCritic Pick: Arizona (-4) to beat Minnesota at +100 with FOX Bet
Atlanta Falcons @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4.05pm ET)
Tom Brady was quite frankly ridiculous again in the opener vs Dallas – throwing for almost 400 yards in a 31-29 victory. Atlanta meanwhile laid an egg in its Week 1 loss at home to the Eagles. We expect another dominant show from the Bucs but the huge (13.5) spread worries us a little. So we will take the ‘Over’ on 52 total points please.
OddsCritic Pick: Over 52 total points at -110 (widely available)
Tennessee Titans @ Seattle Seahawks (4.25pm ET)
Seattle, and Russell Wilson in particular, looked terrific in winning in Indy while Tennesse literally sucked in an embarrassingly one-sided home loss to Arizona. Take the Hawks to move to 2-0 and leave the Titans with a headache.
OddsCritic Pick: Seattle (-6.5) to beat Tennesse at -105 (PointsBet)
Dallas Cowboys @ Los Angeles Chargers (4.25pm ET)
The Cowboys played pretty well (offensively) in a heartbreaking 31-29 loss in Tampa last week – no shame in that. But since then Dallas has lost its best defender Demarcus Lawrence to a broken foot and fellow DE Randy Gregory to COVID. So while Dak Prescott is likely to put up big numbers again with that spectacular supporting cast, the Cowboys now have zero pass rush to worry Justin Herbert. This one should be an absolute shootout and we have no problem taking the ‘Over’ on total points.
OddsCritic Pick: Over 54.5 total points at -106 (FanDuel)
Kansas City Chiefs @ Baltimore Ravens (8.20pm ET)
A stellar matchup on Sunday Night Football, and we expect the Ravens to shake off the miserable memory of that loss in Las Vegas by shocking the favored Chiefs. Take Lamar to erase those fumbles from his psyche and put one over on Mahomes.
OddsCritic Pick: Baltimore (+3.5) to beat Kansas City at -108 (Unibet)