NFL Predictions Week 2: Last-Minute Picks and Advice for Sunday's Schedule

It's now or never for bettors who want to take a dive on Week 2 NFL picks.

If there's one thing the week-opening Thursday Night Football showdown between the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs showed the world, it's that a rough debut performance for a contender, even in a win, isn't the end of the world.

Well, and to never pick Alex Smith over Peyton Manning.

Anyway, Week 2 still offers plenty of intriguing matchups and lines out of Las Vegas for the bettors out there. One week isn't a good enough sample size by any means (just ask Denver), but those who must make picks now have something tangible to work with other than educated guesses. 

Below, let's take a look at the rest of the slate and nail down some predictions. 

NFL Week 2 Odds   

Matchup	Spread	Predicted Winner
Detroit at Minnesota	MIN -1	DET 28-20
Arizona at Chicago	E	ARI 17-14
Tennessee at Cleveland	TEN -1	TEN 23-14
New England at Buffalo	E	BUF 21-20
Houston at Carolina	CAR -3	HOU 28-17
San Francisco at Pittsburgh	PIT -7	PIT 14-10
San Diego at Cincinnati	CIN -3	CIN 24-20
St. Louis at Washington	STL -3	STL 14-13
Atlanta at N.Y. Giants	NYG -2.5	ATL 33-24
Tampa Bay at New Orleans	NO -10.5	NO 28-20
Baltimore at Oakland	BAL -7	BAL 27-6
Miami at Jacksonville	MIA -5.5	MIA 20-7
Dallas at Philadelphia	PHI -4.5	DAL 23-20
Seattle at Green Bay	GB -3.5	GB 20-17
N.Y. Jets at Indianapolis	IND -7.5	IND 24-13

Odds courtesy of Odds Shark.    

Top Sunday Picks

Baltimore (-7) at Oakland

Joe Mahoney/Associated Press

There's nothing short of bad news surrounding the Baltimore Ravens after Week 1.

Not only did the offense implode against Denver's defense in the 19-13 loss, Baltimore's defense lost linebacker Terrell Suggs for the season to injury. The good news? The unit still held Manning to his iffy 175 yards with an interception and four sacks.

Oh, and the Oakland Raiders are on tab for Week 2.

This should look like a no-brainer. It's a road game for Baltimore, but Oakland didn't exactly look great when it allowed the Cincinnati Bengals, another AFC North squad, to invade town and high step to a 33-13 outcome.

Quarterback Joe Flacco won't be under the pressure he was last week—Bengals' Andy Dalton wasn't sacked while throwing two scores. Running back Justin Forsett figures to look much better than his 43 yards on 14 totes from Week 1, too, considering the Raiders let the Bengals rush for two scores.

Most of all, the Ravens defense figures to see solid reps to adjust without Suggs. Oakland QB Derek Carr didn't put in a full game of work last week due to injury but only went 7-of-12 for 61 yards when in the game.

Look for the Raiders to win the war in the trenches on both sides of the football with the offense doing a complete 180 against a struggling defense.

Prediction: Ravens 27, Raiders 6

Atlanta at N.Y. Giants (-2.5)

Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press

Those in charge of picks might have some pause here with QB Matt Ryan out of a dome, but the Atlanta Falcons still look like the way to go against the New York Giants. 

Ryan and Co. took care of business against Philadelphia in Week 1, with Ryan throwing a pair of scores and interceptions while keeping up with a Chip Kelly-led offense. Perhaps most impressive was Atlanta's defense, which picked off Sam Bradford twice and held the Eagles to 3.9 yards per carry.

New York, on the other hand, didn't look as impressive in a one-point loss against Dallas. QB Eli Manning managed 193 yards through the air, and the defense didn't tally a single sack, which figures to be an issue with Ryan in town this week.

Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

“We’ve got to get to the quarterback more, no question about that,” defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo said, per Michael Eisen of Giants.com. “How do you do it? We’ll try to figure it out.”

It's a problem against wide receivers Julio Jones and Roddy White. The former caught nine passes for 141 yards and two scores last week and the latter four for 84. Atlanta seemed to discover the offense is more versatile than expected, as well, thanks to the emergence of rookie back Tevin Coleman, who found room for 80 yards on 20 carries.

Until the Giants can apply pressure on quarterbacks, it's hard to pick them in a contest where they could be playing from behind. The Atlanta defense looks better than anticipated thanks to the likes of corner Desmond Trufant, so the underdog is the way to go here.

Prediction: Falcons 33, Giants 24

Miami (-5.5) at Jacksonville

Jump. Don't think, just jump.

This line has actually moved from Miami by about a touchdown to its current state. Why? It's hard to say considering the Jacksonville Jaguars just opened up at home and laid a dud in a 20-9 loss to Carolina.

There, Blake Bortles suffered five sacks and threw two picks while the offense decided to rush it all of 21 times, four of those going to the quarterback. The defense played an average game but couldn't make up for a Bortles pick-six.

Maybe the line has more to do with Miami, a team that struggled to squeeze out a win in Washington. Still, an opener against a solid defense produced 226 yards and a score for Ryan Tannehill, 53 yards on just 13 carries for Lamar Miller and plenty of chances for Jordan Cameron, Jarvis Landry and Rishard Matthews.

Led by Ndamukong Suh, it's coordinator Kevin Coyle's defense that is searching for improvement.

"We've got to play better across the board, our players know that," Coyle said, per ESPN.com. "Like they say, 'You can make a lot of improvements between Week 1 and Week 2;' we've got our share to make, and we will."

Suh and Co. shouldn't have many problems taking advantage of mistakes thrown by the still-developing Bortles. Jacksonville holding Carolina to 20 points looks like a fluke, as well, considering the Panthers started Ted Ginn Jr. and Corey Brown at wideout, a far cry from what Miami will trot out.

Tannehill has a vast array of weapons to work with, and it will seem as such as the Dolphins cruise.

Prediction: Dolphins 20, Jaguars 7

Stats courtesy of NFL.com and accurate as of Sept. 19. All advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus.