NFL Picks Week 2: Game-by-Game Advice for Current Vegas Spreads

The 2016 NFL season got off to a highly entertaining start, with 11 of the opening week's 16 games decided by a single score. It's a level of competitiveness the league hopes will continue throughout the duration of the campaign.

That said, it's hard to draw any definitive conclusions from one week. It usually takes at least a month before things really begin to stabilize, which makes picking early games either more fruitful or more difficult, depending on a person's read on an individual team.

So let's check out the complete schedule for Week 2 and make selections for each contest. We'll follow that up with a closer look at some of the most intriguing options on the board. 

Week 2 NFL Picks

Day	Road	Home	Line	Pick
Thursday	Jets	Bills	Even	BUF
Sunday	49ers	Panthers	CAR -14	CAR
Sunday	Cowboys	Redskins	WSH -3.5	DAL
Sunday	Bengals	Steelers	PIT -3.5	CIN
Sunday	Saints	Giants	NYG -5	NO
Sunday	Dolphins	Patriots	NE -6.5	NE
Sunday	Chiefs	Texans	HOU -2.5	HOU
Sunday	Titans	Lions	DET -5.5	DET
Sunday	Ravens	Browns	BAL -6.5	CLE
Sunday	Seahawks	Rams	SEA -3.5	LA
Sunday	Buccaneers	Cardinals	ARZ -6.5	ARZ
Sunday	Jaguars	Chargers	SD -3	JAX
Sunday	Falcons	Raiders	OAK -4.5	OAK
Sunday	Colts	Broncos	DEN -6	IND
Sunday	Packers	Vikings	GB -2.5	GB
Monday	Eagles	Bears	CHI -3	PHI

Top Selections

Houston Texans (-2.5)

The Houston Texans are starting to emerge as a sleeper team in the AFC. A lot depends on the continued development of new quarterback Brock Osweiler, who had a solid team debut, but the pieces are otherwise in place for the team to make a serious run.

Everything starts with the defense, which held the Chicago Bears to just 258 total yards and a 27 percent conversion rate on third and fourth downs. The unit also racked up five sacks despite a limited impact by J.J. Watt, as discussed by Trey Wingo of ESPN:

That's bad news for the Kansas City Chiefs. They narrowly escaped with a home victory over the San Diego Chargers after falling behind 24-3. But they certainly can't expect to put up anywhere near 33 points against the Texans this week on the road.

Don't be surprised if this game turns into a blowout victory for the Texans that serves as a statement to the rest of the league that they are a serious threat.

Jacksonville Jaguars (+3)

The Jacksonville Jaguars are a team with a lot of high-upside pieces. Whether that will translate into playoff contention isn't yet clear, but Week 1 represented progress as the Jags stuck with the Green Bay Packers every step of the way in a narrow 27-23 loss.

Perhaps more importantly, it's clear the team's outlook is changing. Afterward, quarterback Blake Bortles had no interest in discussing moral victories in terms of merely keeping it close, as noted by George Diaz of the Orlando Sentinel.

"You know as far as saying if we played them last year, they would have beaten us 28-14 and the year before that, they may have beaten us 48-0. I don't know," Bortles said. "We believe we have a team here that has the ability to be successful."

Now, it's time to find out if the Jaguars are truly ready to take that next step. They have three winnable games against AFC opponents heading into their Week 5 bye, starting with the Chargers on Sunday. They must go at least 2-1 in those contests to start thinking about the playoffs.

San Diego gave up 363 passing yards to Alex Smith. That's a green light for Bortles, Allen Robinson, Allen Hurns and Co. to put up some monster numbers through the air. In turn, Jacksonville has a good chance to win this game outright and definitely shouldn't lose by more than a field goal.

Indianapolis Colts (+6)

It's amazing how long the story has remained mostly the same in Indianapolis. The Colts always seem to have a superstar quarterback, whether it's Andrew Luck or Peyton Manning, and a defense that forces the face of the franchise to post otherworldly numbers just to win games.

Indianapolis put up 35 points in Week 1, and it still wasn't enough to beat the Detroit Lions. Mike Chappell of Indianapolis' CBS 4 provided some statistics that shed some light on just how much the offense has been forced to overcome since Luck's arrival:

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Since 2012, it has allowed at least 30 points more than 25 percent of the time (18 of 65 regular-season games, 27.7 pct). During's Manning's 208-game Colts career, his defenses yielded at least 30 points 17.8 percent of the time (37 games).

And there's this: when the defense has allowed 29 points or fewer in the Luck era, the Colts are 38-9. That winning percentage (.809) ranks third behind Denver (49-7, .875) and New England (44-9, .830).

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While going on the road to face the Denver Broncos is a tough matchup, it should be a relief for the defense to face Trevor Siemian. He had some strong moments in the reigning champions' opening win, but he finished the game with just 178 yards and two interceptions.

It should allow the Colts to stack the box against C.J. Anderson and force the Siemian to beat them. So, given how well the Indy offense played in Week 1, this should be a field goal game in either direction, making the six points Luck and Co. are getting enough to cover, even if they don't pull off the upset.