NFL Predictions Week 2: Upset Picks and Projections

The opening week of the 2016 NFL season provided bettors with plenty of upset material.

With the New England Patriots taking down the Arizona Cardinals, the Detroit Lions beating the Indianapolis Colts and the San Francisco 49ers blowing away the Los Angeles Rams, bettors received reinforcement in the idea that upsets can be a lucrative business.

Week 2 won't prove much different, not with some interesting midweek lines still available. Bettors who like to complement the safe, bankroll-building bets with riskier upset plays for bigger gains have plenty of options thanks to some intriguing conference and divisional matchups.

Here's a look at the entire slate, plus a few upsets to know.

NFL Week 2 Odds

Matchup	Spread	Predicted Winner
N.Y. Jets at Buffalo (TNF)	BUF -2.5	NYJ 20-17
New Orleans at N.Y. Giants	NYG -4	NO 30-28
Kansas City at Houston	HOU -1.5	KC 24-20
Cincinnati at Pittsburgh	PIT -3.5	CIN 24-17
Dallas at Washington	WAS -3.5	WAS 17-10
Miami at New England	NE -5	NE 28-20
Tennessee at Detroit	DET -5.5	DET 33-23
Baltimore at Cleveland	BAL -3.5	BAL 23-10
San Francisco at Carolina	CAR -13.5	CAR 28-10
Tampa Bay at Arizona	ARI -7.5	ARI 24-23
Seattle at L.A. Rams	SEA -3.5	SEA 17-10
Indianapolis at Denver	DEN -4	DEN 28-24
Jacksonville at San Diego	SD -2.5	JAC 27-21
Atlanta at Oakland	OAK -6.5	OAK 28-27
Green Bay at Minnesota	GB -2.5	GB 24-13
Philadelphia at Chicago (MNF)	CHI -1.5	CHI 24-20

Odds courtesy of Odds Shark.

Upsets to Pick

Kansas City at Houston (-1.5)

Here is an easy one for starters.

The Kansas City Chiefs took care of business against the Houston Texans to start the season last year and then whipped the team in the playoffs 30-0. Expect more of the same in Week 2 this year, especially after both teams trotted out notable performances in Week 1.

Last week, the Chiefs stormed out of a 17-point deficit to beat the San Diego Chargers, a divisional rival with upset on the mind. Alex Smith was electric, throwing for 363 yards and two scores. Spencer Ware filled in well for Jamaal Charles, rushing 11 times for 70 yards and a score and also leading the team in receiving with seven catches for 129 yards.

The Chiefs summed up his impact well:

While it seems like the Chiefs had a tough time against a lesser opponent, the Texans didn't look much better. Playing the Chicago Bears, who are looking a rebuild right in the eye, Houston got 231 yards and two scores from new quarterback Brock Osweiler but could never really put away the opposition, needing a 10-point fourth quarter to squeak out the win.

Now missing linebacker Brian Cushing thanks to injury, Houston will have a hard time stopping Ware and tight end Travis Kelce. All Kansas City has to do is run a quick-hitting attack to neutralize the Houston rush. Or in other words, the Chiefs need to play to their strengths to beat the Texans.

Prediction: Chiefs 24-20

New Orleans at N.Y. Giants (-4)

Speaking of teams that are not looking so hot after Week 1, how about the New York Giants?

Eli Manning and his assortment of weapons hardly slipped past the Dallas Cowboys in 20-19 fashion. That's not the Tony Romo-led Cowboys, either, but the team led by rookie Dak Prescott. Manning threw for only 207 yards alongside three scores.

The stakes get much more difficult for Manning and the Giants this weekend against the New Orleans Saints. Those Saints lost a Week 1 encounter with a game Oakland Raiders team 35-34, but Drew Brees tossed four touchdowns with 423 yards, and Mark Ingram gained 58 yards on all of 12 carries.

Through the Giants' Twitter account, Manning described the situation well:

Again, looking back to last year, New Orleans bested New York in a Week 8 shootout, 52-49. Brees topped 500 yards passing and posted a jaw-dropping seven touchdowns as the offense spread it around and controlled time of possession by almost 10 minutes.

It's hard to imagine anyone hits seven touchdowns again, but this will still feature plenty of scoring, especially when two defenses that didn't force a sack to start the season have to stop Manning and Brees.

The difference is Brees. He knows all about gunning early and often in a spread-it-around approach to compensate for a miserable defense. Road game or not, Brees will exploit the Giants secondary late as his bevy of deep threats run the unit to exhaustion.

Prediction: Saints 30-28

Cincinnati at Pittsburgh (-3.5)

The most heated rivalry in the NFL gets another round this weekend when the Cincinnati Bengals visit the Pittsburgh Steelers. 

These two split the season series last year before Pittsburgh's 18-16 playoff victory, the locale of Cincinnati's epic meltdown for the ages.

Still, Cincinnati remains the deeper team on paper. Pittsburgh looked good in a 38-16 dismissal of Washington to start the season, with Ben Roethlisberger throwing for three scores and DeAngelo Williams rushing for 143 yards and two touchdowns.

The Cincinnati defense is a different animal, though. It's one of the best units in the league and knows a thing or two about slowing the Steelers, holding the Pittsburgh offense to less than 20 points in two of three encounters last year. And on offense, A.J. Green figures to run roughshod on the Steelers secondary after torching Darrelle Revis of the New York Jets last week.

ESPN.com's Jeremy Fowler explained how Green should fare:

"

It would be unrealistic to expect any receiver to put up two 180-yard receiving games in a row. But Green’s stellar performance against Darrelle Revis led the Bengals to a win against the Jets. The Steelers don’t have a cornerback in Revis’ league, so if they want to stop Green, they’re going to have to use multiple players.

"

Green scored once in all three games against the Steelers last year and went for 71, 118 and 132 yards. With the passing attack opening things up on the ground, Cincinnati shouldn't have much of a problem moving the ball against a unit that just coughed up 329 passing yards to Kirk Cousins.

If this were the playoffs, it might be a different story, but Cincinnati is hungry for revenge and has the defensive talent to slow the Steelers enough for the offense to control the pace, so long as cooler heads prevail.

Prediction: Bengals 24-17

Stats courtesy of NFL.com and are accurate as of Wednesday. All advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus.