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

Do we really know that much more now that one week of NFL action is officially in the books? 

We would certainly prefer to think that way, although the reality is the contenders likely won’t begin to truly emerge until later in the season. That makes picking Week 2 games very interesting because we have a little bit of information but nowhere near the entire picture.

With that in mind, here is a look at some game-by-game advice taking the spreads into account. The spreads are courtesy of Odds Shark as of Monday evening.

Away Team	Home Team	Spread	Pick	Thought Process
Pittsburgh Steelers	Baltimore Ravens	BAL -2.5	PIT	Skill guys come to play again after Ben Roethlisberger threw for 365 yards and a touchdown, Le’Veon Bell tallied 197 total yards and a touchdown and Antonio Brown finished with 116 receiving yards and a score in opening week
Miami Dolphins	Buffalo Bills	Even	MIA	Miami has too much momentum on its side to lose to a Buffalo team that benefitted from Chicago injuries in Week 1
Detroit Lions	Carolina Panthers	none listed as of Monday	CAR	Cam Newton could be back, and the Detroit secondary will struggle against a quarterback not named Eli Manning
Atlanta Falcons	Cincinnati Bengals	CIN -5	ATL	Falcons may not win, but the high-flying offense will at least cover the spread
New Orleans Saints	Cleveland Browns	NO -7	NO	An angry Saints team that lost in Week 1 is not what Cleveland wants to see Sunday
New England Patriots	Minnesota Vikings	NE -3.5	NE	It's time for Tom Brady to bounce back, which means the Vikings are in some trouble
Arizona Cardinals	New York Giants	none listed as of Monday	AZ	Few teams looked worse than the Giants in Week 1, and the Cardinals defense will continue that trend in Week 2
Dallas Cowboys	Tennessee Titans	TEN -4	TEN	Dallas' defense will struggle against Locker, while the Tennessee defense does its job
Jacksonville Jaguars	Washington Redskins	WAS -7	JAX	The Jaguars gave the Eagles a scare, and they should be able to at least cover the spread against a vulnerable Washington squad
Seattle Seahawks	San Diego Chargers	none listed as of Monday	SEA	The defending champs just look too good right now, even though this will be a challenge
St. Louis Rams	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	TB -5.5	TB	St. Louis looked awful against the Vikings and will likely do the same with an uncertain quarterback situation against Tampa
Kansas City Chiefs	Denver Broncos	DEN -14	DEN	Denver may be the best team in the AFC, and Kansas City looked lost in Week 1
New York Jets	Green Bay Packers	GB -9.5	GB	Green Bay will have its way against a defense not named Seattle
Houston Texans	Oakland Raiders	HOU -2.5	HOU	J.J. Watt and company will make life miserable for the rookie Derek Carr
Chicago Bears	San Francisco 49ers	SF -7.5	SF	San Francisco's rushing attack will dominate the Bears' vulnerable defense
Philadelphia Eagles	Indianapolis Colts	IND -3	IND	Leaning toward the home team here that needs a win to avoid an 0-2 start.

Chicago Bears at San Francisco 49ers

Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press

That home loss to the Buffalo Bills in Week 1 is really going to sting for the Chicago Bears after they lose at San Francisco in Week 2.

Right now, injuries are the biggest concern for the Bears, as offensive linemen Roberto Garza and Matt Slauson left the first game with high-ankle sprains. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Alshon Jeffery did not play in the second half, and Brandon Marshall was less than 100 percent. 

At least there was some good news, via Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times:

On the other side is a 49ers team that completely controlled their first game at Dallas. They did so without Aldon Smith, NaVorro Bowman or Chris Culliver (who left the game with injury) on defense, which was particularly impressive considering they were playing against Dez Bryant, Jason Witten and DeMarco Murray. 

Offensively, the Carlos Hyde and Frank Gore combination looked explosive, and Colin Kaepernick and Vernon Davis connected for two touchdowns.

This will be the 49ers’ home opener, and the Chicago offensive line is a mess. What’s more, the Bears run defense was worst in the league in 2013 and didn’t look much better in Week 1. Look for crowd noise to bother the Bears offense, while Hyde and Gore will gash the vulnerable Chicago defense.

Like San Francisco’s win over Dallas, this one won’t be as close as the final score indicates.

Prediction: San Francisco 28, Chicago 20

Dallas Cowboys at Tennessee Titans 

Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press

ESPN Stats & Info did not have an encouraging statistic for fans hoping Tony Romo is completely over his back concerns:

The Cowboys defense gets a lot of criticism, but the offense was probably the reason Dallas lost in Week 1. After all, two of the four touchdowns from the 49ers were because of turnovers.

We are not being optimistic about the Cowboys, though. The thought here is that Dallas missed a rare opportunity it won’t get a lot of this season when its defense actually played at an acceptable level. Instead, it was the offense that missed chances to score and keep the Cowboys in the game.

Now the Cowboys have to play a Tennessee Titans team that completely shut down Jamaal Charles of the Kansas City Chiefs. Charles only ran for 19 yards, which is key because Murray was the one Cowboy offensive player who had a decent game in Week 1.

If Tennessee can contain Murray even half as well as it did Charles, Jake Locker will be put in an ideal position to win against a vulnerable Dallas defense. Locker threw for two touchdowns against the Chiefs and will look to do the same against the Cowboys. 

Prediction: Tennessee 24, Dallas 20

New England Patriots at Minnesota Vikings

Lynne Sladky/Associated Press

The New England Patriots were stunned in the first week against the Miami Dolphins, largely because the Pats couldn’t contain the run or stop Miami’s pass rush.

The Minnesota Vikings aren’t exactly the ideal opponent if you are struggling against the run, which means Adrian Peterson could be in for a big game. What’s more, Cordarrelle Patterson totaled more than 100 rushing yards in Week 1 and could expose the New England defense on reverses.

Still, the thought here is that the veteran-laden Patriots will bounce back in Week 2. Minnesota’s performance in the opener was more about the shortcomings of the St. Louis Rams—who lost Shaun Hill during that game—than a surprise season in Minnesota, and Brady will find Rob Gronkowski for an important touchdown pass to break this contest open late.

L.G. Patterson/Associated Press

Playing Brady will be a bit different for the Vikings than playing the Rams backup quarterbacks.

Coach Bill Belichick simplified things as he always does, according to The Associated Press, via ESPN.com: “We need to do a better job than we did today. It’s as simple as that.”

The Patriots will do exactly that in Week 2. 

Prediction: New England 31, Minnesota 14

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