Week 2 NFL Predictions: Underdogs Sure to Surprise on Sunday

The term "upset" may be more synonymous with college sports than the NFL, but there were plenty of surprises in Week 1 that left fans shaking their heads.

The Buffalo Bills knocked plenty of people out of their survival pools when they beat the Chicago Bears, the Miami Dolphins seized early control of the AFC East against the New England Patriots and the Tennessee Titans made the Kansas City Chiefs look terrible. 

There are sure to be more upsets in Week 2. Here are a few of them with lines courtesy of Odds Shark as of Wednesday afternoon.

Jacksonville Jaguars (+7) at Washington Redskins

Matt Rourke/Associated Press

The Jacksonville Jaguars looked like a legitimate surprise team in the first half against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 1, but the wheels fell off after intermission. A 17-0 lead quickly turned into a 34-17 loss.

The running game never got going against the Eagles, so the thought here is that Jacksonville needs to turn it loose with the passing attack in Week 2. Allen Hurns was the surprise player of Week 1 with 110 receiving yards and two touchdowns, rookie Marqise Lee looked comfortable with 62 receiving yards and Marcedes Lewis is a solid tight end who could give Chad Henne a safety blanket across the middle.

As for the Washington Redskins, the offense struggled mightily in their 17-6 loss to the Houston Texans. 

A large part of that was J.J. Watt’s ability to blow plays up at the line, but the struggles of the offensive line could be a concern going forward. We can’t attribute it all to Watt either, as Tom Schad of The Washington Times noted:

Look for Jacksonville to get out to a fast start yet again, but the Redskins offense is not adept to come back like the Eagles. The offensive line struggles will rear their ugly head, and Robert Griffin III won’t have enough time to direct a second-half charge. 

Prediction: Jaguars 24, Redskins 17

Atlanta Falcons (+5) at Cincinnati Bengals

The Atlanta Falcons defense did not impress in the opener, although part of that was because Drew Brees, Jimmy Graham, Brandin Cooks and Marques Colston were on the opposing sideline. 

However, the Falcons' new-look offense will turn in another excellent performance against the Cincinnati Bengals to carry the day. Matt Ryan threw for 448 yards and three touchdowns in the opener, Julio Jones tallied 116 receiving yards, Roddy White mixed in a touchdown and even Jacquizz Rodgers averaged 5.7 yards a carry and a scored touchdown.

Perhaps the biggest surprise was Devin Hester, who had 99 receiving yards and looked like a real offensive threat. Between Jones, White and Hester, it is impossible for opposing defenses to lock in on one target.

Ryan seemed to have the right attitude about the big win, according to The Associated Press, via ESPN.com:

"

It's a good start. We've got a long way to go. That's one thing that I have learned in six years previous to this, is it's a long season. You can't get too high and too low after Week 1.

It's certainly a good start for us in the (NFC South). It's what we wanted to do ... but we've got to get back to work. We're going against a very good defense against Cincinnati next week.

"

The Bengals allowed 329 passing yards to a Baltimore Ravens team that has nowhere near the weapons Atlanta does. The secondary is going to have issues against Atlanta, and the offense (which settled for six early field-goal attempts against Baltimore) won’t be able to score enough points to keep up. 

Prediction: Falcons 35, Bengals 24

Minnesota Vikings (+3) versus New England Patriots

Obviously, one game is an incredibly small sample size, but the New England Patriots already rank 29th in the league in opposing rushing yards allowed.

The Miami Dolphins, who had serious trouble along the offensive line last season, completely pushed the Patriots around the entire game up front. Tom Brady was also completely off Sunday and finished 29-of-56 and fumbled twice.

The Minnesota Vikings will shorten this game by keeping the ball on the ground. This is not exactly the ideal opponent for New England considering the struggles against the rushing attack, and Adrian Peterson should find plenty of holes. What’s more, Cordarrelle Patterson tallied 102 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground in the opener and could get involved in the rushing attack.

If New England does stack the box to stop Peterson, the Vikings can mix Patterson in on reverses to stretch the field laterally or hit him over the top on play-action passes.

It may sound strange, but Minnesota will be the offense controlling the tempo against the Patriots. 

Prediction: Vikings 23, Patriots 20

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