NFL Picks Week 2: Examining Recent Odds and Expert Predictions

Although the 2014 NFL regular season has officially begun, plenty of questions linger around many of the league's 32 teams. Week 2 might help to solve some of those issues.

Two games isn't a good sample size from which to make strong judgments, but they are enough for many to reinforce preexisting ideas.

The NFL season is still at that point where you're not sure what to make of many of the teams, and plenty of time remains before the point of no return is reached.

Below you can see the betting lines and over/under for all 16 games this weekend in addition to straight-up predictions from Bleacher Report's six National Lead Writers.

Betting Lines and Over/Unders

Matchup	Line	O/U
Pittsburgh at Baltimore	BAL -2.5	44.5
Miami at Buffalo	EVEN	43
Jacksonville at Washington	WAS -4.5	43
Dallas at Tennessee	TEN -3.5	49.5
Arizona at New York Giants	NYG -1.5	43.5
New England at Minnesota	NE -4.5	48.5
New Orleans at Cleveland	NO -6.5	47.5
Atlanta at Cincinnati	CIN -5	48.5
Detroit at Carolina	CAR -1	43.5
St. Louis at Tampa Bay	TB -4.5	37
Seattle at San Diego	SEA -4.5	44.5
Houston at Oakland	EVEN	39.5
New York Jets at Green Bay	GB -9	46
Kansas City at Denver	DEN -12.5	51
Chicago at San Francisco	SF -7	48.5
Philadelphia at Indianapolis	IND -2.5	53

Note: Odds are courtesy of Odds Shark.

Bleacher Report Expert Predictions

Matchup	Matt Bowen	Mike Freeman	Matt Miller	Ty Schalter	Michael Schottey	Mike Tanier
PIT at BAL	PIT	BAL	PIT	PIT	PIT	PIT
MIA at BUF	MIA	MIA	MIA	MIA	BUF	MIA
JAX at WAS	JAX	WAS	JAX	JAX	JAX	JAX
DAL at TEN	DAL	DAL	DAL	TEN	TEN	DAL
ARI at NYG	ARI	NYG	ARI	ARI	ARI	ARI
NE at MIN	NE	NE	NE	NE	NE	NE
NO at CLE	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO
ATL at CIN	ATL	CIN	CIN	ATL	CIN	CIN
DET at CAR	DET	CAR	DET	DET	DET	DET
STL at TB	TB	TB	TB	TB	TB	TB
SEA at SD	SEA	SEA	SEA	SEA	SEA	SEA
HOU at OAK	HOU	HOU	HOU	OAK	HOU	OAK
NYJ at GB	GB	GB	GB	GB	GB	GB
KC at DEN	DEN	DEN	DEN	DEN	DEN	DEN
CHI at SF	SF	SF	SF	SF	SF	SF
PHI at IND	IND	IND	PHI	IND	IND	IND

Note: You can view all 15 experts' picks on B/R.

Analysis

Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

One of the lines that stands out immediately is the Denver Broncos getting favored by 12.5 points over the Kansas City Chiefs. Denver should certainly be favored at home, but to see the Broncos given an edge of nearly two touchdowns is a little surprising.

In the teams' two meetings last year, the Chiefs lost by 10 points and seven points, respectively. Although Kansas City looked bad in a loss to the Tennessee Titans, the Broncos faded in the second half against the Indianapolis Colts.

The Chiefs are also getting Dwayne Bowe back this week after his suspension in Week 1, per Tom Pelissero of USA Today:

If the Broncos-Chiefs line stays around 12.5 or 11.5 points, then you should consider backing the Chiefs to at least cover. Kansas City's defense shouldn't be as bad as it was last week, and having Bowe in the fold will help Alex Smith and take some of the pressure off Jamaal Charles.

One of the more intriguing games on tap is Jacksonville vs. Washington, if only to see whether each team is as bad as everybody thinks. The Jaguars gave up 34 points in one half to the Philadelphia Eagles, while the Redskins only mustered six points against the Houston Texans.

Some questioned Jay Gruden's play-calling in Washington's defeat. Alfred Morris and Roy Helu ran for 137 yards on 18 carries, while Robert Griffin III attempted 37 passes. Why didn't the Redskins rely on the running game more?

Patric Schneider/Associated Press

"If I had to do it all over again, I probably would have run the ball more than I did," Gruden bluntly said after the game, per The Associated Press (h/t FoxSports.com).

Considering the Jaguars surrendered 74 and 71 yards, respectively, to LeSean McCoy and Darren Sproles makes you wonder about the strength of their defense. The Redskins should cover and then some.

One of the harder games to predict is Indianapolis vs. Philadelphia. Since they're at home, the Colts get a slight 2.5-point advantage. With a line like that, the oddsmakers are basically saying that the difference between the two teams is minuscule.

Michael Perez/Associated Press

In a way, both teams paralleled one another in Week 1. They came alive in the second half after struggling in the first. The Eagles scored 34 unanswered points on the Jaguars, while the Colts got to within a touchdown of the Broncos despite being down 24-0 in the second quarter.

B/R's Matt Miller believed that Indy's defense did a great job of locking down on the high-powered Broncos offense in the final two frames:

This game will go some way as to determining which half from Week 1 is more representative of the teams' ability level. Were the first halves flukes or a worrying sign of things to come?