NFL Picks Week 2: Odds and Over-Under Advice Before Sunday Kickoff

Football has become such a national obsession partially because there are a number of things to follow outside of just who wins the game.

It may ruin your Sunday if your favorite team loses, but there can be some redemption if you win in fantasy football or have some success in the betting realm. With that in mind, let’s take a look at some picks against the spread and the over-under lines for every remaining Week 2 game.

Point spreads and over-unders are courtesy of Odds Shark as of Friday evening.

Away Team	Home Team	Spread (as of Friday evening)	Over-Under	Pick
Miami Dolphins	Buffalo Bills	Even	42.5	MIA
Detroit Lions	Carolina Panthers	CAR -2.5	43.5	CAR
Atlanta Falcons	Cincinnati Bengals	CIN -5.5	49	ATL
New Orleans Saints	Cleveland Browns	NO -7	48	NO
New England Patriots	Minnesota Vikings	NE -5.5	48	NE
Arizona Cardinals	New York Giants	AZ -1	42.5	AZ
Dallas Cowboys	Tennessee Titans	TEN -3	49	TEN
Jacksonville Jaguars	Washington Redskins	WAS -6	43	JAX
Seattle Seahawks	San Diego Chargers	SEA -5.5	44	SEA
St. Louis Rams	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	TB -5.5	37	TB
Kansas City Chiefs	Denver Broncos	DEN -12.5	50.5	DEN
New York Jets	Green Bay Packers	GB -8.5	46	GB
Houston Texans	Oakland Raiders	HOU -2.5	40	HOU
Chicago Bears	San Francisco 49ers	SF -7.5	48	SF
Philadelphia Eagles	Indianapolis Colts	IND -3	53.5	IND

Over-Under Advice

David J. Phillip/Associated Press

There are a handful of games that stand out when analyzing the over-unders in Week 2.

The thought here is that you should give the under (43) a try in the contest between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Washington Redskins. The Redskins offensive line was virtually nonexistent in Week 1, which is the biggest reason they scored a measly six points in the loss to Houston.

If Washington struggles to block again, it will be a long day for the offense.

As for the Jaguars, the running game struggled in the opener when Toby Gerhart only tallied 42 rushing yards. In fact, the only reason Jacksonville even scored 17 points against Philadelphia at all was the emergence of a relative unknown in Allen Hurns, who scored twice. It may be asking for too much to bank on a repeat performance.

Gerhart actually feared the worst against the Eagles, via Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com:

"

My initial thought was I destroyed my knee and honestly thought my leg was broken, too, down by my ankle. When I first got tackled, the first thing I flashed in my mind was, No way. First chance to start and be the guy and it was first, second quarter or whatever it was and this is not how it's supposed to go.

"

With Gerhart at less than 100 percent and the Redskins struggling along the line, there won’t be enough points to go around.

Another contest to keep an eye on is the one between the Atlanta Falcons and Cincinnati Bengals. We suggest taking the over (49).

All the Falcons did in Week 1 was rack up a franchise-record 568 total yards behind Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, Roddy White, Devin Hester, Steven Jackson and Jacquizz Rodgers. Ryan threw for 448 yards and three touchdowns, and the emergence of Hester as a target in the passing game, who had 99 receiving yards, spread out the field for Jones and White.

The defense simply couldn’t focus on one or two targets.

Cincinnati allowed 329 passing yards to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 1, so there should be plenty of opportunities for the Falcons’ aerial attack.

David Goldman/Associated Press

On the other side, the Falcons defense was exposed by Drew Brees and company in the opener, which means A.J. Green could be in for a big day. This one has shootout potential, which is good news for anyone leaning toward the over.

Finally, look no further than the Sunday night showdown between the San Francisco 49ers and Chicago Bears if you want another over (48).

You may think that it is smarter to go with the under here because the Bears lost two starting offensive linemen in Roberto Garza and Matt Slausen to injury. To make matters worse, superstar receivers Alshon Jeffery and Brandon Marshall are battling injuries. All that attrition will clearly impact the Chicago offense.

However, the 49ers have some injury concerns of their own defensively. Cornerbacks Tramaine Brock and Chris Culliver both may miss the game, which could open the field for Marshall and Jeffery if the Bears’ weapons play. 

Don’t just focus on the Chicago passing game against San Francisco, though, as Can Inman of the San Jose Mercury News pointed out:

On the flip side, San Francisco should have its way against the Bears run defense. Chicago was dead last in the league against the run in 2013 and was gashed again by Buffalo in the opener. The Bills finished with 193 yards on the ground.

Colin Kaepernick, Frank Gore and Carlos Hyde represent one of the best rushing trios in the entire NFL. The Bears defense could be in trouble, which spells victory for those taking the over.

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