NFL Week 2 Picks: Final Predictions and Over-Under Odds Before Thursday Night

Week 1 of the 2015 NFL season delivered long-awaiting football fans brilliant action and some shock results. More of the same wall-to-wall football fun can be expected for Week 2, which starts on Thursday night in Arrowhead Stadium for a contest between AFC West foes the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs.

Aside from that tasty division matchup, there are storylines aplenty, including Marcus Mariota's encore following his essentially perfect debut, Dallas' ability to get along without injured star wideout Dez Bryant and the next step in the Tyrod Taylor era in Buffalo.

It's tempting to put your gambler's hat on and predict the outcomes of the game. Here are the latest odds, over-under lines and my predictions for Week 2, followed by a quick look at some of the top contests of the weekend.

Thursday, September 17
Sunday, September 20
Monday, September 21
Time (ET)	Matchup	Spread, O/U	Prediction
8:25 p.m.	Denver Broncos at Kansas City Chiefs	KC -3, 41.5	KC 27-21 DEN
1 p.m.	New England Patriots at Buffalo Bills	Even, 45	BUF 24-20 NE
1 p.m.	Houston Texans at Carolina Panthers	CAR -3, 40	HOU 23-13 CAR
1 p.m.	Arizona Cardinals at Chicago Bears	AZ -2.5, 46	AZ 20-15 CHI
1 p.m.	San Diego Chargers at Cincinnati Bengals	CIN -3, 47	SD 24-20 CIN
1 p.m.	Tennessee Titans at Cleveland Browns	Even, 41.5	TEN 24-14 CLE
1 p.m.	Detroit Lions at Minnesota Vikings	MIN -2.5, 43	DET 23-20 MIN
1 p.m.	Tampa Bay Buccaneers at New Orleans Saints	NO -11, 47	NO 30-17 TB
1 p.m.	Atlanta Falcons at New York Giants	NYG -2.5, 51.5	ATL 31-24 NYG
1 p.m.	San Francisco 49ers at Pittsburgh Steelers	PIT -6, 45.5	PIT 34-20 SF
1 p.m.	St. Louis Rams at Washington Redskins	STL -3.5, 41	STL 19-16 WAS
4:05 p.m.	Miami Dolphins at Jacksonville Jaguars	MIA -7, 41.5	MIA 22-21 JAX
4:05 p.m.	Baltimore Ravens at Oakland Raiders	BAL -7, 43	BAL 21-14 OAK
4:25 p.m.	Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles	PHI -5, 55	PHI 31-26 DAL
8:30 p.m.	Seattle Seahawks at Green Bay Packers	GB -4, 49	GB 28-24 SEA
8:30 p.m.	New York Jets and Indianapolis Colts	IND - 7.5, 47	IND 27-17 NYJ

Note: Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com and updated as of Thursday, September 17 at 7 a.m. ET.


Games of the Week

New England at Buffalo

Bill Wippert/Associated Press

All four teams won their season-openers in the AFC East, making a matchup between two of those teams, New England and Buffalo, one of the key games to catch this week. 

The Pats will have the extra rest and preparation, making them a supremely dangerous opponent, while Buffalo has the home-field advantage and the us-against-the-empire attitude one gets from being a long-suffering also-ran in a division dominated by a dynastic franchise. 

"Just the way they carry themselves on the field and stuff," safety Aaron Williams said of the Pats, via ESPN.com's Mike Rodak. "All the stuff that has happened to me in the past with some of the players has definitely gone through the roof for me. That's a reason it's personal for me and they're our rival. It's the history. So it's not just personal. It's the Buffalo Bills' history."

A hounding Buffalo defense supported fifth-year quarterback Taylor in his first ever NFL start, forcing three turnovers and paving the way to a surprise 27-14 victory over the Indianapolis Colts. Taylor put in a strong shift in his own right, completing 14 of 19 passes for 195 yards and one touchdown while carrying the ball nine times for 41 more.

ESPN Stats & Info noted the Bills hadn't had many quarterback performances like it over the past decade: 

Clean, mistake-free football will be key to the Bills' continued success—Taylor did fumble once, but it didn't hurt his team—as New England head coach Bill Belichick lives to hone in on other team's weaknesses and make them pay.

The Patriots will have enjoyed 10 days off after defeating Pittsburgh 28-21 in the league opener, and everyone knows at this point Tom Brady has the chops to overcome and error or two, especially with his seemingly Jurassic-era tight end Rob Gronkowski to play catch with all day long. 

Ratcheting up the pressure will be key for Buffalo. The secondary is strong, but given time Brady can pick just about any team apart.

The Bills managed two sacks and six quarterback hits on Colts QB Andrew Luck, per ESPN.com. That was without marauding defensive tackle Marcell Dareus, out serving a one-game suspension. Pittsburgh sacked Brady twice and hit him twice en route to a 91.2 QBR rating for the Patriots signal-caller, per ESPN.com.

Buffalo also had 12 passes defensed against Indy, but those may be harder to come by against New England, with the team's reliance on Gronkowski's large frame and quick hitters to the likes of Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola. This will be a big game for Bills defensive lineman Dareus and Mario Williams.

Buffalo should also find encouragement in the improved health of running back LeSean McCoy, removed from the team's injury report this week, per Rodak.

With its attitude, recovering team and home-field advantage, Buffalo could very well come out with a shock win over New England. The odds are even according to the table, which—for a Buffalo team that's lost 21 times to the Pats in their last 23 meetings—might as well say they're in the Bills' favor.

Dallas at Philadelphia

Another important game to watch in Week 2 is the NFC East division contest between the 1-0 Dallas Cowboys, fresh off a thrilling come-from-behind victory over the New York Giants, and the Philadelphia Eagles, who couldn't get the job done against the Atlanta Falcons on Monday night. 

The Cowboys offense dominated possession against the Giants, marching up and down the field all evening long, only to see some excellent drives squandered by mental mistakes and turnovers. Still, Tony Romo was magnificent, throwing for 356 yards, three touchdowns, two picks and engineering a late game-winning drive with under two minutes in the game. 

Alas, scoring points could be much tougher without Bryant, who always commands extra attention from opposing teams. Romo got a vintage performance from tight end Jason Witten, who snagged eight passes, two of them for touchdown, but key mistakes from wideouts Terrance Williams and Cole Beasley killed a couple of drives. David Moore of the Dallas Morning News noted one drive went poorly without Bryant on the field: 

If Philadelphia Eagles corner Byron Maxwell is sufficiently recovered from getting whipped by Falcons wideout Julio Jones, he could erase Williams and force Romo to dink and dunk the ball down the field. Aside from the aging Witten, Romo appears to have solid options in running backs Joseph Randle, Darren McFadden and Lance Dunbar, who caught eight passes in the opener.

Philly also struggled to get pressure on Matt Ryan, so Romo could have plenty of time behind his stellar offensive line to pick the Eagles apart, even without Bryant garnering attention.

That said, ball control works against a great many teams, but it might not be so effective against Philadelphia, who often needs little time to score in Chip Kelly's offense, even if it runs plenty of plays.

Plays	Yards	Time	Result
11	69	3:26	Field Goal
2	8	0:12	Touchdown
13	95	6:10	Touchdown
6	80	2:12	Touchdown

John Bazemore/Associated Press

The Eagles struggled in the first half against Atlanta, whose defense looked much improved over last year's iteration, but eventually found the mark in the second half. Former Cowboys back DeMarco Murray rushed for just nine yards, although he did find the end zone twice (one rushing, one receiving touchdown). ESPN.com's Phil Sheridan noted Kelly's play-calling lacked balance:

"

But the running game that was expected to be the centerpiece of Kelly’s offense never really got going. Kelly called just seven running plays in the first half, while Bradford threw 27 passes. For the game, the Eagles ran the ball 16 times for 63 yards while Bradford threw the ball 52 times.

"

Philadelphia would be wise to get Murray going earlier in the game to keep the Dallas defense honest. Darren Sproles rushed effectively, but he works better as a change-of-pace back. It would also alleviate some of the pressure on quarterback Sam Bradford, who threw two picks against the Falcons. 

With Philly finding its groove in the second half against Atlanta and Dallas down a key contributor, look for the Eagles to pull out a close victory this week.