NFL Picks Week 2: 5 Lines That Are Way off

With Week 1 in the books there are going to be some big changes to the NFL Power Rankings and some of those Vegas lines will definitely be off. 

With some upsets like Kansas City getting blown out by Buffalo and Baltimore laying the smack down on Pittsburgh it is easy to see that some lines were missed last week and here are five more that are off this week.

Chicago Bears at New Orleans Saints

After winning the NFC North along with going to the NFC Championship game, only to lose to the Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers, you think Chicago would get some respect.  Then in Week 1 they go out and dominate the playoff favorite Atlanta Falcons, only to still be seven-point underdogs to New Orleans in Week 2. 

Chicago's ball-hawking defense held the dynamic trio of Matt Ryan, Roddy White and Michael Turner out of the end-zone all game, holding the Falcons offense to only two field goals.  They also had a defensive touchdown as Brian Urlacher returned a Ryan fumble for a TD to go with another fumble recovery and interception for the defense.

The match-up with New Orleans will be closer than seven points and I can even see Chicago winning this game.  Although the Saints play very well at home, look for the Bears to at least cover and maybe even win the money line.

Baltimore Ravens at Tennessee Titans

Ray Lewis and company completely dominated the rival Pittsburgh Steelers in their Week 1 match-up, winning 35-7.  The Ravens nasty defense forced a team record seven turnovers and held Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers to only one touchdown. 

This week the Ravens match-up against a much easier opponent, yet are only favored by six points. 

Chris Johnson looked very rusty after his long holdout and I don't see him doing any better than Rashard Mendenhall's 12 carries for 45 yards.  Kenny Britt looked good with five catches 136 yards and two touchdowns, but Jacksonville's defense is nothing like Baltimore's and he will get shut down.

The Ravens will look to spoil Tennessee's home opener and will do it bigger than six points.  Look for this to be a lopsided game as this line is way off.

Dallas Cowboys at San Francisco 49ers

Jim Harbaugh had a great first game with San Francisco winning 33-17 against division rival Seattle Seahawks, but next week will be different.  The 49ers got kind of lucky this week with the late game heroics of Ted Ginn Jr. making this game look like more of a blowout than it actually was.

The Seahawks defense actually played quite well holding Alex Smith to only 124 passing yards and Frank Gore to only 59 yards on 22 carries (2.7 yard average).  Without Ted Ginn's kick and punt returns for touchdowns, this game would have had a totally different outcome, most likely with the 49ers losing.

The Cowboys and Tony Romo pulled a classic choke job on Sunday Night Football.  Throwing the ball to Darrell Revis' side at the end of the game is just asinine and Dallas deserved to lose that game.  They will learn from their mistakes and with their trio of kickers will have a week to prepare for Ted Ginn and will not let him torch them next week. 

All in all I see Dallas easily covering their three points and cruise to a victory against San Francisco in Week 2.

Green Bay Packers at Carolina Panthers

Cam Newton had a brilliant first game of his career, breaking the record with 422 passing yards in a rookie debut.  After that performance you would think Vegas would give him some respect, but as 10-point underdogs for their home opener, they received zero.

Not comparing Drew Brees to Cam Newton but Brees torched the Green Bay secondary for 419 yards in Week 1 so it is clear that Green Bay's secondary has some holes, and Cam Newton might be able to find them. 

Looking at this game before the season I would have chalked Green Bay as huge favorites in this game but after Week 1 I think Carolina actually has a chance to keep it close and could even win their home opener.  The line of 10 points is way too much, so look for this line to be off.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Minnesota Vikings

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers being three-point underdogs to the Minnesota Vikings must be a joke.  Yes, they did get beat by the Detroit Lions, but the Vikings got dominated by the Chargers in their Week 1 tussle and the Bucs will look to do the same.  If you take away Percy Harvin's 103-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, that game would have been much more of a blowout. 

The Chargers held Donovan McNabb to a lowly 47.9 QB rating as he went 7-15 for only 39 yards.  I look for Tampa Bays defense, led by Aqib Talib, to shut them down just as much and roll to a victory to spoil Minnesota's home opener.

Look for the line to be off as three points is very generous of Vegas to give to Minnesota. 

So, you better place your bets and look for these picks to be money for the week two games.  If you want to keep updated with current lines, check out vegasinsider.com.