NFL Odds Week 2: St. Louis Rams and 3 Teams That Will Beat Spread

Down on your luck? Looking for some underdog picks to come up big against the spread in Week 2 of the 2011 NFL season? Well, my friend, you're in luck! These three teams are in perfect position to not only beat their respective spreads, but also come away with wins. All spreads are courtesy of bodog.com.

St. Louis Rams (+6)

The Rams and the Giants could populate an entire infirmary with all the injuries between them. New York's defense was torn apart by the injury bug this summer while St. Louis' offense suffered setbacks to Sam Bradford, Steven Jackson and Danny Amendola, among others.

Bradford will play against Big Blue on Monday night, as might Jackson, though Amendola is expected to miss significant time with a dislocated elbow. The Giants gave up 305 yards and two touchdowns to Rex Grossman. Assuming Bradford is, in fact, good to go, he should be able to do that much damage, if not more, while leading the Rams to their first win of the season.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+3)

The Buccaneers didn't look particularly good in Week 1 against the resurgent Lions, but then again, neither did the Vikings. Donovan McNabb managed only 39 yards passing in his debut with Minnesota against the Chargers, putting the onus on Adrian Peterson and the Vikes' ground game to keep things close.

D-Mac won't likely be that bad in back-to-back weeks but will at least offer the Bucs a reprieve from the damage done to their secondary by Matt Stafford's big arm on opening weekend. Look for Josh Freeman to make some plays down the stretch and for Tampa to be juuuust good enough to eke out a win at the dilapidated Metrodome.

Cincinnati Bengals (+3.5)

Somehow, someway, the Bengals pulled a win out of their magic hat against the Browns, even after losing starting quarterback and noted "daywalker" Andy Dalton part way through.

Dalton played well in his rookie debut up to that point and will be back under center on Sunday to lead Cincinnati at Mile High Stadium against the woebegone Broncos. As if Denver weren't in enough of a bind, what with Kyle Orton stinking it up on Monday Night Football and fans chanting for third-stringer Tim Tebow, the Broncos gave up a whopping 190 yards rushing to the Raiders in their 23-20 home-opening loss.

It just so happens that the Bengals will rely on their ground game, led by Cedric Benson (121 yards and a touchdown in Week 1), to get the job done while Dalton continues to grow into his role. I'm letting you know now, this game will not be pretty by any stretch of the imagination, though Cincy will be slightly less chintzy on its way to a surprising 2-0 start.

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