After Week 1 of the new NFL season, you are going to hear it all. The Dolphins are no better than an average college team. The Bears might never score again. Atlanta’s horrible and Lamar Jackson is going to win the league’s MVP award. Your bookie software might be going a little hyperactive, but don’t worry it will calm down. We’ll have a look at your best bets for NFL Week 2. We learned plenty in Week 1 and we’ve seen plenty of line action as we head into Week 2.
Patriots-Dolphins Movement
After last week’s fiasco – a 59-10 loss to Baltimore – the Dolphins opened as 15-point underdogs against New England. If sportsbooks were thinking the +15 would be enough to get the sharps betting on Miami, they were mistaken. The line has moved as high as +19.5 at Matchbook.
Fun fact: no team in the Super Bowl era has ever been favored by more than 18 points playing on the road before October. The Patriots are the first. There have been two 18-point favorites, one in 1969 and the other in 1970. On both occasions, the underdog was shut out and failed to cover.
Easy on the Ravens Love
Lamar Jackson had a great day last week. He threw five touchdown passes and Baltimore rolled up nearly 650 yards of total offense. They also did it against what is likely the worst defense in the NFL. The Ravens opened as a 13-point favorite and the line has not moved much.
What has shifted is the Total.
After opening at 42.5, the Total shot up to 46.5 where it currently sits at most of the top online sportsbooks. The Cardinals defense gave up 27 points to Detroit last week, while rookie QB Kyler Murray led a furious comeback to produce 27 points for Arizona.
Hey, mix the Ravens and Cardinals together and you see why the sharps are betting the Over.
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Rematch
The Saints and Rams meet once again in a rematch of last year’s NFC title game.
In regular season games, the home team has won this game on the past six occasions. That includes last year’s 45-35 Saints win in New Orleans. It’s no surprise then that the Rams opened as 2.5-point favorites.
The Total opened at 54, but was pushed down as low as 52 by early betting action. Both teams can push the pace on offense. Last season, the Rams and Saints finished second and third in the league, respectively, in scoring. Expect a lot of points and keep in mind that New Orleans is 21-8 ATS when playing as an underdog.
QB Issues
With the right pay per head service, you can sit back and relax even as some lines go crazy, like those with the Browns and Jets. Cleveland opened as a three-point favorite on the road, but after a poor performance last Sunday, the line dropped to -2.5. Concerns over Jets RB Le’Veon Bell and LB C.J. Mosley moved the line back to 3.0.
Then, it got seemingly worse for the Jets. Quarterback Sam Darnold was diagnosed with mono and is out indefinitely. That means backup Trevor Siemian will start. Lines shifted dramatically with the Browns now a 6.5-point favorite. If Bell and Mosley play, this could be interesting. The last time Cleveland was favored on the road by at least five points was 1995.
Yes, Bill Belichick was the Browns head coach.