Week 2 NFL picks

Posted By on September 14, 2023

Week 2 of the NFL season kicks off Thursday night with Minnesota travelling to Philadelphia. A new weekly piece on the blog will be me picking every game across the league. The winners are based on who I like against the spread.

Here are my picks.

Vikings at Eagles (-7.5): The Vikings are coming off a disappointing home loss to start the season. Philadelphia looked uneven in their win over New England, helped along by a pick-six on a bad throw from Patriots quarterback Mac Jones.

Both teams have injury concerns, and with the short week the home team gets the nod.

Pick: Eagles

Bears at Buccaneers (-2.5) Chicago is a mess offensively with a quarterback unwilling to turn the ball loose to open receivers. Tampa is coming off a week one win on the road and they have the better quarterback.

Pick: Buccaneers

Packers at Falcons (+1.5) Jordan Love had the Green Bay offense humming during its week one win in Chicago. Not sure how the spread on this one is so close.

Pick: Packers

Colts at Texans (+1.5) This AFC battle will feature a pair of rookie quarterbacks making their second start. Anthony Richardson looked good at home in week one, now he will need to face a DeMeco Ryans defense on the road. Advantage C.J. Stroud.

Pick: Texans

Seahawks at Lions (-5.5) The Lions were impressive in their week one victory at Kansas City. Meanwhile the Seahawks looked like a team ready to take a step back after overachieving in 2022.

Pick: Lions

Chargers at Titans (+3.5) These two teams were opposites in week one. Los Angeles couldn’t stop anyone, and the Titans could not get their offense in gear. The Chargers defense will be better this week against a less explosive offense.

Pick: Chargers

Ravens at Bengals (-3.5) The Bengals are coming off a terrible showing in their opener, and Joe Burrow looked bad. That will change and the Bengals will get the offense going here. The Ravens have some injury issues on the offensive line which should help Cincinnati’s defense.

Pick: Bengals

Raiders at Bills (-8.5) The Bills are playing on a short week. Josh Allen was awful in the opener, turning the ball over four times. Las Vegas stayed on the East Coast to get ready for this one. Despite the potential for a blowout, I think the Raiders keep this one close.

Pick: Raiders

49ers at Rams (+7.5) The 49ers looked like one of the best teams in the league in their blowout win over Pittsburgh. Los Angeles matched their NFC West counterparts with 30 points of their own. Matthew Stafford won’t miss some of the throws Kenny Pickett left on the field against the 49ers defense in week one. The 49ers will win, but Los Angeles covers.

Pick: Rams

Giants at Cardinals (+5.5) The Giants were blown out by the Cowboys at home in the opener, and their offensive line struggled. Now they will face an Arizona defense that recorded six sacks in the opener and hung around. This one will be closer than the spread.

Pick: Giants

Commanders at Broncos (-3.5)

The Commanders won on opening weekend, and the Broncos lost a close one at home to Las Vegas. Russell Wilson has become a shell of the guy he was in Seattle. He no longer is able to consistently push the ball down the field.

Pick: Commanders

Dolphins at Patriots (+2.5) The Dolphins offense was explosive in week one. This week they face a Patriots defense that held the Eagles to just one touchdown. New England will do the same in this one.

Pick: Patriots

Saints at Panthers (+2.5) The Saints defense against rookie Panthers quarterback Bryce Young has ugly written all over it. Derek Carr gets New Orleans to 2-0.

Pick: Saints

Browns at Steelers (+1.5) Cleveland’s defense was solid in their week one win over the Bengals. Meanwhile, the Steelers really struggled with the 49ers pass rush. That will carry over this week.

Pick: Browns

This article has 18 Comments

  1. So this is a little confusing. On some picks you mention the spread and others you don’t so I can’t tell if some of these picks are moneyline or against the spread. So for instance in the Vikings v Eagles you don’t mention the spread. You pick the Eagles so I think that means you are laying the points and taking the Eagles to win by more than 7.5 points. Is that correct? Also, might be cool if you included a confidence grade for each pick. For me, I like the Bengals to win and cover this week against the Ravens. Injuries to the Ravens and opening week embarrassment for the Bengals leads to a strong victory for the Bengals. Bengals -3.5 is my #1 pick this week.

    1. 1.6 Patriot
      “Aaron Donald against Brendel, Burford, or McKivitz is a huge mismatch?” Mismatch? Yes….Huge mismatch? TBD!
      * Noteboom against Arik Armstead is a huge mismatch, exspecially on a bum ankle!
      * Jackson, Avilla, Shelton, noteboom and Havenstein against Jackson, Armstead, Hargrave, Bosa, Warner and Greenlaw is a huge mismatch.
      * Rams rookie WR Puka Nacua is N O T going to have 119 receiving yards against the 9ers DB’s. Rams WR Tutu Atwell has never had more than 62 yards receiving in his first 21 games in the NFL. He’s not going to have another 110+ yard game against the 9ers DB’s. Cooper Cupp is on IR.
      49er 31 Rams 13

      1. Yes. Aaron Donald against those guys is a huge mismatch.

        Agree with you on Puka. I was in 1st waiver position in my fantasy football league so I picked up Puka with the sole purpose of trading him for a RB. Puka is such a hot commodity that everyone wanted him but i think he comes down to earth quickly.

        49ers D-line should do well against the Rams O-line. I also look for Bosa to have a few sacks in this game.

      1. I think you’re missing 2 games.

        Jets at Cowboys (-9.0)
        Chiefs at Jags (+3.5)

        My picks ATS on those games would be Jets and Chiefs.

        I took the 14 games you picked above and played a $1 parlay on Bovada. I didn’t get the exact same spreads as you have listed but very close. A $1 14 leg parlay using all your picks pays out $7,586.89. If I win I’ll send you an Applebee’s gift card.

      3. Jack, I really like your takes here with 2 exceptions, Miami will cover and the niners will eat their lunch.
        Niners 31 Rams 14.

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  3. This is a key division game. Agree that LA’s QB is much better than what we faced last week. Our DB’s need to be even better than last week and please, no more Lenoir penalties.

    1. Lets not forget Pickett did not play well because of the pressure of SF d line. They played lights out, 3.5 sacks for any dline is a very good day. Stafford will have his hands full. Stay tuned

  4. Jack,
    Looks good. My only change would be the Bill’s over the raiders. Jimmy G, had a good “game manager” type game, with only one turn-over and two passing TDs. It was just enough to squeeze out a win.
    Jimmy will need to do more against an angry Bill’s defense and Josh Allen tapping into the Josh Allen of two years ago.
    I have the Bill’s in a blow-out in this game.

    Copper Kupp has been the 49ers nemesis over his career. Because he out, the 49ers cover.

    1. AES
      While I agree Stafford is a better QB than Pickett, IMO, his receivers are not…(See my comments to 1.6 above).
      I look for the 9er D to shut down the Rams offense and the 9er offense to beat the Lams by >2 TD’s.
      *IMO, the Seahags got caught believing their own press(that they’ll win the NFC West), and the Rams were in a
      rebuilding mode. I also see Stafford getting sacked multiple times by the 9er D.

      1. GEEP,
        The Seahawks losing their first game (or any team for that matter) does not draw any conclusions, imho.
        The 49ers were 4-4 after 8 games last season and made it to the NFC game.

        I never underestimate a Pete Carroll team. They will be a formidable opponent for the 49ers for years.

        The rams are good, but likely a 3rd place finisher in our division. Not having Kupp leaves a big hole in their offense. Unless young jedi McVay can rally his troops, they could be riding the fence as a 500 team.
        But, at this point, anything could happen.

  5. I love that Las Vegas “stayed on the East Coast to get ready for this one” when they played in Denver last week, come on man, do better.

  6. I played a 3 team parlay on Mon. opening lines were very different i got
    TB +1.5
    Det -3
    Dall -4 (before news on Rodgers got out)

  7. Jack, I really like your takes here with 2 exceptions, Miami will cover and the niners will eat their lunch.
    Niners 31 Rams 14.

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