NFL picks, predictions, odds for Week 2: Jets, Giants rebound from tough Week 1

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The 2024 NFL season rolls on and we are now in Week 2. Week 1 brought us some fun games, a few duds, and even a few shockers that knocked out half your survivor pool (thanks a lot, Cincinnati Bengals). The second slate of the season promises more of the same and kicks off with a fantastic AFC East showdown between the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins. So, without further ado, let’s get to the rest of our NFL Week 2 picks, predictions, and odds.

As it often is, Week 1 was a bloodbath for bettors as the spreads were small, the games were close and there was no data to go off of for the new campaign. We’ll get into last week’s stats for the NFL Week 1 picks, predictions, and odds column in a bit, but just know this week will be easier to start identifying trends and using recent history to make predictions.

The NFL Week 2 slate goes back to a more normal pattern, schedule-wise, too, with a Thursday night contest, 10 early-window Sunday games, three in the late window, a Sunday nightery, and the Monday night matchup.

In addition to Bills-Dolphins, this group of games also includes some intriguing matchups like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Detroit Lions, Bengals vs. Kansas City Chiefs, and Los Angeles Rams vs. Arizona Cardinals.

As mentioned above, Week 1 was tough, so, like the Carolina Panthers, the numbers don’t look great right now for the NFL Week 2 picks, predictions, and odds column. That said, we did have a winning record straight up, going 9-7 just picking winners. However, with a 4-12 record vs. the number, we have some work to do just to summit Mount .500.

But work, we will do! So, let’s get right into the NFL Week 2 picks, predictions, and odds.

Previous Weeks: Week 1

Courtesy of DraftKings, here are the NFL odds.

Buffalo Bills at Miami Dolphins (-2.5)

Full Bills-Dolphins betting preview

Lost in all the Tyreek Hill drama last week was that the Dolphins only squeaked by the Jacksonville Jaguars by a field goal at home. Now, running back Raheem Mostert is already out and De’Von Achane is banged up as well. The injuries and the distractions on a short week can cause trouble.

On the other side, the Bills may have gotten off to a slow start, but in the end, Josh Allen looked like the best player in the league, scoring four touchdowns (two through the air and two on the ground). It’s never easy with the Bills but if this comes down to Allen vs. Tua Tagovailoa, give me the big man from Buffalo.

Pick: Bills 34-30

Update: The Bills rocked the Dolphins 31-10 to get the win and the cover as predicted

New Orleans Saints at Dallas Cowboys (-6)

Full Saints-Cowboys betting preview

Of all the games that we picked wrong last week, it’s the Carolina Panthers vs. New Orleans Saints game that was most frustrating. The Panthers are horrific and the Saints are at least a professional football team.

Is an average professional football team good enough to get by the Cowboys? Probably not. And while we were loud wrong about the Panthers maybe being better last week, it’s still possible the Saints aren’t great, so the Cowboys should take this one easily.

Pick: Cowboys 28-12

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Detroit Lions (-7.5)

Full Buccaneers-Lions betting preview

The Lions and the Buccaneers were two of the most impressive teams, especially on offense in Week 1. Both teams took care of business and moved on to their big NFL Week 2 showdown.

This is arguably the game of the week on the Week 2 slate, but these two franchises have been so bad for so long, that it’s hard for football fans to wrap their head around that. This will be a banger, though, and while the Lions will walk away with the W, it won’t be by a touchdown.

Pick: Lions 23-20

Cleveland Browns at Jacksonville Jaguars (-3)

Full Browns-Jaguars betting preview

The Jaguars made a lot of splashy moves in the offseason, but in Week 1 against the Dolphins they looked a lot like the same old Jags. That said, at least the team and its quarterback looked like they wanted to be playing in that game.

Deshaun Watson and the Browns rolled over and died against the Cowboys last Sunday, and the embattled QB, now facing yet another sexual misconduct lawsuit, seems like he’s pretty over playing pro football. That’s not a good place to be, and the Browns would probably have a better chance here if it was Jameis Winston, and not Watson starting.

Pick: Jaguars 28-13

San Francisco 49ers (-5.5) at Minnesota Vikings

Full 49ers-Vikings betting preview

Heading into the NFL Week 2 picks, predictions, and odds column, we have to figure out what was real last week and what was not. Are the Vikings good, or did they just beat up on the worst team in football in the New York Giants? Are the 49ers great or are the New York Jets just wildly overrated?

Let’s take the latter on the Vikings question and the former on the 49ers, which means the Niners win and cover here.

Pick: 49ers 24-10

Los Angeles Chargers (-6) at Carolina Panthers

Full Chargers-Panthers betting preview

The Panthers stink. That is all. Chargers by a lot.

Pick: Chargers 27-9

Las Vegas Raiders at Baltimore Ravens (-8.5)

Full Raiders-Ravens betting preview

This is the biggest spread on the board in the NFL Week 2 picks, predictions, and odds column, despite the fact that the Panthers stink (see above). But the Raiders aren’t far behind, and after losing Tyree Wilson, the pass rush is in shambles.

That’s good news for Lamar Jackson, who was under a lot of pressure in the Ravens' loss to the Chiefs. His offensive line is still a work in progress, and the Raiders still have Maxx Crosby, but Jackson should still look a lot better this week. It’s a bug number, but the Ravens are better by enough that they should cover it.

Pick: Ravens 31-10

Seattle Seahawks (-3.5) at New England Patriots

Full Seahawks-Patriots betting preview

Speaking of questions that need to be answered, are the Patriots for real, or did the Bengals just play a bad game on Sunday? New England is probably a little better than advertised even though Cincinnati was pretty bad in Week 1. As for the Seahawks, their defense looked better under Mike Macdonald this year.

This is a West Coast team coming East to play at 1 pm ET, which is usually not a good thing. That said, the Pats were able to run all over the Bengals, something they shouldn’t be able to do against the Seahawks. If Seattle can force New England to drop back and throw a bunch, Jacoby Brissett could be in trouble, which is why we’ll take Seattle here.

Pick: Seahawks 20-12

Indianapolis Colts (-3) at Green Bay Packers

Full Colts-Packers betting preview

Anthony Richardson only completed nine passes on Sunday but threw for 212 yards and two touchdowns in a close 29-27 loss to the Houston Texans in Week 1. He is a true feast of famine QB, and there should be some interesting Colts games this season.

While it’s hard to trust that Richardson will be able to put up that many points again on so few completions, this game comes down to the fact that Malik Willis is the QB on the other side, and he is even less ready for primetime than Richardson is. The biggest concern here is Josh Jacobs running wild — like Joe Mixon did last week — but overall, it’s just hard to see Willis pulling out a W.

Pick: Colts 17-13

New York Jets (-3.5) at Tennessee Titans

Week 2 will be a brand new world for Aaron Rodgers and the Jets. After getting physically dominated on both sides of the ball by the 49ers one of the best teams in the league, they have a much easier task against the Titans this week.

Will Levis is also in for a rude awakening. After he lost his composure against a pretty good Bears defense, he will now face an excellent Jets defense that is fuming badly after being embarrassed by the 49ers. Look for the Jets to win big here.

Pick: Jets 28-16

New York Giants at Washington Commanders (-1.5)

Full Giants-Commanders betting preview

OK, this may be a huge mistake, but in the NFL Week 2 picks, predictions, and odds column, we’re going to believe in the Giants one more time. Big Blue under Brian Daboll and with Daniel Jones has been a strong bounce-back team, with the head coach going 13-5 against the spread after a loss.

As good as Jayden Daniels is going to be in fantasy football this season, he is still a rookie QB with questionable talent around him, so for now, the Giants are actually a better team, even if they looked far from it in a tough opener.

Pick: Giants 14-13

Los Angeles Rams at Arizona Cardinals (-1.5)

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This is a hard game to pick in the NFL Week 2 picks, predictions, and odds column because, when healthy, the Rams are a much better team than the Cardinals. However, Puka Nacua is out, and the offensive line is in shambles for LA.

Still, the sideline battle in this one goes to Sean McVay, who seems to hold a strange power over NFC West coaches, no matter who they are. It might not be pretty and it might mean Cooper Kupp has to catch 37 balls, but let’s take the Rams with the points here.

Pick: Rams 24-23

Cincinnati Bengals at Kansas City Chiefs (-5)

The Bengals were the most disappointing team of Week 1, and Joe Burrow and the offense did not look good at all. Still, they are a proud team that views the Chiefs as their rival (although that is a bit ridiculous these days).

If Burrow and Co. turn things up for this game and give the Chiefs a run for their money, I can live with that. Overall, though, what the Bengals showed last week seems closer to the truth, so I’ll take Patrick Mahomes and his team all day.

Pick: Chiefs 30-14

Pittsburgh Steelers (-2.5) at Denver Broncos

This could be one of the ugliest offensive games on the board this weekend, with two good defenses, a rookie quarterback in Bo Nix and Justin Fields. If there were no offensive touchdowns scored in this game, it wouldn’t be a complete shock.

While Sean Payton has the ability to coach up his offense with the best of him, the truth is that the Steelers defense is the best unit on the field and they will win this game by a field goal on their own.

Pick: Steelers 9-6

Chicago Bears at Houston Texans (-6)

This is a fun primetime matchup between the darling of the 2023 NFL Draft, C.J. Stroud, and the 2024 No. 1 overall pick Kaleb Williams. Chicago looked like a much-improved team last week, taking down the Titans, but the Texans are a much bigger challenge than the Titans.

Williams will likely have some great moments this season and will get better as the year goes on. That said, this will be his “welcome to the NFL” game, as the Texans show the Bears what they have to do to become a playoff team with a young QB.

Pick: Texans 23-13

Atlanta Falcons at Philadelphia Eagles (-6.5)

When gauging expectations vs. Week 1 performance, the Falcons have to be one of the most disappointing teams in the league right now. All those offensive weapons and the offense still looked bad. However, Atlanta has a new QB coming off an Achilles injury. It’s OK if he needs some time to warm up.

Last week, in this NFL Week 2 picks, predictions, and odds column, we were high on the Falcons and not-so-high on the Eagles. Both teams did us dirty, but that doesn’t mean we should throw out everything we thought in the preseason. So, let’s say the Falcons look a little better and the Eagles look a little worse, meaning the NFC East squad still wins but in a close one.

Pick: Eagles 28-24

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