Andrew Wilsher
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The 2024 NFL season got off to one heck of a start with plenty of thrilling matchups and some upsets. Week 2 also got underway with the Bills pulling the upset by crushing the Dolphins in Miami. What surprises are in store for Sunday’s action? Let’s dive into the action with our Pickswise experts’ 3-star NFL best bets for Week 2, which if you tailed last season would have been good for +45 units if you tailed every play! On top of that, we finished up +65.3 units on our side and total NFL picks for every matchup 2023, while our NFL parlays profited +38.54 units. Let’s hope for even more profit this season and break down our NFL Week 2 best bets.
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NFL Week 2 best bet: Bengals vs Chiefs Over 48 (-110)
Odds widely available at time of publishing. Playable to 49.
My Bengals vs Chiefs best bet that there will be plenty of points at Arrowhead Stadium this Sunday. I believe there are plenty of questions surrounding Kansas City’s secondary, and I was not overly impressed with the Bengals’ defense in Week 1, specifically their defensive line. Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson totaled 120 yards on the ground, and even though Cincinnati generated some pressure, QB Jacoby Brissett had just a 7.7% pressure-to-sack rate. This means Brissett got the ball out quickly and evaded any pressure Cincy sent. Do you know who is elite at evading pressure? Patrick Mahomes. The KC signal-caller ranked second in the NFL in pressure-to-sack rate in 2023 at 11.2% and posted a 10.8% rate in 2022 and 12% in 2021. So, even if the Bengals can generate pressure, Mahomes should be able to get the ball out quick enough and pick apart a Bengals secondary that faced a below-average QB in Week 1.
These 2 teams have averaged 50.4 points in the 5 meetings between Burrow and Mahomes, and I expect this trend to continue on Sunday. Although the Chiefs may take a run-heavy approach to start, given the success the Patriots had on the ground, this should open up the play action in the second half, and I expect the Chiefs will score close to 30 points. Finally, since Burrow’s sophomore season, Cincinnati has averaged 31.7 points per game after an output of 17 or fewer points. Expect both offenses to light up the scoreboard in a back-and-forth affair.
Read our full Cincinnati Bengals vs Kansas City Chiefs prediction
NFL Week 2 best bet: Broncos +2.5 over Steelers (-110)
Odds widely available at time of publishing. Playable to +1.5.
Alas, we won’t be getting the Russell Wilson revenge game after all here in Week 2 as the Pittsburgh Steelers head to Denver to take on the Broncos. A calf injury caused Wilson to miss Week 1, and Justin Fields appears set to get his second straight start for Pittsburgh here. The Steelers are coming off a nice road win over the Falcons in their opener, but that had more to do with Atlanta’s incompetence than anything else.
Kirk Cousins was playing in his first game since tearing his Achilles, and he appeared to have absolutely no mobility in the pocket and looked really off. It’s not as if the Steelers did anything particularly well on offense in Arthur Smith’s first game calling plays, as Fields threw for only 156 yards and the team averaged just 3.3 yards per carry on the ground. This is the home opener for the Broncos, and it can be really tough to play in Denver early in the year as teams are still ramping up physically and the elevation takes its toll on visitors. Bo Nix didn’t look great in his pro debut last week, but the Broncos still managed to cover the spread with a rookie quarterback making his first career start on the road.
Denver held Geno Smith to just 171 passing yards, and the Broncos’ defense forced two safeties in the game. Nix should look a lot more comfortable here at home after getting thrown into the fire in one of the league’s toughest environments, and he did at least show some upside with his legs last week. Laying points on the road with Justin Fields is never a good idea, and I’m jumping at the opportunity to get Denver as a home ‘dog here as my Steelers vs Broncos best bet.
Read our full Pittsburgh Steelers vs Denver Broncos prediction
NFL Week 2 best bet: Rams ML over Cardinals (+100)
Odds widely available at time of publishing. Playable to -110.
The Rams nearly pulled out the Week 1 win in Detroit, but an unlucky coin toss result in overtime didn’t even give them a chance to get the ball. Los Angeles was able to keep up with the Lions’ high-flying offense as Matthew Stafford’s return to Detroit is always an eventful one. However, the loss stung even more when it was announced that Puka Nacua’s injury suffered in the game was a serious one. The breakout receiver is expected to miss at least 4 games, which means the pass attack is back to primarily being Stafford and Kupp. We got a glimpse of that last week in the second half and Kupp finished the game with an absurd 21 targets and 14 receptions for 110 yards. While Nacua remains sidelined, expect to see Tyler Johnson, Colby Parkinson and Demarcus Robinson more involved in the offense, along with Kyren Williams dominating the ground game. Even without Nacua, there is still plenty of appeal with LA for my Rams vs Cardinals prediction.
The Cardinals also enter this matchup 0-1 after a 6-point loss to the Bills in Buffalo. There were certainly some negatives to take away from the loss, but there were several silver linings. Probably the biggest disappointment would be the lack of production from Marvin Harrison Jr. Arizona’s first-round draft pick was expected to play a large part in the offense, but Kyler Murray barely looked at MHJ all game. The good news was that Murray and James Conner dominated on the ground. The two combined for over 100 yards and a touchdown as the Bills defense had a tough time limiting the rush. I am still worried about the Cardinals defense, which was the worst in football last season, because they allowed 34 points and over 350 yards of total offense to the Bills. The Rams defense should be make the difference in this game, so I’m taking LA to win outright as my Rams vs Cardinals pick.
Read our full LA Rams vs Arizona Cardinals prediction
