NFL Betting: Week 2 Top Matchups

Despite the global pandemic, Week 1 of the 2020 NFL season went off without a hitch. It was nearly 50-50 for upsets vs. chalk on the NFL betting lines, and unfortunately for Tom Brady and the Bucs, their debut game against the New Orleans Saints didn’t play in the underdog’s favour. Meanwhile, Cam Newton shone in his first game as a Patriot, running for more yards (75) than Brady had ever managed in his career with the Pats. 

The biggest upset of the week came from the Arizona Cardinals, who beat last year’s Super Bowl finalists, the San Francisco 49ers 24-20. Arizona QB Kyler Murrey registered a top-five QBR rating (85.0) on the week that saw him pass for 230 yards, while adding an impressive 91 yards on the ground. Perhaps now is a good time to take a flier on the Cards, whose Super Bowl odds have improved from +4500 to +2200. In the meantime, we’ll discuss the top seven games along with their NFL Week 2 odds for this coming week.

Jacksonville Jaguars @ Tennessee Titans (—9) 

The team responsible for prematurely ending the Baltimore Ravens’ postseason run in 2019 is off to a 1-0 start to the 2020 season after beating the Broncos 16-14 in a back-and-forth grinder. Tennessee QB Ryan Tannehill had a solid game, passing for 249 yards with no interceptions for a 67.4% completion rate. Last year’s rushing yards leader, RB Derrick Henry ran for 116 yards on 31 attempts. Next week, they’ll host Gardner Minshew and the Jags, who are coming off of a win of their own. Their victory over the Indianapolis Colts saw Minshew complete an incredible 19 of 20 passes for a 95% completion rate, which was easily tops in the league, despite being sacked four times.

Washington Football Team @ Arizona Cardinals (—7)

The Washington-Arizona game scheduled for this Sunday features two teams that are coming off of upsets in their Week 1 matchups. The Cardinals overcame the NFL odds when they beat the San Francisco 49ers 24-20 in a game that saw QB Kyler Murray perform like the dual-threat he was billed as when he was drafted No. 1 overall in 2019. He connected with his new favourite target, WR DeAndre Hopkins, who put up 151 yards receiving. Their offensive line will be tested in their next game, as Washington sacked Philadelphia QB Carson Wentz eight times in their debut game that resulted in a 27-17 comeback victory.  

Kansas City Chiefs (—9) @ Los Angeles Chargers

Seems like Kansas City will do just fine without their 2019 leading rusher, RB Damien Williams. No. 1 pick, RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire had an incredible debut, running for a league-leading 138 yards. He should get another opportunity to shine in Week 2, when the Chiefs head to the brand-new SoFi Stadium to face the Chargers, who’ve had a mediocre rush defense for a while, although they have tried to shore it up with the addition of Linval Joseph. The Chargers managed to put pressure on Joe Burrow and eke out a 16-13 win over the Bengals in Week 1. 

New England Patriots @ Seattle Seahawks (—4) 

A quarterback shootout between Russell Wilson and Atlanta Falcons’ Matt Ryan saw Ryan pass for more yards than Wilson (450 vs. 322), but Seattle’s QB managed to cash in on more of his opportunities to score, and was able to lead the Seahawks to a 38-25 victory. Now the ‘Hawks will face the new-look Patriots, who got their first win with QB Cam Newton at the helm. Newton may have passed for only 155 yards, but he managed to run for 75 yards and two touchdowns as the Patriots’ defense held Miami to 269 yards and intercepted QB Ryan Fitzpatrick three times.

New Orleans Saints (—6) @ Las Vegas Raiders 

Both coming off Week 1 wins, the Saints and Raiders will meet in Week 2 at Allegiant Stadium on Monday Night Football. The New Orleans Saints had their season debut game against the retooled Tampa Bay Buccaneers and they benefitted from some mistakes made by Tom Brady and co., including a pick-six returned by CB Janoris Jenkins. The Vegas Raiders, meanwhile, relied on the services of sophomore RB Josh Jacobs to score three rushing touchdowns in the Raiders’ 34-30 win over the Carolina Panthers. 

Baltimore Ravens (—7) @ Houston Texans 

Baltimore has moved up to earn a share of the top spot in the Super Bowl betting futures market thanks to 38-6 pummeling of the Cleveland Browns. It wasn’t a perfect game for QB Lamar Jackson and the Ravens, but with two quick scores in the final minutes of the first half, Baltimore put the game out of reach for good. The Texans will have extra rest coming into Sunday’s matchup after dropping their Thursday night opener to the defending champions. They’ll need to find a way to protect QB Deshaun Watson better after surrendering four sacks against the Chiefs; the Ravens’ dynamic defensive line could make it another tough day for the talented pivot.

Detroit Lions @ Green Bay Packers (—6.5)

It was a high-scoring affair in the Packers’ first win of the season over their NFC North rivals, the Minnesota Vikings. QB Aaron Rodgers had a big game, tossing for four touchdowns and 364 yards with no interceptions. The divisional matchups will continue in Week 2, when the Packers host the 0-1 Detroit Lions. Detroit let their Week 1 matchup versus the Chicago Bears slip away after leading by a score of 23-6 in the third quarter. A key interception thrown by QB Matt Stafford in the final minutes of the fourth quarter led to the Lions’ eventual demise. They’ll look to build off of strong showings from RB Adrian Peterson and WR Danny Amendola in Week 2.