NFL Week 2 Best Bets, Predictions and Picks from Wes Reynolds:
Here are my NFL Week 2 best bets:
Denver at Indianapolis Under 43.5
The Colts dominated the Dolphins in the opener, 33-8, and went 7-for-7 on their drives in scoring points. However, the bigger story from Indy’s Week 1 performance should be new DC Lou Anarumo’s defense, which held Miami to 8 points, 211 yards, and had three takeaways, plus three sacks. The Colts had gotten predictable under previous DC Gus Bradley’s Cover 3, which rarely disguised coverages. Anarumo constantly disguises coverages and is more game-specific than his predecessor.
This week is a different challenge against a QB like Bo Nix, who is more than willing to run. However, Nix will give the ball away to you if you let him, and he had three turnovers last week vs. Tennessee.
Denver’s defense is a massive step up in class for Daniel Jones, who was terrific in the opener. The Broncos held Tennessee to just seven first downs and sacked rookie QB Cam Ward six times. The Titans were also just 2-for-12 on 3rd down and gained just 133 yards.
This should be a tight, low-scoring game as both teams play far better opponents than last week.
NFL Week 2 Best Bet: Denver vs. Indianapolis Under 43.5
Houston (-2.5; -135 ML) vs. Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay was sloppy last week, especially QB Baker Mayfield, who was just 17-for-32 for 159 yards and threw a few up for grabs that the Falcons could not intercept.
The Bucs offense will still be without WRs Chris Godwin and Jalen McMillan. Last week, they were without LT Tristan Wirfs, who has been limited in practice and now RT Luke Goedeke has not practiced this week.
Houston was sloppy in its own right last week at the Rams, yet still had a chance to win as they were 1st and 10 at the Rams 25 just inside the two-minute warning before a Dare Ogunbowale fumble sealed its fate.
The Texans defense held the Rams’ Kyren Williams to just 3.7 ypc and sacked Matthew Stafford three times. If you take out the Baker Mayfield scrambles, the Bucs only ran the ball 18 times for 62 yards at just under 3.5 ypc.
Backing 0-1 SU and ATS teams against 1-0 SU and ATS teams in Week 2 has proven to be an effective zig-zag in recent years.
NFL Week 2 Best Bet: Houston Texans -2.5
TEASER OF THE WEEK
Arizona Cardinals -0.5/Kansas City Chiefs +7.5
BEST OF THE REST
Tennessee Titans +5.5 vs. Los Angeles Rams
New York Jets +7 (-125) vs. Buffalo Bills
For more NFL Week 2 best bets, visit the NFL Week 2 hub exclusively on VSiN.com.
