As week two of the NFL creeps in most sports bettors are still fixated on week one to their detriment. In this league that happens throughout the year anyway, the public will always be looking back at what they just watched, but after week one it has traditionally become even more of a problem.
Week one can certainly give some insight, but we also have to remember there is a ramp up and try not to get caught up in our freshest memory. Just last season on the first Monday Night football game the Jets beat the Bills, despite Aaron Rodgers going down. The Texans were beat down as CJ Stroud and the offense failed to produce even one touchdown, while the Browns and Falcons looked like world beaters with easy division wins. We also saw 12 of the 16 games go under the total and plenty of the public believed the NFL would be a defense first league from here on out.
We now know most of what we saw meant little in week one last season, so what should we look at for week two?
The Ravens host the Raiders as the biggest favorite on the board and for good reason. The Ravens have extra time to prepare for this game and were angry leaving Arrowhead. The Raiders were gashed for 135 yards by ex-Raven JK Dobbins and now have to defend against Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson's running. Add to that that Minshew is now 1-15 straight up as an underdog in his last 15 career starts.
Speaking of the Chargers they get to play the lowly Panthers, who had the worst outing of week one. Carolina was simply awful and now face a team that wants to bully teams. Expect the Chargers to keep running. The Patriots were the biggest upset of the weekend knocking out plenty of people in survivor leagues, but was that an aberration or was that what we should expect from New England? Seattle travels across the country to test them but keep in mind their starting RB is injured and his status is unknown. The Patriots will be home dogs here and are facing another beat up team.
If the Panthers didn't have the ugliest showing last week, then the Giants certainly did. Since signing his four year $160 million contract Daniel Jones has now thrown more TD passes to the opposing team than to his own receivers. The G-Men face the Commanders and their rebuilt defense, but also have to contend with dual threat Jayden Daniels under center. There is a reason they are divisional underdogs, even against a rookie QB.
The Browns produced just 54 yards of offense in the first half last week, while the Jaguars defense held down the potent Miami offense until the half. If you believe that this is the start of a trend you can get some alluring odds on the Jaguars in the first half. Meanwhile the Chiefs are back at home, well rested, and coming off of a nice prime time win. The Bengals have made KC their measuring stick since Joe Burrow entered the league but they were embarrassed last week. If Chase and Higgins are banged up again this line will continue to rise but Cincy has traditionally played Mahomes tight. With that said the Bengals also have 12 rookies on their team, the most in the league, so going into KC is more daunting this time around.
The Bears and Texans battle on Sunday night and while Chicago came away with a victory they did so without an offensive touchdown. The Bears offense gained under 150 total yards and #1 pick Caleb Williams 55.7 passer rating is the 11th worst debut ever. But, a quick glimpse of worse performances shows us Eli Manning, Terry Bradshaw, John Elway, Matthew Stafford and Troy Aikman on the list, so a quick turnaround is not out of the question.