Thursday, September 13
Baltimore Ravens @ Cincinnati Bengals
Thursday night games are never the prettiest with both teams typically coming off short weeks. It’s tough to implement full game plans correctly and get healthy enough to make this a good contest.
Baltimore is coming off of a blowout win over the Bills and the Bengals are coming off a solid victory over the Colts on the road.
Although Cincinnati’s team hasn’t been receiving much fanfare this season, I don’t like the idea of betting against a team at home when the spread is so low.
Line: Baltimore -1
Pick: Cincinnati
Sunday, September 16
Minnesota Vikings @ Green Bay Packers
The Packers narrowly avoided an opening day loss Sunday night to the Bears and narrowly avoided losing franchise quarterback Aaron Rodgers. The offensive line did not look good nor did anything Clay Matthews did.
Despite this being at Lambeau, the Vikings have too much talent for the Packers to overcome this early in the season.
Line: Minnesota +1.5
Pick: Minnesota
Los Angeles Chargers @ Buffalo Bills
Sometimes when a team gets blown out as bad as the Bills did last weekend, you expect them to rebound. Those teams are not as bad as the Bills though.
The Chargers didn’t look great against the Chiefs but picked it up late in the game. The big key here is that the Chargers are making a three-hour time zone change to go play Buffalo, which is never an easy task. I don’t like the line, but I would still bet on the Chargers to cover.
Line: Chargers -7.5
Pick: Chargers
Carolina Panthers @ Atlanta Falcons
Carolina is coming off of a somewhat ugly win against the Dallas Cowboys, and the Atlanta Falcons are coming off an ugly loss to the Eagles in the season opener. While I think Atlanta is the better team, the spread is too large here for the Falcons to cover versus their division rivals.
Line: Atlanta -6
Pick: Carolina
Cleveland Browns @ New Orleans Saints
Although the Browns’ first game ended in a tie, there were a lot of positives to be taken away. The team battled and rallied back, and they didn’t lose so that’s huge progress itself. The Saints, however, are coming off of a shootout against Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Buccaneers.
Losing that game has to sting.
These Browns aren’t your same Browns though, and their defense is revamped. Denzel Ward looked like a star in the making, and with Tyrod Taylor’s struggles, it could be a matter of time before we see Baker Mayfield, the top pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.
I think Cleveland will lose, but they will cover.
Line: New Orleans +9
Pick: Cleveland
Miami Dolphins @ New York Jets
The beauty of the NFL is that anything can happen, especially in a division game. The Dolphins beat a solid Titans team last week, while the Sam Darnold-led Jets put the whooping on Matt Patricia’s Lions.
I think there is a bit more magic in these Jets who showed up in all three phases of the game last week.
Line: Miami +3
Pick: Jets
Houston Texans @ Tennessee Titans
This game is quite the toss-up. The Houston Texans, despite only losing to New England by a touchdown, didn’t ever really have a chance. It was a game dominated at the start by the Patriots before they went into to coast mode to finish out the game.
The Titans, meanwhile, couldn’t get more than three points on the board through the first three quarters. This game is a toss-up and Vegas agrees. Many don’t have a line posted for this game.
When a game is this evenly matched or confusing in terms of who has the advantage, I will always ride with the home team.
Line: Houston -1
Pick: Titans