With only Monday Night Football left on the Week 1 slate just 12 teams failed to beat the spread in their season-opener.
Pending the outcome of Seattle-Denver, it seems no division suffered more than the AFC South, which didn’t have a single outright win as only Houston (+7.5) beat the spread…thanks to a tie against Indianapolis.
The NFC West didn’t fare much better. The 49ers, Rams and Cardinals each failed to pick up a win or beat the spread. That said, six teams won by double digits in Week 1, something to keep in mind with only four times favored by 10 or more points in Week 2.
Let’s take a look at some of the more intriguing lines this week.
New England Patriots (-1.5) at Pittsburgh Steelers
Cara Owsley-USA TODAY Sports
I’m not ready to call this a Steelers lock…however:
Mike Tomlin is 48-26-3 ATS as an underdog, 12-4-1 ATS as an underdog at home The Steelers just forced five turnovers against the Bengals Mac Jones is dealing with a back issueCleveland Browns (-4.5) vs. New York Jets
AP Photo/Rusty Jones
Cleveland might not have a passing game after what we saw in Week 1, but it sure has an elite defense and a kicking game and, well, that counts for something. Especially when your opponent is the Jets—and even more so when the Jets are on the road led by Joe Flacco. Don’t be surprised if this line moves in the Browns direction pretty rapidly.
Green Bay Packers (-8.5) vs. Chicago Bears
AP Photo/Stacy Bengs
A lifetime of watching the Chicago Bears get shredded by the Green Bay Packers has made it so that I cannot in good conscious tell you to take the Bears straight up. However if this game follows the similar script as most every other highly-anticipated matchup between the NFC North rivals, it’ll be ugly and crushing and somehow Aaron Rodgers will find a way to win—yes, even with that offense.
Take the points.
Cincinnati Bengals (-1.5) vs. Dallas Cowboys
AP Photo/Michael Ainsworth
As long as Cooper Rush is the starting quarterback it’s probably safer to believe that Joe Burrow is more likely to revert back to himself than the Cowboys’ QB is to turn into Dak Prescott.
Expect the disaster in Dallas to continue.
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