Let's get straight to it. In this article you will get:
- Key takeaways from week 1
- preview of each week 2 game with current odds
- each game I will give stats/trends for both teams
- each game I will give my thoughts, leans, and bets
- Week 1 takeaways and TNF will be for everyone, all other games will be supporters only
- At the end I will give my 5 contest picks (currently) and my survivor pick of the week
WEEK 1 TAKEAWAYS
- Don't overreact. Teams are not as good or as bad as they looked.
- NFL favorites went 13-3 straight up (SU) and 9-7 ATS. Best opening week SU record since 2009.
- Favorites went 4-0 SU/ATS in nights games week 1
- Public is betting the favorites in week 2 after opening lines have released
- Bears had one of the most improbable wins in NFL history. Less than 150 yards total offense, no offensive TDs, and still won and covered the spread. Teams down 14+ points at halftime and do not score an offensive TD were 2-326 to win the game and now the Bears are the third team to do so.
- CMC was a late scratch for MNF. He will not play week 2 on a turf field. He is likely to miss significant time with the rumors that it is an achilles issue. Something to monitor going forward and I think 49ers should rest him half the season at least.
- Saints closed as 3.5 point favorites over the Panthers and this week they are a 6 point dog to the Cowboys. Only twice has a team won by 20+ in week 1 and been a 6+ point dog the following week. Both those teams went on to lose week 2 by exactly 19 points.
- After winning by 17 last week the Bucs are 7 point dogs to the Lions this week. This has only happened 4 times since 1990. They went 1-3 ATS, 0-4 SU, losing by 17.5 PPG.
- No double digit favorites in week 1 and currently none in week 2. If this hold, this will be back to back seasons without a double digit favorite in weeks 1 or 2 but only the 6th time since the merger in 1970.
- There were only 34 passing TDs in week 1, 3 fewer than last year. In 2021 there were 61 pass TDs in week 1. The league sure is missing Tom Brady.
- Only 8 of 24 QBs went over their 1.5 passing TDs prop (some had lines set at over 0.5).
- 17 QBs had fewer than 200 passing yards and 20+ pass attempts.
- Only the Rams and Dolphins threw for 300+ passing yards and neither covered the spread.
- Due to the lack of passing yards and TDs totals for week 2 have shifted lower.
- Panthers lost by 37 to the Saints. In the last 20 years, teams to lose by 35+ pts and are underdogs of 4 or more in their next game are 50-18-2 ATS (73.5%). But those teams are only 6-6 ATs in the first 4 weeks of the season. Like I said, don't overreact to what you saw last week.
- Jets, Colts, Panthers, and Falcons were held to 25 minutes of possesion or less in their week 1 losses, the 4 lowest time in the NFL. Over the past decade these teams are just 8-23 SU (26%) and 6-25 ATS (19%) in their week 2 games.
- Lions and Rams went to OT in week 1. Teams who play OT game an have 7 days or less for rest win the following week only 43.7% of the time and cover 45.5% of the time.
WEEK 2 STATS, TRENDS, AND BETS
TNF: BILLS AT DOLPHINS
Current Odds: Dolphins -2, O/U 49
GAME FORECAST: 83*F Mostly Cloudy, Winds 3.43 SSE
STATS/TRENDS:
- Thursday home teams are 37-51 ATS since 2019. When the spread is 4 or less, home teams in this spot are 19-28 ATS.
- Josh Allen is 5-1 SU, 4-2 ATS in week 2. Bills have won five straight week 2 games SU.
- Josh Allen and the Bills have lost by 6 or less (or won the game) 42 games in a row. Bills are a great teaser leg.
- Tua is 2-1 SU in week 2 games, only lossing to Josh Allen.
- Allen is 4-2-1 ATS against Tua and covers the spread by 12.1 PPG
- Bills failed to cover the spread week 1. They have only started the season 0-2 ATS three times since 2003, and haven't done so since 2018.
- Bills came back from 14+ points down to win in week 1. Teams who play on the road after a SU win where they had a 14+ point comeback are 54-90 SU and 61-82-2 ATS in their next game.
- Weeks 1-4 Tua is 4-1 SU at home and Mike McDaniels is 4-0 SU in that spot
- Tua is 29-23-1 ATS in his career BUT is 18-9-1 ATS at home, along with being 26-14-1 ATS when playing in the eastern time zone
- Week 1 was the 4th time the Dolphins overcame a deficit of 14+ points under MIke McDaniel, which is the most in the NFL since 2022.
MY THOUGHTS/BET(S):
- I may be biased with my anti Bills take for the season. But what we saw on Sunday was this Bills team can't do anything unless it's Josh Allen playing Superman. Yet, I can't ignore how the Bills have had the Dolphins number under Allen. Just look at last year, the Dolphins had a chance to win the division week 18 with the game being in Miami and they collapsed. Now, you might say that this was late in the season where the Dolphins have been terrible under McDaniels and this game is early in the season, and you would have an argument.
- I also cannot ignore that the Bills have played 42 straight games where they have either won OR lost by 6 or less points.
- Therefore, my best bet for today's game is to tease the Bills up to 8.5 with another game on Sunday that you like. Viable options to me are Ravens, Packers, SEA/NE under, Chiefs, and Broncos. I will be doing a 3 leg teaser like I always do.
- I also lean to the over and don't mind it as a teaser leg, although teasing totals isn't always the best.
- Props I like are Josh Allen over rushing yards, Knox over receiving yards, Waddle TD, and Tua over passing yards.