Tony George
New Orleans Saints vs. Cleveland Browns
Play: New Orleans Saints -6½
Bad news for Cleveland here. The Saints defense played horrible last week and expect Ryan to have his boys geared up for this one, a MUST WIN early in the Season. The Browns have no answer for Graham at tight end here and a bevy of receivers that the Browns cannot cover. While the Steelers who looked horrible on Thursday night by the way, let the Browns score at will in the second half last week, I doubt the Saints allow that to happen and QB Hoyer has limited weapons at WR to trade punches on the scoreboard if they fall behind. I will side with a focused and determined Drew Brees and company to light up Cleveland here and will lay the 6.5 on the road, which is rare for me in the NFL.
Matt Fargo
NY Jets vs. Green Bay Packers
Play: NY Jets +9
Many will be flocking to the Packers in this game after they lost on opening night in Seattle by 20 points. A bounceback opportunity is certainly present as they are back home and now facing a team that is not expected to do much this season but the linesmakers have certainly taken all of this into consideration based on the line that Green Bay is putting down here. And the Packers have not exactly been a great team coming off big losses as they are 3-8 ATS in their last 11 games following a loss of more than 14 points. The Jets had no issues with Oakland last week although the score appeared like it did. The Raiders scored a late touchdown to make the score look more respectable but New York outgained Oakland by 244 yards to it clearly had the upper hand all day. Granted, it was only the Raiders but the defense was outstanding as it allowed only 158 total yards which was the lowest amount yielded by any team in Week One. The Jets will no doubt have a much tougher time in stopping the Green Bay offense but they should be in good shape to at least slow it down enough to keep it close. New York is 6-0-1 ATS in its last seven games when getting nine or more points and under head coach Rex Ryan, it is 8-1 ATS in nine games after gaining 200 or more rushing yards last game. The Packers fall into a negative situation as well as we play against home favorites that allowed 24 or more ppg last season, after a playing a game where 50 total points or more were scored. This situation is 22-3 ATS (88 percent) since 1983.
Steve Williams
Chicago vs. San Francisco
Play: Over 48
Steve Williams is over 70 % on his top plays the last 3 years. Don't miss his College Game of the Week (already 2-0 this year) and his NFL Game of the Week. Both plays are coveted by big game bettors all over the country. Get both in a special package.
We like the over 48 in the NBC Sunday Night Game between Chicago and San Francisco. Both teams will look to exploit the other teams defense weakened by injury and missing players. Bears are loaded with receiver's Bennett, Jeffrey and Marshall. Perhaps the top trio of receivers in the NFL. Of course QB Jay Cutler can look like the best in the league one possession and terrible the next. Cutler should be good for 3 TD's and 2 INT's. RB Matt Forte proved his worth LW with 82 yards rushing and 87 receiving.
49er's are just as tough on offense. QB Kaepernick and RB Gore will be able to run as much as they want against a poor Bear defense. Add in top targets Crabtree and Boldin and this game will be a shootout. Bears are 11-4-1 to the over since Trestman took over as HC. And 6-2 Away to the over.
Oliver Alonso
Atlanta Falcons vs. Cincinnati Bengals
Play: Cincinnati Bengals -5
The Falcons were a trendy Super Bowl pick a year ago, but injuries and a bad coach led to a pitiful (4-12) record in 2013. The Falcons defense was a huge disappointment last season, as the unit placed among the bottom-six NFL teams in sacks, points allowed and total yards allowed. Atlanta needed every bit of the (450+) yards that Matt Ryan passed for in a mammoth opening win versus the Saints. Cincinnati was impressive in a huge opening win at Baltimore, a place the Bengals have had virtually no success but they played really well. QB Andy Dalton threw for (301) yards and a touchdown without an interception against the Ravens, showing that he has taken a step forward. Bengals defense must dominate the one-dimesion offense of the Falcons that got advantage in week 1 of a new Saints defense.
EZWINNERS
Buffalo Bills -1
Both of these teams are coming off of big wins last week as the Dolphins knocked off the Patriots and the Bills knocked a lot of people out of their survivor pools with a road win at Chicago. Miami looks to have an improved defense and running game this season, but quarterback Ryan Tannehill is still very inacurate at quarterback. The Bills have a running game to match Miami's and the Buffalo defense looks to be strong as well. Buffalo is not without their issues at quarterback as well, but EJ Manual looks to be taking a step forward and the Bills have had success against Miami as the swept the series last year. Take the points.
New York Giants +2
Arizona got past the Chargers in week one on Monday night while the Giants were hammered by Calvin Johnson and the Lions in their Monday night contest. The Cardinals are coming off of a strong 10-6 season last year and they will not take anyone by suprise this season. The Giants are just looking to rebound from last years disaster. The Giants opened up as a small favorite in this game and Arizona money came pouring in after week one's results. I don't like the Card's laying points for an early start in the Eastern time zone. Take the points.
San Diego Chargers +5.5
This is not a great scheduling spot for the Chargers who are off of a Monday night loss at Arizona and now host the Super Bowl champs who have had three extra days to rest after being the Packers to open the season on Thursday night. However this also is not a great spot for the Seahawks who are just 1-8 against the spread the last nine seasons in the first road game of the season. This is a sandwich game after blowing out a Packers team that many picked to compete for the NFC championship and with a Super Bowl rematch with the Broncos on deck. The Chargers have all the tools to return to the playoffs against this season and San Diego has fared very well recently in the underdog role. Take the points.
Oakland Raiders +3
The Texans are playing their first road game under rookie head coach Bill O'Brien and they find themselves as a road favorite. Houston beat a bad looking Washington team last week, but their offense didn't look good doing it under journeyman quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. The Raiders made the long trip to the east coast to battle the Jets. Even though they lost the game, the Raiders have to feel pretty good about rookie quarterback Derrick Carr. Houston's defense will be without rookie Jadeveon Clowney and backup quarterback Matt Schaub should be able to provide some good insight about his former teams defensive personnel. Take the points.
Chicago Bears +7
The 49ers blew out the Cowboys last week, but how much of that was Dallas shooting themselves in the foot? The Cowboys outgained the 49ers by over 60 yards, but turnovers that led to easy scores was the nail in the coffin for Dallas. The Bears did pretty much the same thing with the Bills as Chicago quarterback was picked off twice by the Buffalo defense. I think this spread is a knee jerk reaction to those week one results. The Bears are still loaded on the offensive side of the ball and even though the Chicago defense might not be the greatest, they are much better than anything Dallas puts on the field. San Francisco's defense is banged up and they are going to have a hard time covering this number against a potent Chicago offense. Take the points.
Jeffrey James
New Orleans Saints -6
This one boils down to 1 very important question. Who is more likely to start the season 0-2 - Cleveland or New Orleans. I don't have to tell you the answer to that question. Did you see how horrible Pittsburgh looked on Thursday? That was a team that was destroying the Browns for most of the game last week until falling apart to let them back in. With no weather problems to face in September for the Saints the outdoors won't matter here. Look for the Saints to roll to a big win as the play of the day.
River City Sharps
Titans -3
The Sharps are big fans of new Tennessee Titans HC Ken Whisenhunt and if week one is any indication, he is helping to bring a swagger back to Music City. The Titans opened the season with a dominating 26-10 win at Kansas City while their opponent, the Dallas Cowboys, were positively awful against the San Francisco 49ers. In looking at this game, we see a vastly improved Tennessee defense that was able to intercept Chiefs QB Alex Smith three times last week and should be able to key on the Cowboys passing game with their complete inability to consistently run the football. On offense, the Titans looked like a new team with QB Jake Locker directing the offense and 162 rushing yards. The biggest problem for the Cowboys (big surprise) is their complete inability to stop anyone defensively. Their defense was terrible last season and now Demarcus Ware is gone. The Titans are 15-5 ATS against NFC east opponents since 1992 and the Cowboys are 1-4 ATS in their last five games off a straight up loss. Whisenhunt is bringing a new confidence to this team and we expect Locker and the offense to be too much against a depleted Dallas defense. There are some threes and 3.5 floating around right now, but we are releasing this play at Tenn -3 and we suggest you buy the hook if needed here.
Rob Vinciletti
New England Patriots vs. Minnesota Vikings
Play: Minnesota Vikings +6
The Public is all over the Patriots here. There is no way the Pats with Bradychick will go 0-2. Especially with no A. Petersons. While the Pats have been solid off a loss. This could be a tough spot in a noisy dome against an underrated Vikings team that plastered a solid Rams Defense. The Vikes have some dangerous weapons on the outside. They will be taking nice points by game time and AFC East teams that played in Miami on a Sunday are 0-18 Straight up ats Ats since 1994. Perhaps the week after the warm weather has something to do with that. The Vikings also qualify in a 46-13 early season system. The Vikings keep this one close at home and maybe spring another upset.
Jeff Scott Sports
3 UNIT PLAY
Seattle/San Diego Over 44: It just has the feel of a shootout. The Seahawk defense is tough, but away from home they will allow more points than at home and I do see a desperate Chargers offense throwing everything they can at the Seahawks in this one and at home the Chargers offense is usually very good, The Sehawk offense hasn't been stopped in the preseason or the regular season after game one, as they have vowed to open up the offense more this year and it seems to be working. they will be taking on a Chargers defense that may be a bit tired after playing a game in Arizona and then coming back on a short week. Let's also note that in the the Over is 19-4 last 4 years when all non-divisional home teams are off a road Monday night game that went Under the Total, plus the Over is 8-0 in week two of the season for San Diego, with an average of 56.4 ppg being scored. I see this one in the 50's as well.
BEST OF THE REST
Cleveland/New Orleans Under 48.5: The Cleveland Brown will not score a ton of points by throwing the ball this year and you have to expect the Saints to wanna come out with a better defensive effort than they did last week, when they were torched by the Falcons for 500+ yards. The Browns just pounded away for 183 yards on the ground last week and will look to do so here as they are depleted at WR and neither Hoyer or Manziel are capable of big passing day. allot of running will keep the clock moving and the Saints offense on the sidelines. New Orleand has a high scoring offense for sure, but they will be facing a better defense this week than they did last week. The Brown did struggle some on defense last week vs Big Ben, but still this is the strength of their team and I expect a good effort from them in this one. I look for no more than 42 points here.
St Louis/Tampa Bay Under 38: Just can't pass up Unders when these two teams are on the field and it's even better when they are facing each other. Last week the Rams had no offense at all and that was vs a very mediocre Minnesota defense. Now they face a much better defense and again without out Sam Bradford, who is out for the year. Shaun Hill have a decent game, but still he also threw two picks in the game and st Louis struggled in the scoring zone, having no TDs and just 2 FGs. The Tampa Bay offense really struggled vs the Panthers defense and will be taking on maybe a better front wall than that one in this one. Josh McCown is not a very good NFL QB and while he did throw 2 TDs last week, he also had 2 INTs and threw for just 183 yards. Last week the Buccaneers had 102 yards rushing in the game, but only ran the ball 17 times. I expect them to run allot more in this one, which will help the clock keep running. Two nice angels help us here and that is that the last 8 years Game two rord teams who scored 6 or less in game 1 have gone 7-0 to the Under, while game two home faves with an OU line of under 40 have gone 9-1-1 to the Under the last 5 years. Lower 30s at best here.
Larry Ness
Seattle Seahawks at San Diego Chargers
Pick: San Diego Chargers
Seattle held Green Bay's offense to 255 yards, which was even less than its league-leading average of 292.3 YPG allowed in 2013. The Seahawks sacked Aaron Rodgers three times and its offense had terrific balance with Russell Wilson completing 19 of 28 for 191 yards with two TDs and no INTs (110.9 QB rating). Marshawn Lynch had 110 rushing yards (two TDS), leading the way for a running game which gained 207 yards. The defending Super Bowl champs are clearly “the team to beat again,” in 2014. More good news come Seattle’s way in that it played the 2014 NFL opener back on Sep 4 (Thursday night), while its opponent on Sunday (the SD Chargers), played the second of two MNF games on Sep 8. Its seems like even the schedule makers are favoring the Seahawks, as if this team needs help.
Seattle has had plenty of time to prepare for the Chargers, who let an 11-point, third-quarter lead slip away in Monday's 18-17 loss to Arizona. Philip Rivers threw for 238 yards and a TD but a snap sailed over his head in the fourth quarter to put San Diego out of FG range and helped the Cardinals get in position to score twice in the final 12 1/2 minutes. San Diego head coach Mike McCoy stressed those types of mistakes can't happen again. "Against a good football team that's coming here on Sunday, you can't give them the opportunities," McCoy said. "You've got to put them away when you have the chance."
It’s safe to say that San Diego will view Seattle as a “good football team.” Seattle’s Percy Harvin is healthy and totaled 160 yards (59 receiving, 41 rushing and 60 on kickoff returns). The Chargers realize they will have their hands full with the Seattle offense as they look to avoid their first 0-2 start since 2008. Seattle produced two 80-yard touchdown drives and another of 70 yards against the Packers.
The Chargers won their final four games of 2013, then won 27-10 at Cincinnati in the playoffs, before losing 24-17 at Denver. Speaking of Denver, that is the team Seattle crushed in last Super Bowl and the one visiting Seattle for a Week 3 contest. Now maybe the Seahawks aren’t peeking ahead, but who could blame them? To avoid an 0-2 start, San Diego will need to score on this Seattle defense because the Seattle offense is a well-oiled machine which will give all teams trouble in 2014. That said, Rivers never looked better than in 2013 (especially down the stretch) and let’s NOT forget that San Diego did own an 11-point lead at Arizona (a team which won 10 games last year) Monday night into the 4th quarter!
Again, speaking of Denver. The Chargers were the ONLY team to beat the Broncos in Denver last year and in the teams’ two other meetings, lost by just one score each time (eight & seven points)! Seattle may win but I want the points!
Jesse Schule
Dallas Cowboys at Tennessee Titans
Pick: Dallas Cowboys
I picked Dallas to cover against San Francisco last week, and unfortunately on that rare occasion I missed the mark. It wasn't really a matter of San Francisco being the better team though, instead it was three interceptions thrown by Tony Romo, and a DeMarco Murray fumble that cost the Cowboys the game. As ugly as the game was, there are a few things that shouldn't go unnoticed. Like Dallas out-scoring the 49ers 14-0 in the second half, owning an advantage in total yards, first downs as well as time of possession. Romo looked about as bad as it gets (at times) last week, but that is sort of his M.O., he does tend to have the odd stinker. He gets a bad rap though, he's still an elite QB, as only Peyton Manning has engineered more game winning drives than the Dallas QB since 2006. I wouldn't count on him throwing three picks this week Titans fans. After dropping the ball on the opening drive, RB DeMarco Murray had a solid game, running for 118 yards and a TD. The Titans do not perform well when giving up points at home, they have failed to cover in each of their last six home games. I am not convinced that Tennessee should be a favorite of more than a FG, and I'll take the points.
Bruce Marshall
St. Louis Rams at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Pick: St. Louis Rams
The Rams are still to announce their QB for this game in hopes that Shaun Hill will be ready to go after last week's leg injury. If not, "preseason veteran" and former USM star Austin Davis gets the call. Even after last week's blowout loss to the Vikings, however, we think the Rams, with either Hill or Davis at QB, offer some value vs. punchless Tampa Bay, still dealing with myriad OL problems and justifiably wondering if QB Josh McCown was really worth that type of big investment in the offseason.
Ben Burns
Atlanta Braves vs. Texas Rangers
Play: Atlanta Braves -140
The Braves lost to the Rangers again Saturday. Both losses in this series have come by one run. Competing in a tough Wild Card race in the National League, I cannot see them losing to the worst team in the American League for a third straight time. I'll call for Atlanta to avoid the sweep.
Ever since having his scheduled turn in the rotation skipped in early August, Mike Minor has been a different pitcher. Sunday's starter for the Braves has a 2.31 ERA his last five starts and has allowed three runs or less in six straight turns. He's been a victim of poor run support the last two times we've seen him, but I have to believe another quality outing will be enough for Atlanta today.
Texas has allowed more runs than any team in baseball with their starters also owning the highest ERA. So, the Braves should be doing more at the plate. Don't be surprised to see them snap out of their slump today against Rangers starter Colby Lewis, who has struggled at home all year with a 6.75 ERA and 1.605 WHIP. The Rangers are 3-11 in his 14 home starts thus far.
The Rangers haven't pulled off a 3-game sweep since late April. They came into this series on a 1-11 losing streak. The better team wins here.
Scott Spreitzer
Atlanta Falcons vs. Cincinnati Bengals
Play: Cincinnati Bengals -5
The Atlanta Falcons recovered well from an early deficit last week and piled-up the yardage and points in their OT win over the Saints. But I expect a bit of a letdown in this one. First of all, the Falcons will be facing a much better defensive unit this week; Cincinnati owned the AFC's top defense in yards allowed and points allowed per game a season ago. The Bengals are also used to winning and dominating at home, where they'll aim for their 10th straight regular season victory, both SU and ATS. The Falcons won and covered their previous nine by an average score of 33-17! Atlanta struggled badly in true road games last season and they'll enter this one a little banged-up on the offensive line. Meanwhile, the Bengals own a strong set of receivers and Andy Dalton should find plenty of time to find the open spots on the field against the weak ATL pass rush. ATL garnered a huge win last week, while the Bengals almost blew one, but won late in Baltimore. Now back home, I expect Cincy to dominate again. After all, it's what they do. I'm recommending a play on the Bengals minus the points on Sunday.
Will Rogers
NY Jets vs. Green Bay Packers
Play: Green Bay Packers -7½
A loss on the road at Seattle in Week 1 should not discourage Packers fans. There aren't many teams that can say they've survived the 13th man over the last few years, and given Seattle's improved offense, it's unlikely anyone will upset the Hawks in Seattle this year. The Packers host the Jets this week, and this looks like a much better mach-up for the home team. The Jets are a far better team on the road than they are at home.
Here are my keys to the game:
1. Home Cookin' - The Packers played half of last season without starting QB Aaron Rodgers, and they still won the division. The three home games that Rogers played in were all double-digit victories.
2. Geno Smith - The second year QB has played far better at home than he has on the road. Last year he threw five TD passed and 13 picks on the road.
3. X-Factor - The Jets had four chances in the red zone last week, scoring just a single TD.