NFL Week 2 Picks, Predictions, Props and Best Bets for Every Game

This article is part of our NFL Picks series.

All things considering, Week 1 could have went much worse. The two primetime games at the end of the slate ruined what was otherwise excellent start to the regular season, but overall the general pulse I had on the teams proved to be correct.

There's a few situations that I will absolutely be overreacting to, but otherwise the idea is to keep to the status quo. With how bad the overall passing attacks were and the general malaise of teams in Week 1, whatever "peak" function looks like, don't expect it to occur until October at minimum in the new age of the NFL.

Below you will find my picks against the spread and on the totals for each game on the Week 2 NFL slate. 

For more NFL betting content at RotoWire, check out our NFL picks series with several articles dropping each week. 

NFL Week 2 Picks For Each Game

NFL Week 2 Predictions

Week 1 Record ATS: 9-5-2
Week 1 Record on Totals: 7-9

In this article, we also take a look at NFL Week 2 odds and our predictions for each NFL game.

Bills vs. Dolphins

Raheem Mostert (chest) has already been ruled out and De'Von Achane (ankle) is reportedly a game-time decision. That's obviously not good, but if there's one position that the Dolphins can afford to miss players, it's at running back both because head coach Mike McDaniel is typically so good at scheming production from that position, and that they have an electric rookie in Jaylen Wright coupled with a reliable veteran in Jeff Wilson to utilize. The Dolphins' offense didn't look great in Week 1, but the Bills were a bit too reliant on James Cook and Josh Allen to manufacture offense in their own right. Or at the very least, I anticipate Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill will have more opportunities to win the game outright than the aforementioned Bills duo will.

Spread Pick: Dolphins -2.5
Total Pick: Under 48.5

Raiders vs. Ravens

Maybe this can be a Christmas Day sorta gameplan where Zamir White just bludgeoned the Chiefs last year en route to a win, but I don't really see a scenario in which the Raiders will be competitive in this one. Picking against the spread obviously makes this difficult, but if we're just throwing parlay pieces together, I'll take the Baltimore moneyline every day and not think twice.

Spread Pick: Ravens -9
Total Pick: Over 41.5

Chargers vs. Panthers

This is an awfully large line for a team that I wasn't very enthusiastic for in Week 1, but the Chargers have an identity which is significant in juxtaposition to whatever the Panthers are right now. There's been downright awful teams in recent memory -- the 2019 Dolphins come to mind -- but typically a roster performs even marginally better than the expectation as the season progresses. That it's the home opener matters very little to me given the Panthers are already selling tickets effectively for free, which is comical at this juncture of the year.

Spread Pick: Chargers -6.5
Total Pick: Under 38.5

Saints vs. Cowboys

I'm thankful we're getting this matchup after the Saints clobbered the Panthers at home because I'd feel far less confident if this line was something like -8.5, which is what I imagine it would be if New Orleans played an actual NFL franchise.

Spread Pick: Cowboys -6.5
Total Pick: Under 46.5

Buccaneers vs. Lions

This is going to be a fun one. A rematch of the NFC Divisional round matchup that the Lions narrowly won, I think it's fair that the expectations might be just a bit "too" high for Detroit at the moment, and not high enough for the NFC South winner last year. And yet in the same breath, I just think the Lions were the better team, are currently the better and will continue to be the better team unless significant injuries occur. It's a bit of an unusual rivalry given how the better part of the past decade went, but this is one of those matchups that I'll tune in to every single time I can and one I figure will be close.

Spread Pick: Buccaneers +7
Total Pick: Over 51

Colts vs. Packers

As a Packers fan, I'm dreading the Malik Willis experience. The young quarterback has made three starts and sprinkled in some spot snaps throughout his three-year career, but you'd be hard-pressed to find more than a handful of promising plays, much less drives, during his time on the field. That he'll be tasked with trying to create a functioning offense despite joining the team just under a month ago seems like an impossible circumstance. And yet....the Packers are 11-0 in home openers dating back to 2013, have Matt LaFleur calling plays instead of the Derrick Henry/Mike Vrabel run-oriented experience and play a Colts team that was gashed by Joe Mixon of all running backs last week. It's going to be an ugly game and maybe the half-point saves me here, but I do think it will be competitive.

Spread Pick: Packers +3
Total Pick: Over 40.5

Browns vs. Jaguars

I think I'm ready to overreact on the Browns. I took their win-total over on one of our pre-waiver wire podcasts earlier this offseason, I automatically marked them in as at minimum a playoff team as well and genuinely liked most of their key offensive fantasy guys to begin the year too. And that was all under the assumption Deshaun Watson would just be average this year, if not closer to the QB20 range among signal callers. And then Sunday happened. As much as I imagine Tom Brady would like to forget that game, there's few bigger "losers" of Week 1 than the oft-injured Watson, who was once again in the headlines earlier this week.

The Jaguars were a trendy postseason contender to begin the year, and while the loss last week to the Dolphins despite leading for most of the game was disappointing, if not expected, I have more confidence they'll figure things out than whatever is happening in Cleveland.

Spread Pick: Jaguars -3
Total Pick: Under 41.5

49ers vs. Vikings

Once again, this is another game I'm ecstatic is occurring Week 2 following a convincingly annihilation of a bottom-31 team in the league, the Giants. A combination of Justin Jefferson and random Division III QB off the street could probably produce two scoring drives, especially with Kevin O'Connell calling plays, so I'm not surprised at all that Sam Darnold faired just fine in his Vikings debut. I think it'll look a lot different Week 2 against a San Fran squad that did notably lose to effectively this version of the Vikings last year, but was noticeably missing both Brock Purdy and Trent Williams in that one.

Spread Pick: 49ers -6
Total Pick: Over 45

Seahawks vs. Patriots

I'm trying not to overreact to a really good win by the Patriots in Week 1. Zac Taylor's Bengals are always miserable to begin the year and New England essentially pitched a complete-game shutout in order to win. That's easier to do in a 17-game season, but it's hardly something I'd think is sustainable.

I have just enough confidence in the Patriots ecosystem that this is a bit of a stayaway for me, but I'd feel a lot more comfortable if we knew the status of Kenneth Walker, who left the win late Sunday with an abdomen injury. The worst-case betting scenario in my mind is if the Seahawks trot out an obviously hampered Walker for something like 35-40 percent of the snaps. Zach Charbonnet hasn't performed well in the lead-back role in past years, but I imagine rhythm and momentum are both tough to gain if he's splitting time with an injured Walker.

Spread Pick: Seahawks -3.5
Total Pick: Over 37.5

Jets vs. Titans

I might just be completely wrong on this one, but I think the Jets are going to absolutely feast on Will Levis. The decision-making process has always been bad dating back to his days at Kentucky and despite 10 starts, it doesn't seem like it's gotten better.

While the Jets defense didn't look right in the Monday throttling to the 49ers, Aaron Rodgers seemed more or less like his vintage self. That's all it's going to really take against the Titans, who couldn't muster anything scoring wise despite Caleb Williams and the Bears continuing their time-honored tradition of failing to understand the concept of offense in the NFL.

Spread Pick: Jets -3.5
Total Pick: Over 40.5

Giants vs. Commanders

It's Week 2 and I'm already at the point where I want nothing to do with this game. Wake me up when Drew Lock is starting for the Giants. Until then, I'm just shrugging my shoulders and taking the team going against Daniel Jones.

Spread Pick: Commanders -1.5
Total Pick: Under 44.5

Rams vs. Cardinals

I wasn't at all surprised to see the Cardinals hang tough against the Bills last week, and yet this spread feels exceptionally in favor of Arizona. I understand the Rams have had a multitude of injuries throughout training camp and Week 1, but this is an infrastructure that has thrived getting critical production out of Day 3 picks and UDFAs. NFC West games are always weird, but I guess I'm crazy just assuming the Rams are a flat-out better team still.

Spread Pick: Rams +1.5
Total Pick: Under 48.5

Bengals vs. Chiefs

I don't care what I said at the top of the article about overreacting; the Week 1 loss to the odds-on favorite to finish with the worst record in the NFL is cause for an extreme opinion change.

I had mentioned it earlier, but Zac Taylor's Bengals have been historically off to begin the season. In fact, they're 1-10 in the first two weeks since he took over as coach. Maybe Tee Higgins (hamstring) will be healthy, Ja'Marr Chase will feel motivated to play despite no contract extension and Joe Burrow won't grimace at his wrist multiple times in a game. I'm just willing to bet that's an unlikely Yahtzee to hit, especially against the best team of the past decade.

Spread Pick: Chiefs -5
Total Pick: Under 47.5

Steelers vs. Broncos

I'm skeptical there's going to be a single Broncos game that I'll actively want to watch. It's just a tad too early to do the "I told you sos" on the Bo Nix/Sean Payton experience, but I feel like the collective football world knew by Week 2 of Zach Wilson's rookie year he wasn't a top-40 quarterback in the league, so that's about as long as I'm giving the Denver combo.

Spread Pick: Steelers -2.5
Total Pick: Over 36.5

Bears vs. Texans

A lot of attention is going to be on Caleb Williams' miserable debut, but I think more importantly for me is the Texans offense despite adding a couple of key pieces felt like it picked up right where we last saw them. I know C.J. Stroud wasn't as dynamic yardage wise, but that looked like a Texans team capable of taking the next leap.

It's sacrilegious to say as a Packers fan, but I think Williams and the Bears will be fine in due time. There's very few examples in the history of the modern NFL where a rookie QB comes in and just raises the floor of the team exponentially. It's just ironic that Chicago will be staring across from one of those Sunday night.

Spread Pick: Texans -6
Total Pick: Over 45.5

Falcons vs. Eagles

As someone that picked the Falcons to win the NFC South pretty convincingly, last week's outing against the Steelers was pretty jarring. Frankly, I don't anticipate it'll get much better against a front four of Philadelphia that was absolutely destructive against the Packers.

That being said, I still have some faith the Falcons can compete for the divison crown. These will effectively be the two hardest games on the schedule, and (this is coping talking) Kirk Cousins will get healthier as the year progresses.

Spread Pick: Eagles -6.5
Total Pick: Under 47

NFL Week 2 Best Bets

Next, we take a look at our favorite Week 2 NFL best bets at the best NFL betting sites. Last week we went 5-5, but none of the bigger parlays hit and we missed on most of the yardage props. That was a noticeable theme in past years, so I'll try to limit some of those options and instead identify "pieces" that could be used in parlays on certain books moving forward. Let's get to the best plays for Week 2.

BetMGM Best Bets for NFL Week 2

BetMGM offers some of the best odds available for Week 2. If you're not signed up at BetMGM yet, new players at BetMGM can use the BetMGM bonus code ROTOBONUS for a risk-free bet worth up to $1,000. Here are our NFL best bets for Week 2 at BetMGM.

• Steelers moneyline (-140)
• Texans and Steelers moneyline parlay (+140)

Caesars Sportsbook Best Bets for NFL Week 2

Caesars Sportsbook also has great betting odds for NFL Week 2. If you are not registered yet, use the Caesars Sportsbook promo code ROTOFULL for a first bet on Caesars.

• Buccaneers +7 (-110)

bet365 Best Bets for NFL Week 2

bet365 has a strong menu of NFL Week 2 wagers to choose from, along with competitive odds. Sign up with the bet365 promo code ROTOWIRE for up to $100 in free bets if you have yet to register at bet365.

• Aaron Rodgers over 1.5 passing touchdowns (+105)

DraftKings Best Bets for NFL Week 2

The DraftKings promo code gets new customers $250 in bonus bets to kick off the season. DraftKings has special offers for new users just in time for Week 2 of the NFL season. here are our best picks available at DraftKings Sportsbook this week.

• Chargers, 49ers and Cowboys moneyline three-team parlay (+166)
• Steelers -2.5, Chiefs moneyline and Jets alternate spread -3 three-team parlay (+393)

FanDuel Best Bets for NFL Week 2

One of the most popular sportsbooks available is FanDuel Sportsbook. Let's take a look at our favorite betting picks with FanDuel odds.

• Three-item anytime touchdown parlay - Josh Jacobs, Brian Robinson and Derrick Henry all to score (+669)

BetRivers Best Bets for NFL Week 2

BetRivers is an up-and-coming and underrated sportsbook, and they are offering up to $500 in second-chance bets with the BetRivers bonus code. Bettors can use those for these picks on NFL Week 2.

• Chargers -6 (-109)

Fanatics Sportsbook Best Bets for NFL Week 2

Fanatics Sportsbook is ringing in its first full NFL season. You can get in on the action at Fanatics by using the Fanatics Sportsbook promo for up to $1,000 in bonus bets over the first 10 days that your account is active. Here are our favorite picks this week using odds at Fanatics Sportsbook.

• Eagles, Texans and Ravens three-team moneyline parlay (+120)

Look ahead at the NFL Week 3 odds as well, if you're interested in getting ahead of the line movement.