With a wild Week 1 in the books, it's already time to look ahead to the best bets of Week 2. The Sporting News has all the top moneylines, spreads, over/under totals, and player props for this weekend's action-packed slate.
Opening weekend didn't go as planned, but at least this column's best bets performed better than the QBs from the rookie draft class. Overall, we went 6-4-1, with the Dolphins-Jaguars game finishing as a push just as a little early-season frustration.
Time to go back to the drawing board, and attack the top value wagers on the Week 2 board. Here's the best moneyline, spread, over/under, and player prop bets for Week 2 of the 2024 NFL season.
JUMP TO: Spreads | Moneylines | Over/under | Player props
NFL Week 2 Best Bets: Against the spread (ATS)
All odds courtesy of BetMGM and Caesars Sportsbook.
Chiefs -6 vs. Bengals (-110 on BetMGM and Caesars)
Newsflash: Patrick Mahomes and the reigning back-to-back champion Chiefs improved this offseason. Xavier Worthy looked...well, worthy of the speedy receiver role formerly occupied by Tyreek Hill. And while the rookie speedster will probably never have quite the overall impact of the man they call Cheetah, he certainly adds a massive wrinkle to an already-potent offense. Kansas City might win 14 games this season.
The Bengals, meanwhile, looked overwhelmed against the upstart Patriots in Week 1. We're talking 'total failure' territory. They turned the ball over at the goal line and on a punt return. They rushed for just 70 total yards and totaled just 13 first downs on 48 plays (4/11 on third down). They failed to protect Joe Burrow on the offensive side and failed to slow down Rhamondre Stevenson and the Pats' rushing attack on defense.
New England cornerback Christian Gonzalez blanketed Ja'Marr Chase for most of that game, laying a blueprint for Trent McDuffie this weekend. And if Tee Higgins can't suit up for a second straight week — and Cincy can't establish any semblance of a running game, or contain Isiah Pacheco — the Chiefs could blast the Bengals out of Arrowhead with even more bumps and bruises than the Pats inflicted.
SCORE PREDICTION: Chiefs 31, Bengals 23
Other Week 2 spreads worth a look: Ravens -9.5 vs. Raiders (-110 on BetMGM); Cowboys -6.5 vs. Saints (-110 on BetMGM and Caesars); Jets -4 at Titans (-110 on BetMGM and Caesars)
NFL Week 2 Best Bets: Moneyline
Dolphins (-135) vs. Bills (Caesars and BetMGM)
This one feels easy after what we saw in Week 1. The Bills made a lot of mistakes against the Cardinals, who didn't even look all that great and still nearly stole the game in Buffalo. Josh Allen and James Cook eventually sealed the deal with a 34-28 victory, but let's not hold our breath at the thought of carrying over momentum to South Beach this weekend.
Miami has a very good defense now. It's also on a whole different stratosphere offensively, with far too much speed for Buffalo's defense to contain. Bobby Babich's Bills D allowed Arizona to go 7-of-13 on third-down conversions on Sunday, and the Cards finished with 18 first downs total. Just imagine what Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill, De'Von Achane, and Jaylen Waddle can do to this squad.
Miami also capitalizes on opposing team's lapses in execution, so the Bills racking up another nine penalties — or going 3-of-9 on third-down conversions — probably won't work out too well for them. The Dolphins get their revenge on Buffalo for stealing the second seed in the final week of the 2023 regular season. Enjoy the moneyline value while it lasts — the 'Fins opened as -1.5 favorites and bumped up to -2.5 by Monday morning. They might be -3.5 by kickoff.
FINAL SCORE PREDICTION: Dolphins 33, Bills 28
Other Week 2 moneylines to consider: Rams -110 at Cardinals (Caesars); Colts 1Q (-108) at Packers (Caesars); Seahawks 1Q (+103) at Patriots (Caesars)
NFL Week 2 Best Bets: Over/under totals
Panthers UNDER 16.5 vs. Chargers (+100 on Caesars)
Most football fans know Jim Harbaugh's M.O. by now. Last year's head coach of the national champion Wolverines and this year's top dog of the LA Chargers prioritizes one thing: efficiency. Minimal mistakes on offense, few holes on defense. The Bolts won in unspectacular fashion against the Raiders in Harbaugh's first regular-season game at SoFi — now they get to beat up on the lowly Panthers in the Carolina sunshine.
The Panthers also have a new head coach in Dave Canales, the QB guru who guided Geno Smith and Baker Mayfield to Pro Bowl breakouts in each of the past two years. Well, he might have finally found a little engine that he can't fix because Bryce Young's train went right off the tracks about six times against New Orleans.
No matter how you slice it, Carolina was awful: 3.5 yards per play. Two interceptions and a fumble lost. Six penalties for 80 yards. Just one first down on 10 third-down snaps. Just 11 first downs on 55 plays, and 58 yards on the ground. The Panthers stink, and the Chargers aren't about to let them come up for air. Sorry to all our friends in Charlotte — unlike "The Perfect Couple," this story may not get better as the season progresses.
FINAL SCORE PREDICTION: Chargers 23, Panthers 13
Other strong Week 2 over/under bets: Cardinals UNDER 24.5 vs. Rams (-110 on Caesars); Titans UNDER 19.5 vs. Jets (-115 on Caesars)
NFL Week 2 Best Bets: Best player prop
Josh Allen, QB, Bills at Dolphins (TNF) — OVER 240.5 passing yards
Allen always balls out against the division-rival Dolphins, and this should be a big-time duel between him and Tua Tagovailoa with both De'Von Achane and Raheem Mostert banged up. Look at the yardage totals Allen has put up against Miami the last five times these AFC East squads met: 352, 320, 359, 304, 400.
Losing Stefon Diggs was a big blow, but not enough to knock Allen down from the 300-400 range to the 200-240 range in a division-rivalry game. This feels like about as safe a QB OVER as we will see in the Week 2 slate.
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