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FanDuel NFL Best Bets: TSN staff picks for Week 2
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If Week 1 of the 2023 NFL season was an adjective it would have to be ‘unpredictable’. How many people had Baker Mayfield upsetting the Vikings? Or Josh Allen losing to Zach Wilson (again)?
But that’s the whole thing about Week 1, it’s not predictable and it causes far too many early victory laps and overreactions.
Now that it’s behind us, it’s time to put together what our staff likes to consider a slightly more predictable slip.
Each week, eight members from our betting team will share their best bets from the slate of games in hopes of building the ultimate 8-leg parlay on FanDuel.
You can ride the parlay or play the picks on their own, but we made sure to leave an empty space in the box for you to join in and add your biggest lock for the week!
Eric Cohen - SEA/DET Over 47.5 (-110)
Last year when these two teams played, the Seattle Seahawks walked into Detroit and beat the Lions 48-45!!!
While I don’t expect this game to feature 93 points. It’ll go over 47.5.
Seattle looked awful last week at home against the Rams giving up points on all five of Los Angeles’ second half possessions. In fact, the Rams only punted once in the entire game. There is no way Seattle’s defence will be able to fix all their holes against a very dynamic Lions offence.
Detroit will definitely light up the scoreboard and Geno Smith should look much better than he did last week. Take the over.
Chris Brieda - David Montgomery Anytime TD (-130)
The Seattle Seahawks and Detroit Lions game has the third-highest game total on the board in Week 2, so I feel more comfortable taking a TD scorer in this game.
Last week, the Seahawks defence surrendered a trio of rushing TDs to the Rams, all three were punched in from inside their own 10-yard line.
David Montgomery seemingly appears to be assuming the Lions’ goal-line role where Jamaal Williams found oodles of success last season.
Jamaal Williams vs Seattle Week 4 last season:
19 carries
108 yards
2 TDs
Monty also scored from the 8-yard line last week vs KC and garnered 80 per cent of Detroit’s red zone carries throughout the game.
Between the consistency of the Lions’ game plan on the ground, and the Seahawks suspect run defence, I like David Montgomery to find the end zone on Sunday.
Luke Bellus - Jaguars +3.5 (-118)
This game could come down to the last possession, so give me the home team and the points.
Under Doug Pederson, the Jacksonville Jaguars were 5-0 against the spread as home underdogs in 2022. I like that trend to continue this year.
Speaking of trends:
Since Patrick Mahomes took over as the Kansas City Chiefs’ quarterback in 2018, the Chiefs are 16-18 ATS as favourites on the road, and they’re just 5-5 ATS in their last 10 games after a loss – dating back 2020.
Connor Ford - Joe Burrow o1.5 Passing TDs (-172)
Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals were absolutely shut down by the Cleveland Browns in Week 1.
Great teams and star quarterbacks tend to bounce back after getting embarrassed. I’ll take Burrow to throw two touchdowns against a Ravens team that’s banged up entering week two.
Drew Morrison - Falcons -1.5 (-110)
It’s an age old NFL cliché: Run game and defence travels, especially in the playoffs.
Well, the Atlanta Falcons haven’t been to the playoffs in six years, but if Week 1 was any indication, they’re on the right track. The Falcons? Yes the Falcons. I’m taking them to cover -1.5 against the Packers this week at home.
RUN GAME
The Falcons ran the ball 26 times compared to 18 throws from Desmond Ritter. Rookie phenom Bijan Robinson passed the eye test with 83 total yards and a touchdown. Tyler Allgeir had 75 rushing yards and two touchdowns. They averaged five yards a carry, 5TH best in the league. And they’re going against a Packers defence that gave up 122 yards on the ground in Week 1 after having the 26th-best run defence last season.
DEFENCE
The Falcons held the Panthers to just 10 points in Week 1. While the Panthers aren’t exactly expected to set the world on fire this season, neither are the Packers. Atlanta forced a league-high three turnovers in Week 1, including an interception from free-agent safety Jesse Bates. They also had a pair of sacks after finishing second-last in the league with 21 all of last season. Against a Packers offence that could be missing their biggest weapon in Aaron Jones? Take the Falcons to cover.
Aidan Thakkar - Chargers -3 (+100)
The Los Angeles Chargers took it on the chin against the Miami Dolphins last week, and if we’re being completely honest it looks like Brandon Staley and GM Tom Telesco may have gotten it wrong once again this summer.
With that being said it's historically been their run defence that has been abysmal, but Miami averaged just 3.5 YPC last week. I don’t think the Tennessee Titans can keep up with L.A. in terms of scoring and if they fall behind I don’t trust Tannehill to go for 450+.
I’ll lock in a plus-money bounce back for Herbert and co. at -3
Evan Render - Giants -4.5 (-110)
The New York Giants are coming off one of their worst losses of the century. Soul-crushing 40-nothing defeat at home under the bright lights against Dallas. This is a perfect spot for them to bounce back. There’s a few trends and numbers that point me in that direction.
Giants after a loss last season: 7-0 ATS
Teams who lose by 10+ points in Week 1 the last two season: 10-4 ATS in Week 2
Brian Daboll is a great coach, and he’ll have his team ready to go against the worst roster in the NFL. New York wins this by 7+.
Christian Marin - Dolphins Moneyline (-154)
Tua Tagovailoa and the Miami Dolphins offence looked like something out of a video game last week, but it might be tough to repeat that performance in New England on Sunday night against a Bill Belichick-lead defence.
However, while the Patriots have been able to limit Tua to fewer than 205 passing yards in three of his four career starts against them, the Dolphins quarterback is 4-0 all-time against New England with three of those four wins coming by eight or more points.
Even though Miami gave up 34 points last week, they managed to limit Justin Herbert to just 229 passing yards and one touchdown. If they go up early in this one and eliminate New England’s running game like the Eagles did last week, it could cause some problems for the Patriots.
I like Miami to get the win and improve to 2-0.
The odds on this 8-leg parlay are +9907 and $10 would pay $990.70 on FanDuel Canada.