All right, now *this* is the kind of NFL betting that NFLbets expects! In week 2 of the 2020 season, things returned to about as normal as they can get in the time of coronavirus – and that means point spreads were too high and homefield advantage is nearly as nonexistent as it was in ’19, when home teams went 106-140-10 ATS for a winning percentage of .434.
In week 2, home teams were 9-7 ATS and a whopping seven SU losers won ATS. While only two underdogs – the Los Angeles Rams (who should have been the favorites) and the Las Vegas Raiders –won outright in week 2, 9 ’dogs covered and New England missed earning a push by a single point. Now this is some normalcy. Sort of.
The following are the results for week 2 of the 2020 NFL season, adjusted for the point spread. Game results listed in italics are those for which the SU and ATS result differed.
Cincinnati Bengals 30 at Cleveland Browns 29. Awesomeness of Joe Burrow aside – Dude, he threw like 61 passes without an interception, dude! – NFLbets is just happy for the man’s perseverance in the fourth quarter to put together a 75-yeard drive and score the 2020 season’s best garbage-time spread-covering TD so far.
Los Angeles Rams 35½ at Philadelphia Eagles 19. NFLbets is still baffled by what happened with the fluctuating point spread on this game. History will forever record the Rams went into this game with a clearly playoff-missing Eagles team as a 1½- or 2-point favorite. History is weird.
San Francisco 49ers 24 at New York Jets 13. From the Winning The Battle Losing The War Department are the 49ers, who will definitely be without Nick Bosa, Solomon Thomas, Reheem Mostert and Tevin Coleman, and probably without Jimmy Garoppolo for week 3 based on injuries taken in this game. Meanwhile, not even the Dolphins, it seems, can save the Jets from 0-16 this year.
Atlanta Falcons 39 at Dallas Cowboys 37. In blowing a 16-point fourh-quarter lead and a 98% win probability, the Falcons looked like a Super Bowl team. Unfortunately, that team is the 2016 Atlanta Falcons…
Arizona Cardinals 22½, Washington Football Team 15. Daniel Snyder may have finally earned himself some karmic points for dropping his franchise’s racist moniker, but all the karma in this plane of existence clearly won’t be enough to stop what Kyler Murray has going on in Phoenix…
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23½, Carolina Panthers 17. On the other hand, the Panthers in week 2 may have disproved the existence of karma. After the brand-new coaching staff agreed the goal was not to tank the season despite a roster replete with unknowns, the team’s sole bona fide superstar Christian McCaffrey is out for several games minimum.
New York Giants 13 at Chicago Bears 12½. Now combine the McCaffrey injury to the end of Saquon Barkley’s season, and you’ll understand why NFLbets doesn’t play that fantasy football shit.
Indianapolis Colts 24½, Minnesota Vikings 11. So … the Vikings are playing in 2020 for the sole purpose of making their opposition look good, right?
Baltimore Ravens 25½ at Houston Texans 11. At eight sacks allowed in the first two games, the Texans are again putting the “offensive” in offensive line. Houston is now on pace to give up 64 sacks for the season, hardly as outrageous a number as it appears at first glance: The Texans allowed 62 in 2018. As he’s already racked up an incredible 133 sacks in 40 games played, the Texans QB is worthy of the sobriquet “Poor DeShaun Watson” – except he’s getting paid quite well.
Green Bay Packers 35, Detroit Lions 21. NFL fans have complained for years that one reason the Patriots have stayed competitive for two decades plus is due to the perpetual weakness of their division mates. This year, it’s clear that the Packers are playing in an AFC East all their own…
Denver Broncos 21 at Pittsburgh Steelers 20. Poster child for Covid-19 wreaking havoc with the NFL? At 0-2 SU but 2-0 ATS, it’s gotta be the Denver Broncos…
Jacksonville Jaguars 30 at Tennessee Titans 26. …unless it’s the Tennessee Titans, now 2-0 SU and 0-2 ATS. As of this writing, they’re giving 2½ to the just terrible Vikings in Minnesota. A few more spreads like these, and NFLbets’ll have to swear off betting the Titans for the rest of 2020…
Miami Dolphins 31, Buffalo Bills 22½. So the Bills could well be a playoff team. They might even win the AFC East for the first time since 1995 – but these point spreads have got to come down a bit, eh…?
Seattle Seahwaks 31, New England Patriots 30. This was another dandy between the Seahawks and Patriots and, though seeming more probable every week, NFLbets is rooting against a Seattle-New England matchup in Super Bowl LV. Who wants to predict that outcome?
“Los Angeles” Chargers 20, Kansas City Chiefs 14½. NFLbets wishes we had significant insight into this game, but we’re still trying to parse just what the hell went on here. We can’t possibly be supposed to believe that the loss of Sammy Watkins destroys the explosiveness of the Chiefs offense, nor that the Chargers D is lights-out against the pass. We’d chalk it up to homefield advantage, but…
Las Vegas Raiders 34, New Orleans Saints 20. Fanlessness or no, Nevadans are certainly happier with Raiders Fever than the coronavirus. Chucky lives!
–written by Os Davis
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