NFL picks against the spread: Week 2

After the first week, I’m thinking I need to stick to straight up pick’em. I had a respectable week there going 10-5-1, but picking against the spread was a straight up bloodbath my first attempt.

The 5-9-1 ATS mark was pretty putrid, so I thought I would only look at the games where I added the confidence level as medium or high and that just made me more sad looking at that 3-4 mark. Though I guess getting most of the “wins” under that designation was a positive.

It’s a learning process and I am determined to get better at this. I’m only going to pick games I feel like I could bet on, for the others that were “low” confidence last week I will just put “no pick” under those. That makes more sense to me.

Straight Pick’em: 10-5-1
Top Picks ATS: 3-4
Top Picks O/U: 3-4

You can find the Broncos & Bratwurst group of against the spread picks in the table at the end of this post. Some of them have clearly been doing this long than me. Their top picks each week are in bold.

For now, let’s get on with my next train wreck. Due to either the severe beating I took last week or a lack of quality matchups, I didn’t take many risks this week.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Carolina Panthers (-7 / 49) - TNF

Score prediction: Panthers 27, Bucs 20. No pick.

Arizona Cardinals at Baltimore Ravens (-13 / 46.5)

Score prediction: Ravens 23, Cardinals 13. No pick.

Dallas Cowboys at Washington Redskins (+5.5 / 46.5)

Score prediction: Cowboys 24, Redskins 20. No pick.

Indianapolis Colts at Tennessee Titans (-3 / 44.5)

Score prediction: Titans 21, Colts 20. No pick.

Seattle Seahawks at Pittsburgh Steelers (-4 / 46.5)

Score prediction: Steelers 31, Seahawks 28. Top pick.

Buffalo Bills at New York Giants (+1.5 / 43.5)

Score prediction: Giants 16, Bills 14. No pick.

San Francisco 49ers at Cincinnati Bengals (-2 / 45)

Score prediction: Bengals 27, 49ers 20. No pick.

Los Angeles Chargers at Detroit Lions (+3 / 48)

Score prediction: Lions 24, Chargers 23. Top pick.

Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers (-3 / 44)

Score prediction: Packers 20, Vikings 17. No pick.

Jacksonville Jaguars at Houston Texans (-9 / 43.5)

Score prediction: Texans 24, Jaguars 10. No pick.

New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins (+19.5 / 48)

Score prediction: Patriots 34, Dolphins 16. Top pick.

Kansas City Chiefs at Oakland Raiders (+7.5 / 53.5)

Score prediction: Chiefs 45, Raiders 24. No pick.

Chicago Bears at Denver Broncos (+3 / 40.5)

Score prediction: Broncos 24, Bears 20. No pick.

New Orleans Saints at Los Angeles Rams (-2.5 / 52)

Score prediction: Saints 34, Rams 31. Top pick.

Philadelphia Eagles at Atlanta Falcons (+2 / 51) - SNF

Score prediction: Falcons 30, Eagles 27. Top pick.

Cleveland Browns at New York Jets (+3 / 46) - MNF

Score prediction: Browns 26, Jets 23. No pick.