It’s always a good idea to pay attention to injury reports and personnel movement before placing a bet. And as a reminder, watch the weather reports as well. Not doing that last week gave us a loss in the Bears/49ers game when a deluge in Chicago turned Soldier Field into a giant slip and slide. It was hard enough to walk on the turf let alone play football and not surprisingly the teams fell well below the closing total. Let’s not make that same mistake again.
As a result we didn’t get to see how good Niners’ Trey Lance can be. Making his first start since taking over the QB1 gig, Lance drew a lot of criticism for his play. We do need to realize that even the best have problems in those conditions, so don’t overreact. The Niners will play in better conditions in Week 2 against Seattle in their home opener. And who would’ve thought the Seahawks would be leading the NFC West. Granted it’s only one game and they won’t be there at the end of the season, but it’s a start.
It usually takes a few games to make a fair assessment of teams. I was riding blind in the opener and won just one of my top total plays. The good thing is that the season just started and we can make adjustments. I’m going to do that and change my fortunes.
Let’s take a look at some total plays in Week 2 that can help put coin in your pocket.
NFL Week 2 Betting Lines
Top Total Plays Of Week 2
Atlanta Falcons at Los Angeles Rams
Pick: OVER 47
The Rams certainly didn’t impress in their opener scoring only 10 points in a loss to Buffalo. Again, let’s consider the overreaction thing. The Bills are one of the elite teams in the NFL and I think they had more to gain in the opener than LA. Not giving regulars a few reps in the preseason is a wonderful concept, but the reality is it allows for failure when playing a team as strong as Buffalo. And the talk of Matthew Stafford’s shoulder ailment didn’t diminish after the loss. Both Stafford and Sean McVay said there are no limitations and I expect the Rams to look more like the 2021 version on Sunday.
The Falcons did a lot of good things in their opener except win, blowing a fourth-quarter lead against the Saints. Marcus Mariota looked comfortable back as a starter and he’s the type of player who can give the Rams’ defense fits with his elusiveness. We saw how LA struggled against Josh Allen. I do like the OVER in this matchup.
Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers
Pick: OVER 42
There’s a reason why the total is the lowest in the last five meetings between the NFC North rivals. They combined to score only 26 points last week with the Packers struggling to do anything against Minnesota in their 23-7 loss. Like we saw last season, Green Bay is never down and don’t count them out. A stunning loss in last year’s opener just seemed to spark Aaron Rodgers and the Pack went on a roll. I don’t know if the same thing will happen in 2022, but there’s a good chance it does. And Rodgers has played some of his best football against the Bears with six straight wins in the series and the Pack scoring at least three touchdowns in each of the last five.
The Bears should be better offensively than what we’ve seen in previous years and last week wasn’t the best promotion for Fields and the group. Still, the ability of the QB to improvise and make things happen can change the trajectory of a game. The clubs played high scoring affairs in the past cashing the OVER in three of past four games while combining to average over 57 points in those contests.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at New Orleans Saints
Pick: OVER 44.5
The NFC South has been known for its offensive exploits and not a whole lot has changed over the years. Some of the gunslingers that made it fun are no longer around, mainly Drew Brees in New Orleans, but that hasn’t changed the way the Saints play. We saw them overcome a 16-point fourth quarter deficit in Atlanta last week with Michael Thomas snaring a couple of TD passes. And the Saints kept pounding at Atlanta’s D eventually wearing them down.
We saw a 9-0 game between the teams last year which was actually an outlier. They combined to cash the OVER in four of the previous six meetings with the winning team scoring at least 30 points every time. The total of 44.5 is the lowest we’ve seen in a game between these clubs since at least the 2011 season.
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