NFL Week 2 lines

MIA @ MIN. Matt: May I be the first to call this one the Wildcat offence meets the Cougar offence… I like the Dolphins again this year for a number of reasons: (a) 2 years ago they found a way to win (b) last year they found out who their quarterback was and realized that Ricky Williams still has it (c) This year, both backs are healthy and they have an elite receiver in Marshall (d) Nobody respects them. The Vikes showed us a couple things on Thursday: Their defense is still to be feared, and Favre is literally decomposing in front of our eyes. But this was a 13-win team from a year ago. I have Minny by -7.

Scott: I think a lot of bettors think Brett Favre is just plain old now. I gave Miami a little more respect, they did win their first game and all, even if it was against the Bills. I went with Minnesota by 6.

Actual line: Minnesota by 5 ½. Point to Scott.

BUF @ GB. Matt: Despite almost letting Philly off the hook in the second half, Green Bay looked like the team we all thought they’d be, and so did Buffalo. Warrants my highest line of the week, Packers by -8.5.

Scott: As an Aaron Rodgers fantasy owner, I’m giddy for this one with Ryan Grant hurt too. This looks like a game that by Week 6, Vegas would have it up to 2 touchdowns, but it’s still early in the season, so I went with Green Bay by 9.

Actual line: Green Bay by 13 ½. Point to Scott.

STL @ OAK. Matt: Raiders were clearly out classed on Sunday in Nashville, but this should be a better chance to see what the potential is. Hard to get a gauge on either one of these teams in losses, we don’t know if the Rams are decent, or if Arizona sucks… I’m playing it safe, I have the Raiders by -2.5 at home.

Scott: I’ll make it easy for you. They all suck. Poor Jason Campbell. He finally gets out of rotating OC-hell in Washington and gets sent here. Can he sue the NFL for wasting his talent? I’m sick of trying to convince people he’s good. I guess somebody has to win this game, it sure won’t be the fans. This is like one of those games they give all the free tickets to the Make A Wish kids so the stadium looks more full. I won’t take this joke any further, I think you see where I’m going... Oakland by 2.

Actual line: Oakland by 4. Point to Matt.

SEA @ DEN. Matt: Does Denver get a trophy for consistently fielding the most boring team in the league? I think the Hawks have a bit of a hangover here – the road is a much more daunting place than Qwest. Denver gets the home field nod, Broncos by -2.5.

Scott: Jacksonville demands a recount in that vote!! They want their trophy! Yeah I don’t think Vegas buys the Hawks victory as a sign they’re actually relevant. I also took Denver by 2.5.

Actual line: Denver by 3.5. No points awarded.

HOU @ WAS. Matt: I bet most people looked at this matchup on Saturday and didn’t give it a second look. Now it’s a feature game on the schedule after both had upset wins over SB contenders. Arian Foster won’t be putting up 200+ against this run D. Skins by -3.

Scott: I think me and you could put up 100 yards against that Colts run defense. And yeah the Skins defense looked good but Donovan McNabb looked all sorts of terrible without all the weapons he had in Philly. Washington by 2.

Actual line: Washington by 3. Point to Matt.

NYG @ IND. Matt: Oh the brother bowl! If Indy loses this, it’s 3 in a row including the SB. The Giants look good and ended up earning that high line from week 1. Indy will still maintain their fav status until they lose more. I have the Colts by -3.5. I foresee heavy action on the Giants here.

Scott: Nothing in this game to hype is there? I joked last night that I wonder if the 3rd Manning brother (way too lazy to look up his name) shows up to games like this and at family reunions and gets all drunk and belligerent towards Peyton and Eli. "You think you’re better than me, don’t you?" Indy by 3.

Actual line: Colts by 5.5 Point to Matt.

Now onto the intra-conference games:

CHI @ DAL. Matt: Talk about 2 sides of a coin! Chicago wins on a technicality, Jay Cutler proves once again that he’s the ultimate closet a-hole (see: press conference), Dallas loses on a penalty, one of 137 flags against them I think… Outcomes aside, Dallas is still the clear favourite, but Chicago was overrated from the beginning of the season, so I think it’s the Cowboys by -5.5.

Scott: Cutler gained some respect from me when I found out he’s banging Kristin Cavallari. He can tell off a 1st grade class at this point and I’m still on the Cutler train. Well done, sir. As for Dallas, their QB knows a thing or two about dating Hollywood starlets himself, and Dallas is a huge public team, so Dallas by 7.

Actual line: Dallas by 8.5. Point to Scott.

PHI @ DET. Matt: Stafford out and Hill in skews this one in Philly’s favour. I think everyone knows that as a team they are much better than they’ve been, they just got unlucky, and despite a glowing performance by Vick, Philly still lost that game. I originally had Philly by -5 since they’re on the road, but I’m going to jack it up to Eagles by -6.5.

Scott: Wow, I’m thinking you talked to Naresh (our co-worker who is still on board the Vick train after all these years) before making this pick and he convinced you of the greatness that is Michael Vick. I’m on record that the Eagles are in a rebuilding year. And I could still see Kevin Kolb finding his way into this game. I think Vegas plays it a little safer, Eagles by 3.5.

Actual line: Philly by 4. Point to Scott.

BAL @ CIN. Matt: I don’t think a shellacking (1st half anyhow) by the Pats is an indication that the Bengals aren’t good, nor was I very high on the supposed-to-be-offensive-dynamo-Ravens after barely beating a horrible Jets team with no offense at all. Didn’t Cincy sweep this series last year? Bengals by -3.5.

Scott: Cincy was one of my teams I thought would be WAY overrated. Between last year’s easy schedule and those very public clowns at WR, they just seem like a team that was destined for overhype this year. I too won’t write them off after one bad half, but I’m totally on the other side of this one. Baltimore by 2.

Actual line: Baltimore by 1 ½. Point to Scott.

KC @ CLE. Matt: Great performance by the D and special teams last night! You’ve got 2 dynamic return men and the one guy, McCluster, is used to the offense as well. If they can get their ish together on offense, you could have a team on your hands. I don’t think Vegas will be completely sold yet however. I have this one as a pick’em.

Scott: As a Chiefs fan, I’m not sold either, though I’ll take being in 1st place for a week. I’d like to see Cassel pass for more than -14 yards before we say this team is back from the dead. By the way, here was your ‘Cassel! Delhomme! It’s the NFL on CBS, I’m Gus Johnson’ joke. Chiefs by 1.5.

Actual line: Cleveland by 2. Point to Matt.

ARI @ ATL. Matt: I don’t think we learned much from Zona’s first game, but we did about ATL. They got Dennis Dixon in perfect conditions and came out with 3 FGs and coach Smith pulled a hammy… Over-hyped? I’m not willing to jump off them after one game, but they got my attention. Falcons by -3.5.

Scott: I still think Atlanta is a quality team. Pittsburgh didn’t have Ben but they did have Troy, something they didn’t have a lot of last year. An OT road loss isn’t a terrible thing. And I don’t think anyone believes Arizona is any good. Larry Fitzgerald might sue Derek Anderson for malpractice soon. Atlanta by 7, but as I noted I’m disqualifying myself as I accidentally peeked at this line.

Actual line: Atlanta by 6.5. Point to Matt on a DQ.

PIT @ TEN. Matt: I don’t think you’re gonna see Pitt giving up points until Ben is back. Not that they deserve to this game, but just sayin. These 2 have faced each other each of the last 3 seasons: The Terrible Towel stomping, the Polamalu pick, and now this game, the Rubber match. Titans by -4.

Scott: I talked about Pittsburgh above, and I think the Titans might be little overvalued for beating up the Raiders. Steelers are still a public team so I have Titans by 3.5.

Actual line: Tennessee by 5. Point to Matt.

TB @ CAR. Matt: "Freeman! Moore! It’s the NFL on CBS! I’m Gus Johnson!" Unfortunately, given the teams, this seems like a Fox feed, but we could get lucky… I see this as a pretty even match, so I’m going with standard home field line: Panthers by -3.

Scott: This is indeed a FOX feed, so who is their 5th string announcers? The guys who normally would do the Seattle game are probably available. The Panthers looked decent for the 1st half until the Giant pass rush wore them down, I’m going to give them a pass assuming Matt Moore is back (oops, he's not). Panthers by 4.

Actual line: Panthers by 2.5. Point to Matt.

JAX @ SD. Matt: Basically the reverse of the KC game, SD is still elite until they tell us otherwise. You had a rookie back, replacing the Electric Glide, on national TV, MNF, in KC, in the rain – I think we can forgive poor Ryan Matthews for a poor game. The rest of the team, not so much, all but imploding on offense. They were never out of the game however, and the Jags likely won’t travel well. Chargers by -4.5.

Scott: I still can’t take Ryan Mathews seriously as a player when that’s one of the names of the characters on 90210. If that reference doesn’t scream I want to be like Bill Simmons, nothing will. As for the Chargers, I think they’ll be underrated this week, but in fairness to them, it’s not like they play a lot in the rain. Chargers by 3.5

Actual line: San Diego by 8. Point to Matt.

NE @ NYJ. Matt: It’s kind of cool that every game against the Jets feels like a rivalry. I think because their team demeanor just gets on everyone’s nerves. This is a legit rivalry however back to spygate. The Jets "offense" does not exist, Sanchize is terrible, the Jets need to wake up on that one. New England looks like their back to kick-ass mode tho, I think because of the Jets Defense, Vegas stays home, somewhat… Pats by -5.

Scott: Two very public teams. Jets are at home and I don’t trust the Patriots offensive line to hold up. While I, and most people, hate the Jets for totally irrational reasons (ok, it's because they're the cockiest team in the league but yet haven't won anything), I’m docking points for Tom Brady’s hair until further notice. Jets by 1.

Actual line: Patriots by 1 ½. Point to Scott.

NO @ SF. Matt: Monday Nighter. I can only imagine the hell that will be 49er practice this week, what’s the line on Singletary’s eyes actually popping out of his head? -150? I think this could be a better game than one might think. Still got Saints by -6.5.

Scott: Yeah, Singletary needs to talk to Mike Tomlin about how to be a cool Black coach, not a raging lunatic. Tomlin is like Shaft, he's just that cool. Does Singletary still rock the Jesus piece on the sidelines? As for the Saints, this is a week they need to dominate and show they’re still elite. I also had Saints by 6.5.

Actual line: Saints by 5. No point awarded.

Final tally: 8-6 Matt.