Five Best Value Bets for NFL Week 2

Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston is a turnover machine, and, unfortunately for him, he’s going up against a defense that forces their opposition into making mistakes. As for Winston, that’s been the exact knock on him since he entered the league, and it didn’t get any better last Sunday, when he threw three interceptions — two of which were returned for touchdowns.

 

The Panthers do an excellent job at creating pressure on opposing quarterbacks, and their opportunistic, ballhawk defensive backs often capitalize by producing turnovers. Winston will likely give them at least a few of those.

 

Not only that, the Bucs’ run defense is suspect, and Panthers’ featured back Christian McCaffrey is coming off a performance in which he racked up 209 of the team’s 343 total yards in their previous game against the Rams.

 

The Giants, if it’s even possible, look as if they regressed from last season. New York had a number of blown coverages in its Week 1 loss in Dallas, and it’s clear the miscommunications in the secondary still have not been fixed as of yet.

 

As for the Bills, they have a lot of continuity, and also boast a top-3 defense, which gave Sam Darnold and Co. fits last week. The Jets mustered only one offensive touchdown, while the Bills offense came alive in the second half. That projects well for Sunday’s game, as we believe the offense will continue to click against a suspect Giants defense.

 

It’s the Vic Fangio revenge game, but unfortunately for him, the unit he built is looking far better than the one he inherited. Fangio will square off against the team he was defensive coordinator of last season, but the Bears defense looked good against the Packers, while the Broncos looked awful.

 

Aaron Rodgers and the Packers’ prolific offense really only moved the football on one drive — which ended in a touchdown — against the Bears. As for the Broncos, their pass rush was awful, as not only did they fail to sack Raiders quarterback Derek Carr — they didn’t even hit him once. Allowing tons of yards without recording negative plays — sacks or turnovers — is a recipe for disaster. Take the Bears.

 

The new-look Browns clearly still have a lot of work to do, as it’s clear their offensive line is a mess. The Jets have one of the best defensive fronts in the league, and we expect them to generate pressure on quarterback Baker Mayfield, just like the Titans did in their blowout win last week.

 

Odell Beckham Jr. could be an issue for the Jets, but he looked sluggish last week, and appeared to be a player still recovering from previous injuries, that didn’t really participate all that much in the preseason. The Jets have a bit more stability, and they should be able to let the defense set the tone, with the offense being able to control the tempo, and the game itself.

 

The 49ers didn’t really beat the Bucs last week; instead, it was more of Winston handing them the win. As noted above, Winston gave the 49ers 14 free points off interceptions alone, and then killed a potential scoring drive with the third one.

 

As for the Bengals, they, on the other hand, looked extremely impressive in last Sunday’s 21-20 loss to the Seahawks. They were the better team, but it was turnovers that did them in. Cincinnati outpassed Seattle in yards 395-161, and we believe they can shred San Francisco’s secondary. The Bengals will win this game by double digits, as their receivers should be able to gain plenty of separation against the 49ers’ defensive backs.