It's Friday, which means two things. One, you better bet getting those picks and/or bets in for Sunday's action because you've got a weekend worth of leaves to rake plus a date at Bed, Bath and Beyond to battle. And two, the lines have moved drastically from when we saw the early NFL Week 2 odds open on Sunday.
So let's take a (later) early look at the NFL Week 2 odds. Don't forget to follow SportsLine on Twitter or head over to the SportsLine site. They offer college action (Robby Kalland is a white-hot 5-0 in his last five over/under picks and has three queued up for the weekend) and the NFL experts there hit at a 65 percent (!) rate last week.
This includes action from "Mr. Monday Night" Nick Kostos, who went 6-2 over his last eight picks. Kostos offered up picks on every single game with yours truly on the latest edition of the Roughing the Passer Podcast as well. (Subscribe here and leave a review.)
To the odds, courtesy of VegasInsider.com.
NFL Week 2 Odds
Bengals at Steelers (Opening Line: Steelers -3.5, Tuesday Line: Steelers -3.5)
Current Line: Steelers (-3.5). No movement whatsoever here. It's a revenge game for the Bengals after the playoff debacle and a critical game for both teams in terms of establishing early AFC North supremacy. The "hook" (aka, the half point) is very pretty if you're betting what could very well be a game decided by a field goal.
Titans at Lions (Opening Line: Lions -5.5, Tuesday line: Lions -5.5)
Current Line: Lions (-6). Detroit is a heavy favorite here after the Titans offense imploded against the Vikings in the second half. Tennessee got a little too exotic for its own taste and it cost them badly. Given the relative strengths and weaknesses of the teams these two played in Week 1 it's hard to get a real feel for how they'll come out. Six is a lot of points though.
Chiefs at Texans (Opening Line: Pick 'em, Tuesday Line: Texans -2)
Current Line: Texans (-2.5). This line is creeping up quickly towards Houston. The Chiefs gave up 4.8 yards per carry to Danny Woodhead and Melvin Gordon and the Texans aren't afraid to let Lamar Miller run wild. If San Diego does its job this line is much larger.
Dolphins at Patriots (Opening Line: Patriots -5, Tuesday Line: Patriots -6.5)
Current Line: Patriots (-6.5). It's pretty obvious that someone in Vegas spent the week just glaring at pictures of Jimmy Garoppolo and being distracted by his absurd level of handsomeness. Both teams were impressive on the road in Week 1, so discounting the Dolphins this much is odd.
Ravens at Browns (Opening Line: Ravens -5, Tuesday Line: Ravens -7)
Current Line: Ravens (-6.5). This is a big old pile of points for a divisional game that features the road team being favored by nearly a touchdown. It's entirely possible (likely?) the Browns are a better offense with Josh McCown than with Robert Griffin III too.
Cowboys at Redskins (Opening Line: Redskins -3.5, Tuesday Line: Redskins -3)
Current Line: Redskins (-3). Classic case of a divisional game between two teams that hate each other and that no one can figure out. Are the Redskins as inept as we saw on Monday night? Probably not. Will the Cowboys really let Dez Bryant go another week with just one catch? Certainly not. Essentially a pick 'em with the home team getting three points. Sometimes Vegas doesn't know either.
Saints at Giants (Opening Line: Giants -4, Tuesday Line: Giants -5)
Current Line: Giants -4.5. Must have been some action on the Saints when this got up to 5. Conventional wisdom says the Saints aren't going to stop the Giants. OK eyeballs say that. So it's up to Drew Brees and Co. to put up some points if they want to stay in this. Fortunately that's their speciality. The over is almost too obvious.
49ers at Panthers (Opening Line: Panthers -13.5, Tuesday Line: Panthers -14)
Current Line: Panthers (-13.5). Carolina was much better than the result indicated (a loss against Denver). And San Francisco is not as good as the result indicated (a 28-0 whitewashing of the Rams). The Panthers are also sitting on 10 days rest, while the 49ers played late on Monday night. And as John Breech pointed out Tuesday, the 49ers didn't win a single East Coast game last year.
Buccaneers at Cardinals (Opening Line: Cardinals -7.5, Tuesday Line: Cardinals -6.5)
Current Line: Cardinals (-6.5). This is my favorite matchup of the week. It's really difficult to imagine Arizona not taking care of business in this spot, and the long trip isn't favorable to the Bucs. But Jameis Winston looks like the real deal and he'll get a massive test here. An upset and the Cards at 0-2 would be something else.
Seahawks at Rams (Opening Line: Seahawks -3.5, Tuesday Line: Seahawks -3.5)
Current Line: Seahawks (-6.5). This line shot up out of nowhere on Thursday. Best we can tell it's because Russell Wilson, who decided to only get six hours of sleep between Sunday and Thursday for some reason, is likely to play. It might not matter though: Jeff Fisher is 4-4 against the Seahawks since coming to St. Louis, an impressive number considering he's also 3-1 against them the last two years.
Colts at Broncos (Opening Line: Broncos -4, Tuesday Line: Broncos -6)
Current Line: Broncos (-6). Vegas kind of begging people to take the Broncos with this number, right? The move up means there was action early on Denver, which isn't surprising considering how the two teams looked in their first week. Denver is a physical defense and capable of punishing opponents on the ground with the run game. If you were looking for two weaknesses the Colts have it's against teams with those two specific traits. Or teams with functional humans on offense.
Falcons at Raiders (Opening Line: Raiders -6.5, Tuesday Line: Raiders -4.5)
Current Line: Raiders (-4.5). No surprise that the public would be all over the Raiders here given the outcome last week. Oakland stunned the Saints on the road with a crazy two-point conversion, while the Falcons fell at home to the Bucs. What is surprising is how the line moved away from Oakland. Hint, hint.
Jaguars at Chargers (Opening Line: Chargers -2.5, Tuesday Line: Chargers -3)
Current Line: Chargers (-3). Toss-up game here too. San Diego looked great early against Kansas City on the road but fell apart after Keenan Allen went down. Here's a pair of interesting trends: the Chargers are 12-3-1 against the spread in their last 16 September games, BUT they are also 1-6 against the spread in their last seven home games against teams with a losing record (and 1-6 against the spread in their last seven home games total). This crowd could turn quickly if Jacksonville gets up early.
Packers at Vikings (Opening Line: Packers -3.5, Tuesday Line: Packers -2.5)
Current Line: Packers (-2.5). Aaron Rodgers is 11-5 in his career against Minnesota. The Packers are 5-0 against the spread in their last five September games and 6-1 against the spread in their last seven road games. But the Vikings are also 5-1 against the spread in their last six games against the NFC North and 8-2 in their last 10 games against a team with a winning record. The 2.5 is Vegas politely asking people to take the Pack.
Eagles at Bears (Opening Line: Bears - 1, Tuesday Line: Bears -3)
Current Line: Bears (-3). The Bears are 4-1 against the spread in their last five games on Monday night (maybe Jay Cutler is the REAL Mr. Monday Night ...) and both of these teams are 1-4 against the spread in their last five games against NFC opponents. Welcome to the big time Carson Wentz -- friendly little road game for the rookie on the biggest stage available.
