Several Week 1 underdogs either won SU (Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Dallas) or at least ATS (Indianapolis) — not to mention Arizona, Jacksonville and Denver, who all kept their losses close enough for pushes.
With that in mind, it’s hard to imagine the Week 2 slate not featuring a few more betting upsets. In fact, this week has already delivered one: the Bills’ 31-10 rout of the Dolphins on Thursday night as road dogs.
The fun — but difficult — part is picking which underdogs are most likely to defy oddsmakers’ expectations.
Ever since lines were released earlier this week, the Rams — yes, the banged-up Rams — stood out as tempting underdogs on the road against division rival Arizona.
Below, we’ll break down the Rams’ chances against the Cardinals and highlight a few other Week 2 dogs that could cover or win outright.
Rams Moneyline (+102) FanDuel
L.A. Rams at Arizona Cardinals, 4:05 p.m. ET
No, the Rams are not at full strength, or even close it, offensively. Of L.A.’s five starting O-linemen in an ideal world, two are definitely out on Sunday: left tackle Alaric Jackson remains suspended for one more game, and guard Steve Avila is on IR.
Starting right tackle Rob Havenstein is also questionable for this weekend, and backup LT Joe Noteboom has already joined Avila on IR, while starting guard Kevin Dotson is questionable as well.
As of Friday afternoon, it’s unclear who the Rams will trot out to protect Matthew Stafford, but we do know that it will be a makeshift group.
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L.A. is also going to be without receiver Puka Nacua for several weeks.
But we’re so bullish on Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford that we like the Rams on the road this weekend anyway. Stafford had virtually no time to throw against the Lions last Sunday night, and he still managed to throw for 317 yards and force overtime.
The Rams have a ton working against them offensively. However, against one of the worst defensive teams in the league, the Cardinals, we trust Stafford, RB Kyren Williams and WR Cooper Kupp to outscore a team they lit up for 37 points in their last meeting back in Week 12 of the 2023 season. We’re especially confident given how effective both Stafford and Kupp managed to be last week with a hand behind their back in a difficult environment.
- Rams moneyline (+102 at FanDuel): 1 unit
Giants Moneyline (+108) FanDuel
New York Giants at Washington Commanders, 1 p.m. ET
First of all, based on some quick line-shopping, there’s value at this price, as just about every other sportsbook lists New York at +105 or shorter.
Both of our first two underdogs for this weekend are getting 1 or 1.5 points on the spread, so we’re not venturing too far out on a limb, by any means.
Anyone who watched New York QB Daniel Jones last weekend probably isn’t interested in investing in this team in Week 2, but this matchup presents an intriguing bounce-back opportunity for Brian Daboll’s Giants.
Last year, Big Blue went just 6-11, but two of its wins came at Washington’s expense (New York won 31-19 in Washington in Week 11 after winning 14-7 at home in Week 7).
The New York offense is objectively bad right now, but it should be able to score just enough (assuming Jones can at least avoid back-breaking TOs) for an ugly, low-scoring win against the Commanders. Washington has a promising young QB in rookie Jayden Daniels, but a sieve-like defense that had one of the worst performances of the league in a 37-20 loss to Tampa Bay in Week 1.
- Giants moneyline (+108 at FanDuel): 1 unit
Patriots +3.5 (-115) DraftKings
Seattle Seahawks at New England Patriots, 1 p.m. ET
In head coach Jerod Mayo’s New England debut, he led his team to the biggest upset of Week 1, as the Pats traveled to Cincinnati and won 16-10 as 8.5-point road dogs.
This defense was excellent, and it looked good enough to keep this team in every game. New England’s secondary was supposed to be among the best in the league, and it did not disappoint in Week 1 against Joe Burrow and the Bengals.
The question for the Patriots defense was whether it would be solid enough up front with DL Christian Barmore sidelined by blood clots and pass rusher Matthew Judon in Atlanta following a training camp trade of the former Pro Bowler. But Judon’s absence was hardly an issue against the Bengals, as second-year DE Keion White came up huge, with 2.5 sacks and 2 TFL.
Seattle is a solid opponent.
But at home, playing with house money and a formula that worked to perfection against a quality opponent in Week 1, the Pats are a great bet to grind their way to a cover at 3.5. New England’s chances of keeping this game close are even better given how low-scoring this matchup looks on pape. Tthe total for this game is 38.5 as of Friday afternoon.
- Patriots +3.5 (-115 at DraftKings): 1 unit
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