NFL Betting Tips | Week 1 Recap | 3/5 Tips Landed
If you placed any of our five picks last week to level stakes you would have returned a profit after we came away with three winners and two losers, one of which was extremely unfortunate. The week got off to a decent enough start when the Los Angeles Chargers took advantage of the injury to Ryan Fitzpatrick to get the better of the Washington Football Team, before the match between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Cleveland Browns was every bit as entertaining and high scoring as we expected it to be, sailing past the required points line. We had to wait until Monday night for the third winner as the Las Vegas Raiders not only covered the handicap but actually beat the Baltimore Ravens.
One of the two losers came in the match between the Tennessee Titans and the Arizona Cardinals. We flagged up over 51.5 points as the bet and after three quarters there were exactly 51. Unfortunately not a single point was scored in the final quarter which took a certain looking winner to defeat. The other bet was a write off from an early stage when the faith we placed in Trevor Lawrence and his Jacksonville Jaguars was unfounded. Check out our Week 1 NFL Betting Tips page to see all of our tips for that week.
49ers Can Keep Up Their Perfect Start on the Road
Two sides who won their opening matches meet on Sunday when the San Francisco 49ers head to the Philadelphia Eagles, with both teams looking to keep pace with the front of their divisions. The Eagles were the only winners in the NFC East so they could assume dominance of the division with a win here. Jalen Hurts showed plenty of good signs in the win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, but with all due respect the 49ers are a significant upgrade on a rudderless looking Falcons.
San Francisco 49ers allowed the Detroit Lions to make the score in their Sunday showdown a little more respectable than the match was at various stages, but we saw the powerful San Francisco offense at work and, as we eluded to last week, defences will get better week on week and that bodes very well for Kyle Shanahan and his side. we suspect the handicap in this one is as low as 3.5pts because of the amount of scores the 49ers gave to Detroit Lions last week but that was with a jaded defence with the game won. Ignore those scores and take the 49ers to cover.
San Francisco 49ers v Philadelphia Eagles
Bet Star Wager Pick: San Francisco 49ers -3.5 | 10/11 @ Bet365 | LANDED ✅
Cards Can Continue to Look the Real Deal
Arguably the performance of week one came from the Arizona Cardinals who nullified Derrick Henry and kept Julio Jones quiet to allow them to power past the Tennessee Titans on the road, and it wasn’t hard to see the huge changes to the Arizona outfit that makes them early contenders. We knew all about their offense but JJ Watt brings a totally different dimension to the pass rush and with he, Chandler Jones and Jack Crawford hunting the quarterback, opposing offensive lines are in for tough nights against this Arizona team.
Minnesota Vikings are the next in line for the Cardinals and while they carry some danger of their own, imposing it on this Cardinals D is not going to be easy. The Vikings go into this one off the back of a home loss to the Bengals in week one which can’t inspire confidence, so with Arizona having danger throughout the offense and being a nightmare for quarterbacks on defence we think they can cover the spread here.
Minnesota Vikings v Arizona Cardinals
Bet Star Wager Pick: Arizona Cardinals -3.5 | 5/6 @ LeoVegas
Seahawks Can Continue to Entertain in the NFC West
The other early game we like early on Sunday from a betting point of view comes at Lumen Field where the Seattle Seahawks will look to build on their fine opening round win at the Indianapolis Colts when they play host to the Tennessee Titans, who will probably be smarting from running into a crack hot Cardinals outfit on Sunday. These are two teams who we expect to be in a lot of high scoring games this season given the equity they are using up on their offense.
The Titans have added Julio Jones to the offense to give them another dimension to Derrick Henry, and although the former Falcon was barely involved on Sunday, the Titans don’t come up against that Arizona pass rush here. Russell Wilson looked like he slotted in from where he left off last season, and there are immediate signs that new offensive co-ordinator Shane Waldron has got Russ cooking. The deep pass looks to be in play throughout and the play action which the Seahawks run so well is a threat. We expect the points to come very regularly in this one.
Tennessee Titans v Seattle Seahawks
Bet Star Wager Pick: Over 54 Points | 10/11 @ Betway | LANDED ✅
Ravens’ Struggles Can Continue at the Hands of Mahomes
The big match of week two is the clash between the Baltimore Ravens and the Kansas City Chiefs which takes place in primetime on the Sunday Night Football, as two sides who could very well be battling it out for the AFC title later in the season collide, in what will be billed as a spectacular contest. After watching both teams in week one I’m not so sure that it will live up to the hype though.
The Ravens looked very much out of sync in Las Vegas on Monday night. Their run game only got going in flashes and the trend to switch to more of a passing game with the new weapons Lamar Jackson has been given didn’t work because the arm of the Ravens quarterback was missing it’s radar. You can’t afford to be offensively inefficient against this Chiefs side, even more so these days with Patrick Mahomes getting the protection he’s never had. Ironically that protection comes from Orlando Brown who was traded from the Ravens to add a unique element to this one. Kansas City picked up where they left off last season against the Browns, while the Ravens’ issues with the run game and key injuries already look an issue. We expect Baltimore to come good during the season but not here. The Chiefs lay another marker down here.
Kansas City Chiefs v Baltimore Ravens
Bet Star Wager Pick: Kansas City Chiefs -3.5 | 17/20 @ LeoVegas
Rodgers’ Green Bay Days Could Be Put into More Jeopardy by the Lions
The final game of week two is an all-NFC North clash and suddenly it carries plenty of weight to it as the Green Bay Packers play in front of a full house at Lambeau Field for the first time in more than a year. They do so knowing they have to improve from what was little more than a shambolic effort against the New Orleans Saints in week one. They host a Detroit Lions side who have plenty of improvement to make of their own.
Rodgers and the Green Bay offense looked like a unit who hadn’t been able to practice much in the summer and they need to regain that familiarity and combination quickly else this season could get away from them fast, even in a division where all four teams lost on Sunday. The poor output on offense put pressure on the defence and it couldn’t cope. Detroit Lions were run all over by the San Francisco 49ers but their own offense showed plenty of good signs, even if a lot of it was in garbage time. Jared Goff started delivering come the end of that match and while we wouldn’t be certain the Lions can win this match on the road, the Lambeau crowd could easily get on the backs of the Packers if their offense flounders once again. The Lions might not win but they can stay within 12.5pts.
Detroit Lions v Green Bay Packers
Bet Star Wager Pick: Detroit Lions +12.5 | 4/5 @ LeoVegas
Don’t forget to come back for our week 2 recap and our NFL Betting Tips for week 3! Also check out our NFL Betting page for information on how to place some of these bets!
