When the Washington Redskins (1-0) were the most impressive of the four NFC East teams in Week 1, you know the others have a lot to improve upon, especially the New York Giants (0-1) and Dallas Cowboys (0-1) who will be showcased in the Sunday Night Football matchup. The Cowboys are three-point home favorites on the NFL Week 2 odds against the Giants at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com as they each go for their first victory.
New York has lost seven of the past 10 meetings with Dallas, according to the OddsShark NFL Database, so the right team is definitely favored in this spot. However, neither the Giants nor the Cowboys played particularly well in their season openers, with both of them struggling to get into the end zone in combining for just two touchdowns. That could be the story again on Sunday night, with the previous four meetings in the series all finishing under the total with an average of less than 30 points.
One of the craziest NFL trends to watch heading into Week 2 of the NFL season is the fact that the New Orleans Saints (0-1) have lost their first two games in each of the previous four seasons. The Saints hope to avoid that scenario for a fifth consecutive year on Sunday when they host the Cleveland Browns (0-0-1) as consensus nine-point home favorites.
The Browns have shockingly won the last eight times they have visited the Superdome, but they have also lost 21 in a row on the road, which is less surprising.
Getting back to the NFC East, Alex Smith and the Redskins are six-point home betting favorites hosting Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts (0-1) following a solid debut. Smith arrived in Washington via trade from the Kansas City Chiefs, and he threw for 255 yards and two touchdowns in a 24-6 road win over the Arizona Cardinals last week.
Luck (319 yards, two touchdowns and one interception) played well in his first NFL action in more than a year too, but the Colts fell 34-23 to the Cincinnati Bengals. Indianapolis has lost five straight games in the second week of the season, going 1-4 against the spread.
The defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles (1-0) will go with Nick Foles again at quarterback when they visit the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-0) as three-point road favorites. The Eagles are 3-1 straight up and ATS in the past four meetings with the Buccaneers, who saw Ryan Fitzpatrick (439 yards and three touchdowns) light up the Saints in a 48-40 upset victory as 10-point road underdogs last week.
Two other key games in the AFC will see the Chiefs (1-0) visit the Pittsburgh Steelers (0-0-1) and the Jacksonville Jaguars (1-0) host the New England Patriots (1-0). Kansas City is a four-point road underdog and has lost six of the past seven meetings with Pittsburgh. Meanwhile, New England is a two-point road favorite and has won eight in a row over Jacksonville by an average of nearly 16 points. But their last matchup was much closer, a 24-20 win for the Patriots in last year’s AFC Championship Game.
