NFL Week 2 – moving on after a wonderful opening round

What an opening to the NFL season! We got everything from Josh Allen's heroic comeback to the Vikings with a historic rookie QB, and the Raiders not only covering the line but beating the Patriots with authority. It's moments like these that remind us why we love this sport. Now it's time for Week 2, and I've picked two new plays that I think offer value, but I'm still keeping my bets low. The season is long, and the data is fresh.

Philadelphia Eagles – Kansas City Chiefs

Match start: 14 September at 22:25

The Super Bowl rematch against the Chiefs will lose some of its luster with Rashee Rice out and Xavier Worthy likely sidelined. For Kansas City, this is a significant problem, while the Eagles get key players back on defense – including Jalen Carter.

Philly's defensive line should perform better than in Week 1, and offensively they face a Chiefs defense that was run over by Greg Roman and his running attack last time out. I think the 1.82 on an outright win for the Eagles is well paid in this matchup.

NFL 10:25 PM Eagles – Chiefs: Eagles win (1.82)

Falcons–Vikings

The Falcons got a solid debut from Michael Penix, but the team is already weakened offensively. Drake London is out, Darnell Mooney is uncertain, and there are many indications that the offense will not flow the same way against a tough Brian Flores defense.

On the other hand, JJ McCarthy had a strong finish in Week 1, but struggled for much of the game before that. His repeat fourth-quarter explosion is far from guaranteed. I envision an even and relatively stagnant game, and therefore play:

NFL 02:20 Falcons – Vikings: Under 47 points (1.68)

We had a good start to the season with the Raiders +4 going in, and now we're building on that. I'm going in with moderate bets this week as well, it's still early in the season, and the lines can be a bit unpredictable. The Eagles look like the stronger side in the top game, while Falcons–Vikings could easily be a close game.

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