NFL week 2 tips: Bengals and Dolphins to pull off surprise wins
Published:
Simon Sinclair | September 17, 2016
Supporters were not disappointed in week 1 of the new NFL season as it brought a lot of excitement and a number of surprises.
The New England Patriots stunned the Arizona Cardinals at the University of Phoenix Stadium, despite playing without All-Pros Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski.
Meanwhile, there were good wins on the road for the Oakland Raiders, Minnesota Vikings and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Here are Coral’s 2016 NFL week 2 tips as we prepare for another exhilarating round of matches.
Tennessee Titans +5.5 @ Detroit Lions
Detroit Lions produced an impressive win on the opening day against Indianapolis Colts. Quarterback Matt Stafford drove his team into field-goal range, allowing kicker Matt Prater to atone for an error on an extra point that could have cost the NFC North outfit the game.
However, there are concerns over the club’s defense which was shredded by Colts quarterback Andrew Luck as he almost secured a miraculous comeback for Chuck Pagano’s men.
Tennessee Titans will aim to expose the same deficiencies to respond to opening-day defeat to the Vikings. Marcus Mariota made uncharacteristic mistakes against Mike Zimmer’s defense, who capitalised on two turnovers to clinch a 25-16 victory.
Mariota has the ability to bounce back due to the talent of his running game taking the pressure off his throws downfield. As a result this will be a close contest, one which the Titans could very well win.
Taking +5.5 on the spread at 19/20 gives the Titans the right insurance.
New Orleans Saints @ New York Giants to produce over 52.5 points
New York Giants did enough to secure a narrow victory over Dallas Cowboys in week one thanks to a poor bit of clock mismanagement from Terrance Williams late in the match.
Ben McAdoo’s men only put up 20 points, but will be aiming to click into gear led by Eli Manning and All-Pro wideout Odell Beckham Jr. Fellow receivers Sterling Shephard and Victor Cruz also looked sharp catching touchdown passes, with the former making his first score in two years.
Expect them to thrive against a struggling Saints defense, which will force Drew Brees and company to keep up the pace. They are more than capable as they proved in their close defeat to the Oakland Raiders due to the brilliance of their quarterback and receivers Brandin Cooks and Willie Snead.
As a result, expect Sean Payton’s side to be involved in another high-scoring affair in the showdown at MetLife Stadium in their desperate bid to avoid falling to a 0-2 record. Odds of 10/11 say there will be over 53.0 points in the match.
Cincinnati Bengals to win @ Pittsburgh Steelers
These two teams despise each other, and they made that quite clear in their playoff match last season when the Steelers miraculously advanced at the Bengals’ expense.
Marvin Lewis’ men appeared finally to be on the verge of breaking their post-season victory drought, only for a series of silly penalties to cost them the victory at Paul Brown Stadium.
Revenge will firmly on their minds ahead of the contest, but they will have to be at their best to overcome the Steelers’ potent offense that carved apart the Washington Redskins on Monday.
Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown looked in imperious form but, should the Bengals play with the same resilience and tenacity as they did in their last-gasp win over New York Jets, they could take a vital early lead in the battle for the AFC North.
The Cincinnati side are 29/20 to triumph.
Miami Dolphins to win @ New England Patriots
The Patriots secured the biggest win of week 1 by shocking the Cardinals on their own turf with backup Jimmy Garropolo securing his first victory as a starter in Brady’s absence.
He was poised in the pocket and led his team to late field goal before Chandler Catanazaro missed with his effort to hand Bill Belichick’s men the road victory.
New England will be desperate to avoid a come down from their triumph, and will aim to continue their fine record at home against Miami Dolphins.
However, Adam Gase’s side played extremely well in their opener against the Seattle Seahawks and should have come away from CenturyLink Field with a win, only to make crucial errors in key spots.
Should they maintain the level of their play from week 1, then they could well give the Patriots a run for their money. Ndamukong Suh and Cameron Wake will be eager to expose the opponents’ offensive line by giving Garoppolo problems in the pocket, which will be the key on Sunday.
Back the Dolphins at a tasty 12/5 to win on the road.
Jacksonville Jaguars to have 1-6 winning point margin @ San Diego Chargers
San Diego Chargers had arguably the worst loss of week 1, surrendering an 18-point lead to the Kansas City Chiefs to allow Andy Reid’s side to win in overtime.
To make matters worse for the AFC West outfit they lost outstanding wide receiver Keenan Allen for the season with a torn ACL, depleting their pass-catching options.
Jacksonville Jaguars provided fierce competition for Green Bay Packers in their opener, only to be denied a late game-winning score by solid defence. Blake Bortles and company will fancy their chances of picking up their first win of the season by pouring more misery on the Chargers.
Gus Bradley’s team have been widely tipped to make the playoffs this term, and to do that they will need to beat sides like San Diego. It’s a big week for the Jaguars and their offense should be able to guide them to a narrow 1-6 point victory at 3/1.
Related
There’re more NFL tips throughout the season on our US Sports page.
With Coral’s Two Minute Rush Refund you can receive up to £/€25 in a free bet should your side fail to close out victory if they are winning at the two-minute warning, but go on to lose the match.
