Football of all sorts is officially under way! After last night’s Falcons and Eagles match-up got the 2018 NFL regular season underway. What we learned from Thursday night is that we still don’t know what is and is not a “catch.” We also learned that the Falcons are finally going to have to lean on their defense to produce wins. Lastly, the Eagles will once again be another threat in the juggernaut that the NFC is projected to be this season. Their ceiling is very high considering that Carson Wentz will be returning to the gridiron very soon.
I have made a lot of NCAAF plays for Week 2 of the season. I was a bit gun-shy last week with all of the unpredictability that comes with week 1 match-ups. With that being said, we now have a lot better idea of the makeup of each squad going into week 2.
DUKE @ NORTHWESTERN (-3): The Wildcats of NW looked sharp in their win on the road against a solid Purdue team. Look for the NW run game to be too much for the Blue Devils to handle. Although this game will be close, I foresee NW to win by a touchdown.
GEORGIA ST (+24.5) @ NC ST: Last week we saw NC State look a little shaky in their squeaked out win over an FBS squad in James Madison. Week 3 previews the Wolf-pack hosting the Mountaineers of West Virginia. Look for NC State to be looking ahead to their big match-up in week 3 and have a let down performance against Georgia St.
RUTGERS (+35) @ OHIO ST: Rutgers has bad history against the Buckeyes. However, this 2018 Rutgers squad is still bottom tier in the BIG10 but might be able to compete at a much higher rate. I like to think of this Rutgers team as the 2018 Browns. They will probably lose a fair share of their games, but cover a lot more spreads. That’s really all that matters anyways, right?! Not to mention that Ohio St. is currently showing a lot of “Questionable’s” on their depth chart injury report (including 2 starters) for Saturday’s match-up. Also, same could be said about the Buckeyes as the Wolf-pack. Ohio St. squares off against a solid TCU team in week 3, and may be over shadowing The Scarlet Knights of Rutgers.
CLEMSON @ TEXAS A&M (+13): ROAD DOGS, ROAD DOGS, ROAD DOGS! The Aggies are catching 13 points at home to a very good Clemson team. However, TAMU is no slouch themselves. This line just seems to high for an SEC team at home to stay away from. I would never argue with anyone for taking a top tier SEC school at home getting points against an opponent outside of the SEC.
IOWA ST @ IOWA (-190): I like the Hawkeyes on the money line in this particular match-up. Given that it is a big rivalry game for these two foes, I believe that it will be a close one. The line is set at IOWA (-4) and I think Iowa will win by a field goal. It is also worth mentioning that Iowa St. had their week 1 game rained out against Nebraska. Hence, the Cyclones have yet to get those first game jitters out of the way and have yet to work out their week 1 “kinks” (if you will). Iowa is the better football team in this case, and it will show Saturday afternoon.
UTAH @ NORTHERN ILLINOIS (+10.5): Utah is set to have their biggest game of the season in week 3 against the Washington Huskies. They have had that game marked on their schedule all year. I believe the PAC12 to be a very weak conference this season and I think that it will show in this match-up. Road dogs all day!
Take all of these week 2 picks with a grain of salt and don’t forget to make your week 1 NFL plays for this Sunday. Be wary of what you saw in the preseason from some teams as the preseason does not even come close to telling the full story. Good luck this weekend bettors!
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