NFL Week 2 Picks 2026: Bets Include Panthers, Bills Team Total

Below, bettors can find my NFL betting predictions for Week 2 based on NFL odds at BetMGM.

Odds for predictions are reflective at time of writing and are subject to movement.

NFL Expert Picks for Week 2 2026

Bills vs Lions Prediction: Bills Over 29.5 Points (-120)

Based on the situational spot for the Lions defense and Buffalo’s prior success against this unit, my Bills vs Lions prediction is the Bills Over 29.5 Points (-120).

It’s a high number to clear on short rest, but that’s how little faith I have in this Detroit defense.

In the first half, the Lions caused havoc on the Saints as a seven-point home favorite. But the unit crumbled in the second half. Kelvin Sheppard’s defense allowed 24 points before overtime.

More concerning is that the Lions now face a short-week road game after playing an extra period. Buffalo faces a return trip home after playing in Houston, but they’ll start fresher.

For the Detroit defense, it’s a sizable step up in competition based on last year’s metrics.

New Orleans – across the entire 2025 season – finished 27th in offensive DVOA, per FTN Fantasy. Buffalo finished fourth at +15.1%, including second on the ground.

Additionally, Detroit will operate without Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch. With those two set to miss at least the first four games, it leaves a very inexperienced secondary to face Josh Allen.

Bettors should also consider prior games between these two teams.

During the 2024 NFL season, Buffalo traveled to Detroit and racked up 47 points against a unit that included Joseph & Branch. Allen posted his best PFF passing grade of the season.

From Buffalo’s standpoint, the offense impressed me against the Texans. Against a comparably more difficult unit, the Bills scored 36 points.

While a case exists for negative regression – Buffalo achieved that output on only three red zone trips – it’s my belief that regression fails to arrive in this spot.

Lastly, Buffalo’s defense concerns me enough that they’ll need to score 30 here to win. Pair that with their historical success against Detroit, and I predict the Bills offense clears a high number.

Falcons vs Panthers Prediction: Carolina Panthers Moneyline (+100)

Based on the Panthers’ misleading defensive record against the Bears and Atlanta’s poor defensive play, my Falcons vs Panthers prediction is the Panthers Moneyline (+100).

Arguably no team looked worse than the Carolina Panthers in Week 1. The defense allowed 59 points to the Chicago Bears as they suffered a blowout loss as short dogs.

But we saw this myriad times last season. Carolina would look awful and come back the next week like a different team. Then they’d look awful again.

Perhaps it sounds misguided, but I don’t actually think Carolina looked as bad as the 59 points it surrendered. Chicago scored eight touchdowns despite only amassing four red zone attempts.

In fact, the Panthers equaled the Bears’ red zone record with a perfect 4-for-4 percentage. Yards per play only finished 7.9-7.7 in Chicago’s favor, despite a 22-point margin.

Most of Chicago’s success came on out-of-structure Caleb Williams plays. Carolina won’t encounter that issue against any of Atlanta’s starters.

It leaves me encouraged that Carolina travels to face another bad defense. Atlanta, as currently constructed, lacks any kind of defensive intimidation.

The pass rush is non-existent, and the corner room leaves so much to be desired. Plus, Carolina swept the season series against the Falcons last season.

In Week 11, Bryce Young delivered a masterclass against Atlanta’s defense. A 30-27 overtime win saw Young throw for 448 yards and three touchdowns as a four-point pup.

Accordingly, I predict the Panthers bounce back and earn a third straight win over Atlanta.

Chiefs vs Colts Prediction: Indianapolis Colts Spread (+6.5, -110)

Based on the Colts’ offensive success against the Ravens in Week 1 and cover in Kansas City last year, my Chiefs vs Colts prediction is the Colts Spread (+6.5, -110).

These teams met last November with Indianapolis coming off its bye week. Odds closed with the Colts as a three-point road underdog.

Are the Colts really 3.5 points worse than they were on November 23rd? I’d argue the answer is no.

The defense performed poorly against the Ravens at home. However, I’d argue the test gets slightly easier in Week 2 against Kansas City. They also have an extra day to prepare.

While Kansas City dominated from a yardage standpoint, Indy forced turnovers against the offense. Plus, I’d argue the Chiefs defense is down compared to last year’s quality.

In Week 1, Indy’s offense showed me some encouraging signs. Jonathan Taylor rushed for 98 yards on 19 carries with two scores. As a team, Indianapolis averaged 5.1 yards per rush.

Baltimore only edged Indianapolis 4-3 in red zone attempts. Zay Flowers explosives harmed the Colts defense before he exited with an injury.

Jesse Minter’s defense also recovered a Taylor fumble in opposition territory that led to a 32-yard rushing touchdown.

While we’ve yet to see Kansas City’s offensive quality, I question if they can win by this many points against a decent offense.

Paired with Kansas City’s weakness at corner, I predict the visitors cover the spread.

Bears vs Vikings Prediction: Minnesota Vikings Moneyline (+200)

Based on the Vikings’ strong defensive performance against Green Bay and the market overreaction to the Bears, my Bears vs Vikings prediction is the Vikings Moneyline (+200).

Before the Bears throttled the Panthers, the lookahead line for this game was Bears -3. Is Chicago really 2.5 points better because they beat one of the worst teams in the NFL?

It’s important to study how the Bears put up 59 points. I’m not here to say they looked bad, but a couple of numbers signal potential regression.

Chicago edged Carolina by only 0.2 yards per play. Red zone chances finished four apiece. The Bears rushed for 291 yards on 39 attempts, 122 of which came on three plays.

Chicago led all teams with a +0.143 rush EPA per play in Week 1. Their rushing success rate, however, was 40%, good for 18th in Week 1. Translation: explosive rush or nothing.

Minnesota ranked eighth in defensive rush success rate, albeit against a bad line/back combo.

But in two games against the Bears last year, the Vikings defense shut down Chicago’s ground game. In Week 1, the Bears posted a 19% rush success rate. In Week 11: 47.4%.

However, Chicago’s rush EPA per play in Week 11 that year came in at -0.118 (excluding turnovers). It’s a bad signal as they return home to face a defense that shut them down.

Most concerning about Week 1 is that the Bears allowed 31 points inside three quarters to a horrible quarterback.

Say what you will about Carson Wentz. However, he’s healthy behind a good offensive line, playing a defense with no pass rush.

Lastly, a lot has changed since last year. But the Bears closed as a 1.5-point home dog to J.J. McCarthy last year in Week 1. I’m not buying Minnesota is six points worse with Wentz.

This goes one of two ways.

Either the Bears offense is as good as everyone says and they beat Minnesota to a pulp. Alternatively, Chicago crashes back down to Earth against a better defense.

I trust Brian Flores enough to have a good game plan. Ultimately, I give Minnesota a greater chance than their 33% implied chance suggests in a divisional contest.

Texans vs Bengals Prediction: Bengals Under 21.5 Points (-105)

Based on Cincinnati’s consistently short fields against the Bucs and misleading offensive record, my Texans vs Bengals prediction is the Bengals Under 21.5 Points (-105).

It will become clear why this next stat is important to analyzing Cincy’s offensive ceiling in Week 2. Against Tampa Bay, the Bengals defense forced exactly zero punts.

Tampa Bay started nine drives in Week 1. Four went for points, four resulted in a turnover and one resulted in a kneel-down.

It made the Bengals look good because they consistently started with short fields.

Including a defensive touchdown, the Bengals scored 17 points off a turnover or drive that began in Tampa territory. Only two scoring drives went over 50 yards.

On offense, the Bengals ranked 17th of 30th in expected points added per play. Now, they find themselves in a sell-high spot against the outstanding Houston defense.

I question whether the Bengals offensive line delivers a similarly strong performance against Houston’s front. DeMeco Ryans’ unit struggled to pressure Josh Allen, but it came against a good line.

While Houston’s defense ranked 27th in EPA per play, they finished 10th in success rate. Just against the pass: 28th in EPA vs. 16th in success rate.

Buffalo scored 36 points despite only three red zone trips. Houston, in a more favorable matchup, should see some positive regression.

Dating back to the start of last season, only four teams cleared this number in a meaningful game against Houston: Jacksonville, New England, Seattle and Buffalo.

Based on Week 1, I’m not sure the Bengals offense meets the ceiling of those teams. Accordingly, I predict Cincinnati stays under a key number in Week 2.

Titans vs Eagles Prediction: Titans Under 14.5 Points (+100)

Based on Tennessee’s horrific offensive metrics against a bad defense and their bad offensive line, my Titans vs Eagles prediction is the Titans Under 14.5 Points (+100).

There’s a world where the Titans fail to find the end zone this week. Heck, they should get a reward every time they cross into Eagles territory.

Philadelphia looked weak defensively against the Commanders. I simply don’t think Tennessee can replicate how the Commanders moved the ball on Vic Fangio’s defense.

Tennessee ranked 29th in offensive DVOA last week. Of the five worst offenses in DVOA – Miami, Tennessee, Denver, Atlanta and Cleveland – only one played at home.

I can also make the argument they had the easiest test of those five teams. Still, the Titans reached the Jets’ red zone only once. It came down 23-3 in the fourth quarter!

The offensive line offers no match for the Eagles’ front seven. Tennessee ranked 19th in pass protection and 23rd in rush protection. Tony Pollard rushed for only 35 yards on seven carries.

For all intents and purposes, bettors need to believe the ground game shows up to overtake this benchmark. Last year, Tennessee cleared this number nine times in 17 games.

They rushed for over 100 yards in five of those nine successes. Additionally, five of their nine clearances against this benchmark came from Week 12 onward.

Last year, the Eagles rarely played bad offenses. During the 2025 season, Fangio’s unit faced the fourth-hardest set of opposing offenses.

Only twice all year did the Eagles face a team that finished the 2025 season ranked 24th or worse in offensive DVOA. Oddly, they allowed 22 to Minnesota but zero to Las Vegas.

Carson Wentz, not J.J. McCarthy, started for the Vikings. Right now, Cam Ward lacks the competence to replicate Wentz’s ceiling potential.

Accordingly, I predict the Titans stay under this benchmark for a second straight game.

NFL Week 2 Predictions by Public Consensus

Get up-to-date NFL public betting data on all Week 2 games for both bets placed and money wagered percentages.