I get excited every time I start writing about Week 2 of a given year. That’s because we always have the same setup, and it never fails to give value.
It is, of course, overreaction.
It’s the trend that appears on command and can be found everywhere. In fact, I write the word so often that I need to try to think of another way to phrase it.
But I won’t. Because it is the driving force of so many picks.
We just watched one game for each team, and we can easily see how the opinions are formed. We now aim to find the truth underneath those opinions.
Below are predictions for each game against the spread. Spreads have been taken from various websites and are subject to change. The spread in parenthesis denotes the selected team. Spread is listed as advertised number and odds at either DraftKings Sportsbook, FanDuel Sportsbook, Caesars Sportsbook, or PointsBet. All efforts were made to provide picks at -110 or better, with some stretching to a -125 if no reasonable advertised spread was found.
*Confidence Picks – 2023 Season: 3-4 (Last Week: 3-4)
(2022 Season: 54-54-5) (2021 Season: 55-50) (2020 Season: 53-42-3) (2019 Season: 57-43-3) (2018 Season: 63-48-4) (2017 Season: 53-48-4) (2016 Season: 53-67-3) (2015 Season: 69-45-2) (2014 Season: 61-46-2) (9-Year Total: 518-443-26)
All Picks Against Spread – 2023 Season: 7-9 (Last Week: 7-9)
(2022 Season: 143-132-9) (2021 Season: 158-126-2) (2020 Season: 132-128-7) (2019 Season: 142-118-7) (2018 Season: 137-118-12) (2017 Season: 137-119-11) (2016 Season: 123-136-8) (2015 Season: 143-117-7) (2014 Season: 149-114-4) (9-Year Total: 1264-1108-67)
Minnesota Vikings at Philadelphia Eagles
I always point out scheduling quirks when I find them, but this is among the strangest I’ve seen. The Minnesota Vikings opened up both this and last year at home on Sunday afternoon. In Week 2, the Vikings were tasked with traveling to play the Philadelphia Eagles. They will do the same this week.
This setup is particularly strange because the Vikings and Eagles are not division opponents. We see rivals face-off often in Primetime. To see Philadelphia and Minnesota meet in the same venue in the same week in night games — last year was Monday night where this time, it will be played on Thursday — is definitely interesting.
It’s even more interesting when we bring in