NFL Odds Week 2: Top Longshots to Bet Against the Spread

Everyone loves a good underdog story, and we saw a few dogs win outright in Week 1.

The Los Angeles Rams proved that they're not playing for 2024 by rocking the rival Seattle Seahawks in a 30-13 blowout. The Cleveland Browns, meanwhile, held serve at home and battered the Cincinnati Bengals in a 24-3 slugfest.

Chances are, we're going to see a few more underdogs win outright in Week 2. Fortunately, though, bettors don't need their dogs to win when playing the lines. They only need them to cover.

Here, we'll dive into the Week 1 results, the latest injury and roster-related buzz and the matchups to uncover our favorite underdog picks for Week 2.

Check the latest lines at DraftKings.

When you're backing underdogs, you're backing the team that is expected to lose. Fans should expect the Las Vegas Raiders to lose against the Buffalo Bills in Week 2.

Buffalo narrowly lost an overtime thriller to the New York Jets on Monday night, but the Bills also beat themselves. Josh Allen threw three interceptions and lost a fumble, and he's unlikely to have a similarly mistake-prone outing at home in Week 2.

However, this is a massive line and one that the new-look Raiders have the talent to cover. Las Vegas leaned on Jimmy Garoppolo, Jakobi Meyers, Davante Adams and reigning rushing champ Josh Jacobs to get a big Week 1 victory. These players, and specifically Jacobs, can find success against Buffalo.

While the Bills defense is quite good, it doesn't have a healthy Von Miller and is suspect against the run. Buffalo ranked 14th in yards per attempt allowed last season and just coughed up 172 rushing yards to the Jets.

Jacobs struggled to get going in Week 1 after holding out the entire offseason. He should be better in Week 2, and that's reason enough to jump on this line before it comes down.

Underdogs in divisional games are almost always an attractive option. Familiar opponents tend to produce close games and a fair amount of outright upsets.

The Rams showed against Seattle that they're still dangerous. They may not have Cooper Kupp, but Matthew Stafford, Aaron Donald and surprise rookie star Puka Nacua are going to keep L.A. in a lot of contests this season.

Will the Rams upset the San Francisco 49ers? That's unlikely. San Francisco looked like the best team in football on Sunday, which is precisely why this game carries an eight-point spread.

Fans shouldn't expect an outright blowout here, though. The Rams defense showed that it still has some stopping power against Seattle, and if it can contain Christian McCaffrey, Brock Purdy and Co., this one could be extremely close.

Sean McVay knows how to scheme against San Francisco's vaunted defense, something he did masterfully in the 2021 NFC title game.

McVay and the Rams have only beaten San Francisco once over the past three seasons, and they're probably not winning in Week 2. They can, however, keep it close at home.

The Miami Dolphins offense looked borderline unstoppable against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 1. Miami will face a much stiffer test against the New England Patriots in Week 2.

The Patriots are loaded with defensive talent and still employ Bill Belichick, one of the sport's top defensive minds. New England did an excellent job of containing a very potent Philadelphia Eagles offense on Sunday, even if the Patriots couldn't do enough to win.

The X-factor here is a Patriots offense that played shockingly well against the Eagles. New England was a mess on that side of the ball in 2022, but new/former offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien has the Patriots trending in the right direction.

Mac Jones threw for 316 yards and three touchdowns against a top-notch Eagles defense, and New England produced 382 total offensive yards.

Expect the Patriots to find similar offensive success against a Dolphins defense that gave up 433 yards and 34 points in Week 1.

Will the Patriots out-score Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill and the Dolphins and actually win? Maybe not, but a one- or two-point loss at home is certainly within reason.

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