Are Joe Burrow’s Bengals headed for a 0-2 start? Will Jerry Jones be toasting the 2-0 Cowboys?
Each week throughout the NFL season, the supercomputer has something to say about such questions. No matter if it’s a headliner like the Philadelphia Eagles vs. the Minnesota Vikings or a game we may all be a bit less excited about, it unsentimentally beeps its way through the model’s NFL picks, boldly dropping score predictions for each.
We’ll start with the Thursday night game where the supercomputer loves the Eagles, giving them a 67.6% chance of beating the Vikings. That’s the highest win probability for any team in the entire Week 2 slate.
Another NFC East team we like this weekend: Dallas. The Cowboys didn’t allow a single point on any of the New York Giant’s 12 drives last week. This week, the Cowboys will be facing a New York Jets team led by Zach Wilson, who has thrown more career interceptions than touchdown passes. We think the Cowboys will score a 28-20 win over the Jets. Aaron Rodgers, New York hardly knew you and you’re bringing it down.
Moving on to another AFC-NFC matchup, the Washington Commanders are looking for their first 2-0 start since 2011 when they take on the Broncos in Denver. The Broncos will look to avoid a 0-2 record as we give them a slight edge with our score predictor forecasting a slender 21-20 Denver victory.
Denver’s AFC West rivals the Kansas City Chiefs are also looking to rebound from a one-point loss in the season opener as they travel to Jacksonville to take on the 1-0 Jaguars. The Chiefs have won seven straight in the matchup, and we’re predicting KC will earn its first win of the season by the score of 24-21.
On Sunday night, the Dolphins will travel to New England with Miami coming off a 36-34 win over the Chargers. Tyreek Hill had Miami’s first 200-yard receiving game in more than a decade in that win as we foresee a 24-21 Dolphins victory which would drop the Pats to 0-2 for the first time since the 2001 season.
Week 2 will feature a pair of division games on Monday Night Football with the Saints traveling to Charlotte to take on the Panthers and Pittsburgh hosting Cleveland.
The Saints have held nine straight opponents to 20 points or less, which is tied for a franchise record, and we believe that will continue with New Orleans moving to 2-0 with a 20-14 win over Bryce Young and Carolina.
According to our season-long predictions that include playoff and Super Bowl percentages for each team, the Pittsburgh Steelers are still slight favorites to win the AFC North despite a home loss to the Niners last week. Monday’s game is projected at a 20-20 tie, though the Steelers have a slight edge in win probability.
Here’s a look at the predictions for all 16 Week 2 games. And don’t forget to check out the weekly fantasy projections and rankings so you can see which rookie QB is expected to put up a top 10 point total this weekend, then compare him to others at the position.
- Philadelphia Eagles 27, Minnesota Vikings 23
- Green Bay Packers 20, Atlanta Falcons 17
- Buffalo Bills 31, Las Vegas Raiders 27
- Baltimore Ravens 27, Cincinnati Bengals 24
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23, Chicago Bears 17
- Kansas City Chiefs 24, Jacksonville Jaguars 21
- Los Angeles Chargers 23, Tennessee Titans 17
- Houston Texans 24, Indianapolis Colts 21
- Detroit Lions 24, Seattle Seahawks 21
- San Francisco 49ers 28, Los Angeles Rams 20
- New York Giants 20, Arizona Cardinals 17
- Dallas Cowboys 28, New York Jets 20
- Denver Broncos 21, Washington Commanders 20
- Miami Dolphins 24, New England Patriots 21
- New Orleans Saints 20, Carolina Panthers 14
- Cleveland Browns 20, Pittsburgh Steelers 20 (Win probability slightly in favor of the Steelers)
We’ll be back next week to take a look at Week 3’s games, which will include another double feature on Monday night.