The first week of the 2019 NFL regular season is in the book. I finished 8-8 against the spread with my picks. I wasn’t burned too much by late-game comebacks as much as most as my picks mostly benefited from the late-game heroics last week.

A few young players had breakout games last week. Ravens QB Lamar Jackson had a perfect passer rating and shut up critics that he can only scramble. Can he continue the same success against the Cardinals this week?

Can the Patriots cover a massive -18.5 point spread against the brutal Dolphins?

We pick every NFL game against the spread and throw out a few upsets in Week 2 of the 2019 NFL season.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Carolina Panthers (-7) – My pick is Carolina Panthers

The Bucs basically gave the win to the Niners last week. They were their own worst enemy by turning the ball over. Bucs QB Jameis Winston appears to be the same lackluster QB under new head coach Bruce Arians. The Panthers lost a close game to the Rams, in a game that was much closer than I assumed it would be. Panthers QB Cam Newton didn’t have a great game, but as long as he has RB Christian McCaffrey, he can help bounce back from some of his mistakes. Thursday games can be sloppy and I think this one will be, so I have to take the team that can minimize turnovers, so I’m taking Carolina to cover at home.

Seattle Seahawks at Pittsburgh Steelers (-4) – My pick is Seattle Seahawks

The Steelers were spanked by the Patrtiots 33-3 in Week 1. There were plenty of blowouts last week, but this one was the most surprising. Pittsburgh just couldn’t get anything going and the Patriots were able to match down the field at will. The Seahawks were almost upset by the Bengals, in a game that they were favored by 9.5 points at home. They squeaked by with a one-point win. I saw a little more life from them on both sides of the ball. I was just so unimpressed by the Steelers that I just can’t lay a penny on them this week, so I’m taking the points.

Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers (-3) – My pick is Minnesota Vikings

The Packers beat the Bears 10-3 in the first game of the year. It was a defensive battle and the Packers offense really only looked good on their lone touchdown drive. The Vikings relied heavily on the run game and took the ball out of QB Kirk Cousins hands for most of the game. RB Dalvin Cook was able to score two touchdowns and was difficult for the Falcons to stop. Green Bay’s defense is faster than last year, but they still lack elite defenders. The Vikings will find a way to keep this one tight, so I’m taking the points.

San Francisco 49ers at Cincinnati Bengals (-1.5) – My pick is Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals almost beat the Seahawks in Seattle, but fell short in the fourth quarter. QB Andy Dalton looked as good as he has in years thanks to the speed of WR John Ross. This surprised many since he’s without WR A.J. Green and RB Joe Mixon isn’t 100% due to injury. The Niners beat the Bucs by two touchdowns last week, but San Francisco wasn’t too impressive. The Bucs were just ineffective in ever facet of the game and the Niners benefited from it. I’m not completely sold on Niners QB Jimmy Garaoppolo as a top-tier QB. I have to take the Bengals to cover.

Jacksonville Jaguars at Houston Texans (-9.5) – My pick is Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jaguars will be without QB Nick Foles for a couple months due to a broken clavicle. QB Gardner Minshew looked pretty good in relieving Foles last week. He will have all the reps with the first-team offense this week and I expect solid production from the former Washington State quarterback. It helps that he has a very good defense to bail him out if he struggles at times. The Texans nearly came back on the Saints last week. Texans QB Deshaun Watson rekindled his love with WR Will Fuller and that duo will be hard to stop this season. Fortunately for the Jaguars, they have a couple really good corners that they can drape on Fuller to help out. Minshew is underrated and think this will be a good game, so I’m taking the points.

New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins (+19) – My pick is New England Patriots

The Patriots have historically struggled to cover at Miami. Even when they had super dominant teams, the Dolphins always made things interesting in Miami. Well, this year’s Dolphins team is beyond horrible. They basically quit Week 1 and let QB Lamar Jackson look like video game ‘Madden’ Michael Vick come to life. The Patriots don’t have a brakes and they just keep pushing throughout the game. This point spread is insane, but the Patriots have covered crazier lines with worse teams.

Indianapolis Colts at Tennessee Titans (-3.5) – My pick is Tennessee Titans

The Colts really held their own against the Chargers. They were able to score late and force overtime, but the Chargers were too much in OT. The one huge key that I saw in that game was that the Colts really couldn’t stop the Chargers ground game. I’m not sure why they went away from that at times, because they could have beaten the Colts by a few scores. That being said, the Titans is one of the worst opponents the Colts could face right now while they try to fix their run defense. We will see a lot of Titans RB Derrick Henry on Sunday. The Titans should cover at home.

Arizona Cardinals at Baltimore Ravens (-13) – My pick is Baltimore Ravens

Is this line a huge overreaction from the Ravens brutal beating of the lowly Dolphins? Are the Ravens really good or will every team that faces the Dolphins look pretty damn great this year? I think it’s a little of that, but I also think the Ravens are pretty damn great. They were able to score on a couple long plays, but other than that, their offense worked as planned. The Cardinals tied the Lions last week in rookie QB Kyler Murray’s first game. He struggled mightily in the first-half, but look pretty good for most of the second-half. I think the Ravens defense will be a little too much for the rookie and the Ravens short passing game will kill the morale of the Cardinals, so I’m taking the cover.

Buffalo Bills at New York Giants (+1.5) – My pick is Buffalo Bills

I really like the new young Bills defense. They have some fast guys who can make plays. Their offense is a little rough, but they will keep the Bills in this game. I don’t have a lot of faith in the Giants offense if they can clamp TE Evan Engram and limit RB Saquon Barkley to under three yards a carry. I think that’s doable. I’m taking the Bills to cover.

Dallas Cowboys at Washington Redskins (+5.5) – My pick is Dallas Cowboys

Cowboys QB Dak Prescott looked like a potential $40 million dollar quarterback last week. He threw for 405 yards with four passing touchdowns and no interceptions. Will he play like that every week? NOPE!…but I think he will have a lot of success against the Redskins. I’m taking the Boys to cover in D.C.

Los Angeles Chargers at Detroit Lions (+2.5) – My pick is Los Angeles Chargers

This game should be pretty close. I liked a lot of what I saw from both teams last week. My one big issue with the Lions is that they still really don’t have much of a running game. The Chargers let Colts RB Marlon Mack run all over them last week. I’ll be surprised if the Lions manage to hit the league average in rushing yards against the Chargers. I think that will be the key and a cover for the Bolts.

Kansas City Chiefs at Oakland Raiders (+7) – My pick is Kansas City Chiefs

The Raiders looked pretty darn good on Monday night against the Broncos. QB Derek Carr was throwing darts out there. Denver didn’t have much of an answer for him. The Chiefs are coming off a dominant win over the Jaguars. I expect a similar outcome this week against an overrated Raiders team, who will fall back down to Earth on Sunday.

New Orleans Saints at Los Angeles Rams (-2.5) – My pick is Los Angeles Rams

The Saints were able to hit a late field goal and beat the Texans last week. One glaring issue I see for them going forward is their lack of a bruising running game. They miss former RB Mark Ingram. They tried to replace him with RB Latavius Murray, but he’s more of a one-cut running back. Ingram was such a great complement to Kamara and it’s missing right now. They will need to rely on the arm of QB Drew Brees to win games this year. The Rams have a great three-headed running attack with weapons all over the place on both sides of the ball. This game will be fun, but the Rams have too many weapons for the Saints.

Chicago Bears at Denver Broncos (+2.5) – My pick is Chicago Bears

The Bears and Broncos both looked pretty bad in nationally-televised games last week. My guess is that the Bears will simplify the offense a bit for QB Mitchell Trubisky to get his feet under him. The Broncos never really got anything going against the Raiders last week. The Bears defense is much more stout and could struggle even more on Sunday, so I’m taking the Bears to cover.

Philadelphia Eagles at Atlanta Falcons (+1.5) – My pick is Philadelphia Eagles

I really didn’t like what I saw from the Falcons last week. The Vikings threw a one-dimensional offensive attack at them and had success. If they couldn’t stop the Vikings run-run-run-run-run-pass-run-run-run offense, how can they stop the Eagles balanced attack? The Eagles are going to cover in Atlanta.

Cleveland Browns at New York Jets (+6.5) – My pick is Cleveland Browns

The Browns had all the hype in the world coming into this season…and they fell on their faces in Week 1. QB Baker Mayfield threw three interceptions and most of their new acquisitions failed to really make much of an impact. Fortunately for the Browns, they get to play the Jets. They will be without QB Sam Darnold who may miss a couple games due to a bout of mono. The Jets will start QB Trevor Siemian, who last took a regular season snap in 2017 with the Broncos. This is a big game for the Browns who rarely get any love on Monday Night Football. I’m taking Cleveland to cover at Metlife Stadium.

*These picks are for entertainment purposes

Sweetbob’s NFL picks against the spread record in previous seasons:
2013: 133-95-10
2014: 131-114-9
2015: 150-108-9
2016: 143-120-13
2017: 144-115-16
2018: 141-118-13
2019: 8-8-0

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About the Author…

Bobby Roberts (otherwise known as Sweetbob) is the creator of ‘America’s White Boy’ and contributor at Project Shanks. His writing has been featured on ESPN’s ‘SportsNation’, Sports Illustrated’s Hot Clicks, Guyspeed, and various other sites. You can follow him on Twitter at @Sweetbob