For a while week 2 looked like it was going to be a much bigger week, the 3 wins all pretty much led start to finish and 2 of the 3 losses the Giants and Texans, led the game late or were in position to cover late. The other loss well, lets just say every Eagles fan felt the same watching that debacle.

Week 2: 3 – 3

Season Ats 8-4

Week 2 results

What Went Right

The Steelers Pass Game: This was a great schedule spot for the Steelers, getting 3 extra days after coming off of a loss on TNF and facing the 49ers who were coming off of a MNF win at home. The Rothlisberger averaged 13.7 yards per pass att and helped the Steelers go 5-5 in redzone. Perhaps more surprising was the job don by the Steelers defense in pressuring Kaepernick, the Steelers had 23 total pressure plays (Sacks + TFL + QB Hits).

Vikings Run Game: Last season the Lions were the best run defense in the league giving up only 3.2 yards per rush but now without Suh and Fairly that run defense is nowhere near as good. The Vikings ran the ball for 4.7 yards per rush but what makes that far more amazing is that they had 42 attempts. On the flip side the Vikings held the Lions to only 2.4 yards per rush and forced 3 turnover.

The Browns Pass Defense: Marcus Mariotta was coming off of one of the best débuts ever with 4 Tds in TB but I thought the underrated Browns pass defense which ranked #1 in Opp passer rating last season would be able to play well vs the rookie. Mariotta was held to a QBR 29.7 and 5 yards per pass. The Browns also got some luck in forcing 3 fumbles and recovering all 3, as well as scoring on a punt return.

What Went Wrong

The Giants in the 4thQ: For the 2nd straight week the Gants led going into th 4th quarter and blew the game this time also blowing the ATS win. Giants led 20-10pt going into the 4th Q and ended up losing the 4th 14-0.

Texans offense: Looking back at this game I thought Hou’s Def had a major advantage over the Panthers offensive line but that did not play out as they had only 2 sacks and 8 pressure plays total. What was worse was their offense led by Ryan Mallet. Mallet attempted a ridiculous 58 passes for only  239 yards (4.1/pass) and somehow the run game was even worse averaging only 2.7 yards/att

The Eagles: everything went wrong for the Eagles. In a game that the Cowboys played without Dez Bryant and then also lost Tony Romo, the Eagles did not lead for 1 second. In fact the Eagles have not led at all in their first 2 games. The Eagles offensive line was putrid in the run game leading to an abysmal 0.4 yards per rush. Everything in Chip Kelly’s offense is set up with the run and so far the complete lack of a running game has the Eagles moving in a dire direction. It is certainly possible that Chip can scheme to make up for the poor line play, despite the poor play at guard the Eagles still have a potential HOFer starting at LT, a former pro bowl C and a top 5 pick at RT but in the first 2 games the line and play calling have been dreadful.

What Did We Learn in Week 2

1. Back to Back Road Games was Death: 5 teams opened the season with 2 straight road games, (Det, Bal, Ten, Mia, Sea) and all 5 teams lost straight up and ATS in the 2nd of those road games. While we can’t expect every team to fall in the 2nd of B2B road games it is a spot should be looked at every week. In Week 3 Den, SD, SF, ATL and TB will all be playing the 2nd of B2B road games
2. Chiefs – Den: Looking at the boxscore what jumps out is that despite the fact that the turnovers in this game were 5-1 in favor of Denver the game was very much in doubt until the final Jamaal Charles fumble was returned for a TD. The Broncos were held to 2.8 yards per rush, while the Chiefs had great success in run game averaging 5 yards per rush. The Chiefs also faced only 7 3rd downs while completing 20 1st downs but went 0 – 7 on those 3rd downs and only 1 for 4 in the redzone. The Chiefs played a very very good game and the Broncos were extremely lucky to get the win and cover.
3.  80/20 bets. In week 1 the heavily bet public games managed to mostly cover and that included 2 games that had 80% or more on one side and deliver big losses to the books including 2 games. We saw a major correction this week with 4 teams getting 80% or more of the bets, Bal, Ten, StL and Mia and all 4 lost not just ATS but also straight up.