We are finally entering the best time of the year. It’s the first weekend of full College Football and  NFL slates. It is a grueling 36 hours that can break the will of any gambler. It can exacerbate your Sunday Scaries or it can have you puffing your chest out, but either way it is this roller coaster of emotions that makes us gamble. Experiencing the Josh Gordon-like highs and the Nathan Peterman-like lows are why we do this but lucky for you I am here to just give you the Josh Gordons. Week 2 of the NFL provides great opportunities for gamblers if you play your cards right. There is typically overreaction from the public on most teams after Week 1 so fading public favorites is highly profitable. This is supported by Week 2 NFL trends dating back to the 80’s so we are going to target some of those games this week. I typically end up betting most of the games but I am going to give the ones I feel strongest about to you fine people.

Chiefs at Steelers (-5) 1:00 P.M.

Listen, I hate to do this since I am a big Patrick Mahomes fan and I think the Chiefs are legit this year, but they are absolutely adored by the public this week. As I said before public favorites fare terribly in Week 2 and they have about 70% of bets which indicates a lot of public action on them. They had an embarrassing game against the Browns in Week 1 and should be looking to bounce back big at home.

Pick: Steelers -5 (1 slice)

Vikings at Packers (pick em) 1:00 P.M.

The big question mark concerning bettors in this one is the status of Aaron Rodgers. Frankly I don’t care about that since the Vikings look legit and I already took them as a pick em. If Rodgers does play they are going to pressure the crap out of him and either he won’t be able to do much or he will just make his injury worse. Then obviously if he doesn’t play you can count that as an automatic win. Hammer the Vikings in this one, Rodgers isn’t pulling a rabbit out of his ass against elite defenses two weeks in a row.

Pick: Vikings Pick Em (3 slices)

Eagles (-3) at Buccaneers 1:00 P.M.

The Buccaneers stunned everyone in the Super Dome last week by drowning the Saints in Fitzmagic’s holy water. Meanwhile the Eagles edged out a win against the Falcons looking pretty average on offense. The public thinks the Buccaneers are a new team with Fitzpatrick at the helm but they will be in for a rude awakening when they go up against this loaded Eagles defense. I also expect Foles to get clicking more this game so Fly Eagles Fly baby.

Pick: Eagles -3 (2 slices)

Browns at Saints (-9) 1:00 P.M.

As I mentioned in the last pick the Saints got demolished last week. The Browns scraped together a tie which is a win for them. I thought the public might be on the Browns since they look like a new team, but they must be low on Tyrod Taylor and high on the Saints redemption narrative since the Saints are getting 66% of the bets. I like the Saints to win this one but I think the Browns solid defense along with my expected improvements from Tyrod will enable the Browns to cover. Sprinkle a little on the Browns.

Pick: Browns +9 (1 slice)

Lock of the Week

Pats -1 at Jaguars 4:05 P.M.

This is the clear game of the week and a rematch of the AFC Championship. The Jags defense looks really good again and the offense looked serviceable. The Pats offense seemed to be clicking last week aside from a few turnovers and the defense impressed me. Leonard Fournette is questionable for this one which is kind of a big deal since the Pats defense struggles to stop the run more than anything else. If he plays and isn’t a shell of himself then I think the Jags have some chance of winning. But the Pats simply do not lose to AFC South teams. They are 21-0 ATS against the division since 2004. Because of that reason and the cloud over Fournette’s head I am pounding the New England Brady’s like a ZooMass student pounds Natty Light.

Pick: Pats -1 (5 slices)