PREVIOUS WEEK RESULTS:
5-4

SEASON RESULTS:
5-4

Week 1 Recap:

The BetCrushers went pretty heavy for the NFL’s opening week playing 9 prop bets (officially). We actually ended up playing a total of 14, which is a lot, even for us. With our official plays we finished a respectable, if not impressive 5-4. We had a couple of really quick and easy winners with Tyler Boyd’s receptions and Mark Ingram’s over total but missed a couple of close ones with Derrick Henry just clearing his mark and Chris Carson falling a little short. We’ll never complain about a winning week, especially in the opener so we’re on to week two.

Week 2 Preview:

We’ve spent the past six days breaking down every game looking for advantages and as lame as it sounds, week two is one of the trickiest cards that we can recall in recent memory. The abundance of variables and strange matchups make for some real intrigue. That curiosity is will make for a fun weekend of football, but a smaller slate of plays for us. Looking ahead, week three will more than likely put some more understandable plays into focus, so in week two we’re just looking for a few guys that can have an impact. We’ve got five players lined up as official prop plays.
(All props via mybookie.ag as of 9/14/19)

Our Picks:

Robert Woods – Over 5 Catches (-115)

He’s never in the conversation of top wideouts in the league, and while he may not quite be on the level of the elite superstars at the position, the production Robert Woods has been putting up is noting to scoff at. Sunday afternoon the Rams will take on the Saints in a game that should have a far amount of scoring and throwing. There’s no question that Brandin Cooks and Cooper Kupp will get their fair share of looks, but that should help Woods get open enough to grab six balls. Woods brought in 8 passes in week one and he generally plays his best ball in big games and at home. His yardage total is also an option but the juice is higher so we’ll hope he can grab some throws over the middle and get this one over.

John Brown – Over 56.5 Yards (-115)

The biggest priority for the Bills in the offseason was to get young quarterback Josh Allen some protection and weapons to make the offense more explosive. John Brown emerged as Allen’s number one target and had a huge game including the winning touchdown against the Jets. It can be a little risky playing an over yardage total with a potential speedster. They can be feast or famine depending upon whether or not they can grab a deep ball or break a long run. Don’t be fooled by that scenario with Brown. He is not afraid to go across the middle and will again see a good share of targets his way. Their week two matchup against a Giants defense that was torched by three Cowboy receivers is inviting enough for us to take a shot with Brown’s over yardage total. After all, 57 yards for a team’s number one receiver isn’t asking all that much, particularly against a really weak pass defense.

Travis Kelce – Over 81.5 Yards (-115)

The Kansas City Chiefs picked up where they left off a year ago on offense scoring basically any time they needed or wanted to. They lost Tyreek Hill in that game but still had no trouble moving the ball as Sammy Watkins reminded people why he was the fourth selection of the draft six seasons ago. KC goes back on the road to face their divisonal foe in Oakland, a team coming off a defensive masterpiece against Denver. Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes never really got on the same page in week one as Kelce hauled in 3 of 8 targets. He did have one of those go for 42 yards and ended up with 88 total for the game. So if Kelce can have an off day and still pile up 88 yards, he can absolutely surpass 81.5 against the Raiders who had to place their talented rookie safety Jonathan Abrams. With Tyreek Hill on the shelf and a renewed focus from the defense on Watkins, look for Mahomes to try to get Kelce going. A year ago he was able to put up 168 yards on 13 catches in the Black Hole. Don’t look for that kind of performance, but a 7 for 100 is certainly do-able.

Eli Manning – Under 244.5 Yards (-115)

If you take a quick glance at the stat sheet from the Giants game in Dallas last week you’d assume that Eli Manning played a really good game. It’s fair to say that Manning did play a pretty solid game at QB, but there is a lot of hidden reality in that stat line. After an early touchdown, there wasn’t a lot until he piled up some yards playing catch up in the second half. Manning ended up throwing the ball 44 times, which is generally a bad sign for the Giants. Fast forward to their game this week against Buffalo, a team that is extra stingy against the pass. New York could find themselves in a battle with Buffalo so the likelihood of Eli attempting 44 passes again is highly unlikely. The Giants also received some criticism regarding how many touches Saquon Barkley got against the Cowboys. Look for NY to try to establish Barkley on the ground. Another huge challenge for Manning is a major lack of weapons. Evan Engram has developed nice chemistry with his quarterback but beyond that, where do the Giants go? Sterling Shepherd is out with a concussion and Cody Latimer is a game-time decision. Win or lose, unless Saquon Barkley breaks an 80 yard pass, expect Eli Manning to be in the low 200’s for passing yards against the Bills.

Paul Richardson – Over 3.5 Catches (-115)

Rookie wide receiver Terry McLaurin burst on the scene against Philadelphia leading the Redskins with 125 receiving yards. Paul Richardson didn’t make quite the splash, but he did lead the team in targets with 7 official (9 total – due to penalty). When you look at this matchup against arch-rival Dallas it could be a long day for the Redskins. We saw what the Giants were able to do through the air against Dallas after falling behind and it’s possible that same scenario could play out here. Even if it is a close game, it’s hard to imagine McLaurin having the type of game had in week one as a repeat. Rookie wide receivers rarely put together back to back stellar games, particularly as he likely caught the attention of the Dallas coaching staff. With Jordan Reed out, Richardson should see a chunk of targets again on Sunday. As was the case in week one, no guarantee that the yardage or production will be there for Richardson, but he can turn in a 4 or 5 catch performance by default in this one.