Chris Humpherys (the SportsChump) and I are back with our weekly football picks against the spread. Last week’s first crack at the season was a bit of a mixed bag. That tends to happen in the early going, at least for me. Chris tends to close his eyes and throw darts at the wall. Yes, we tend to talk trash with each other – how did you know? Anyway, here are our top picks for the week in College Football and the National Football League. That includes CFB Week 3 and our Week 2 NFL Bets.
As a reminder, you pick your top five games by confidence (against the spread). This includes NFL games against the spread and the College Football weekly slate.
Here are my TOP FIVE Best Bets for the week, including my Week 2 NFL Bets and Week 3 College Football Best Bets.
The list is ranked in order of confidence, from 50 “points” down to 10. Please note that the lines for my picks are all taken from DraftKings Sportsbook (I use them a ton – maybe some day they’ll notice).
DraftKings Sportsbook: Week 2 NFL Lines | Week 3 College Football Lines
The Wife Hates SportsChump: Week 2 NFL Bets and Week 3 College Picks
KP’s Picks: The Wife Hates Sports
50: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-2.5) at New Orleans Saints
Bucs: Godwin is injured again, leaving players like Julio Jones to step up in the passing game. The Bucs didn’t blow the doors off last week, but did manage to hold the Cowboys to three points.
Saints: Statistically, Winston had a good line last week. However, New Orleans needed a feverish fourth quarter comeback to top the Falcons. The Saints also allowed four sacks in the game and now face a more talented and aggressive defense. Oh, and Alvin Kamara is banged up, too.
The Game: The Saints have actually won seven of eight in the series. New head coaches are here, but the rivalry remains. Each team has talent, but this line is a bit too juicy to me, despite the recent history. It’s tough to play in New Orleans, but Brady and the Bucs have the depth to leave “The Big Easy” with a not so easy win. That’s if enough receivers are healthy when game day arrives. Tampa Bay wins the turnover battle, and the Bucs cover on the road.
40: Seattle Seahawks (+8.5) at San Francisco 49ers
Seahawks: Seattle wins the revenge game against Russell Wilson and the Broncos. While a big win, let’s not forget that the Seahawks forced two Denver turnovers inside the five yard line. This could have easily been a double-digit win for the Broncos.
49ers: The Niners faltered in the second half last week. Let’s not forget the weather conditions were brutal. Despite that, San Francisco and Trey Lance struggled often. On top of that, the Niners are already losing running backs to injury.
The Game: No weather issues this week. The Niners also have home field advantage. How will Lance play, considering the home crowd and better weather? How about Geno Smith, who had a strong opening game for the Seahawks? In a rivalry game, I’m banking on Seattle to keep it close throughout. That’s if Geno can have another steady performance. Give me the Seahawks and the points.
30: Cincinnati Bengals (-7.5) at Dallas Cowboys
Bengals: Joe Burrow had arguably his worst game as a pro, with five turnovers. Despite that, he nearly led the Bengals to a comeback win over the rival Steelers. Now that he has his back against the wall, it’s time for this offense to really shine.
Cowboys: With Dak Prescott out for many weeks, Cooper Rush will start. Dallas also has clear holes in its receiving game.
The Game: Dallas still has plenty of talent on both sides of the ball. Micah Parsons can spark a momentum change on his own. Still, this isn’t the second opponent that Dallas needed. Not with Joe Burrow angry and Dak Prescott injured. Give me the Bengals to cover on the road.
20: SMU Mustangs at Maryland Terrapins (-2.5)
Mustangs: QB Tanner Mordecai is a talented player that will give the Maryland defense fits.
Terps: For Maryland, all eyes are also on the quarterback position (Hello, Taulia Tagovailoa). In addition, this is arguably Mike Locksley’s most talented team since taking over as head coach at Maryland.
The Game: Per Phil Steele and heading into the season, SMU is 11-1 straight up and 9-3 against the spread in non-conference games since 2019. That’s a pretty impressive stat to be ignoring, considering I’m going with the Big Ten team. Taulia comes up big. Terps cover at home.
10: Oklahoma Sooners (-11) at Nebraska Cornhuskers
Sooners: I’m not sure what we’ll get from first year head coach Brett Venables and the Sooners as the season progresses. Returning just ten starters heading into the season, there are question marks. Still, this team is talented and off to a strong start.
Huskers: With Nebraska, it’s the opposite. What an absolute mess. Scott Frost was officially relieved of his head coaching duties. The final straw being a 45-42 loss to Georgia Southern. Mickey Joseph now leads the team and the question remains how the Huskers will respond.
The Game: Talk about two teams headed in opposite directions. Frost was a legend at Nebraska and there was so much hype around his hiring. Now, Nebraska is picking up the pieces. They have home field and a chance to turnaround their season under a different head coach. An old rivalry renewed, as well. Despite all that, I just don’t buy a bounce back. The Huskers have a long way to go. I bet many of the players are thinking transfer portal. Sooners cover on the road.
SportsChump’s Picks
Check out the SportsChump’s Week 2 NFL Bets and top College Football selections of the week, featuring special guest (and friend of both sites) J-Dub. Seriously, click on the link… these guys are good.
Feel free to chime in with your favorite picks for the week. Also, if you have interest in being a guest picker, please let us know via the comments below. Thank you for visiting The Wife Hates Sports!
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