One of the toughest cards to handicap is week one of the NFL season. Even after seeing four or five exhibition games, there are still a number of surprises.
If you don’t believe me, just take a look at last week’s pro ticket. There were seven new head coaches in the NFL and all seven lost their prospective battles straight up on the field. Steve Wilks of Arizona, Matt Nagy of Chicago, Matt Patricia of Detroit, Frank Reich of Indianapolis, Pat Shurmur of the New York Giants, Jon Gruden of Oakland and Mike Vrabel of Tennessee all went down. That was terrible.
There were other dismal opening week performances too. How about Matty “Ice” Ryan getting five shots from Philadelphia’s 10-yard line and failing to gain a yard let alone get a score? What about the Cardinals generating just 14 first downs and 213 total yards in a near shutout loss to the Redskins at home? Oh, and someone forgot to tell the Bills that their game started at 1 PM EST. Buffalo picked up no first downs and only 33 total yards in the first half of its 47-3 loss to Baltimore. Finally, did the Saints defense not watch any film on Bucs quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick? An NFL signal-caller since 2005, “Fitz” torched the New Orleans defense for 417 yards and four touchdowns!
If you got out of the gate slowly, there is no need to panic. The NFL is a long season. And, fortunately for us, there are a number of outstanding pro football situations that take a look at teams coming off poor performances in their season opener. Here is one of my best.
Since 1982, PLAY ON and game two underdog or short favorite of -2.5 or less provided they lost straight up as a favorite in their season opener and they are matched up against another game two foe.
36 Year ATS Record = 63-34-2 ATS for 64.9 percent
This Week’s Play = INDIANAPOLIS, ARIZONA and DETROIT
The Colts, Cardinals and Lions all had their own struggles in week one and they are in perfect position to bounce back in their second game of the season. Actually, one of those three teams apply to a couple of tighteners to this system that really make it pop.
If our “play on” side is facing a foe that carried a team won/loss percentage less than or equal to .560 last year and did not lose to the Las Vegas pointspread by 28 points or more, this highly profitable game two system jets to a lucrative 30-7-1 ATS for 81.0 percent. Of the three teams listed, only Indianapolis fits both of these parameters.
Good luck with the Horseshoes on Sunday at Washington!