NFL Week 2 picks against the spread

Detroit Lions @ San Francisco 49ers (-5.5)

What was that Monday Night performance. Seriously, what happened to the Lions on the national stage. With ESPN cameras rolling, the Lions put together one of the worst performances in years in prime time. Matthew Stafford threw four interceptions and looked terrible for most of the game. Matt Cassell came in and proved the Lions are forced to go with whatever Stafford is this season.

Don’t blame Stafford for the loss. It seemed like Matt Patricia was so woefully outcoached by Todd Bowles it seemed sad. Patricia couldn’t recognize defenders hiding their protections. He was fooled by fake blitzes and missed the extra men. It was not good.

The 49ers, on the other hand, did enough to look decent against the Vikings. Jimmy Garoppolo did record his first loss, and did not look great doing it. He needs to play better if he is going to make the 49ers true contenders, but the way the Lions played he can do little and still cover this line.

San Francisco 27, Detroit 17

Arizona Cardinals @ Los Angeles Rams (-12.5)

Woof. That’s a heck of a line. 12 and a half points is so many in most situations, but this is hard to make an argument against. The Arizona Cardinals do have David Johnson and Larry Fitzgerald, but the offensive line doesn’t give them much of a chance. This team is going to play Aaron Donald, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year.

The Rams looked exactly how we expected on Monday night in Jon Gruden’s return to coaching. Even though the Raiders struck first and Marshawn Lynch looked like he turned back the clock, the Rams dominated when it mattered. This will be more of the same.

Los Angeles (R) 24, Arizona 7