NFL Week 2 picks and predictions, straight-up and ATS: Patriots bounce back, Chiefs stay hot

Never get too carried away with the results of one game. If making NFL picks over the years has taught me anything, that's probably chief among them. Yes, Week 1 saw some big surprises, whether that was the Chargers losing to the Cardinals, the blowout nature of the Chiefs win over the Broncos, or so many others. But we have to remain level-headed going into Week 2 as we continue to pursue our winning ways with NFL picks and predictions for every game.

An 11-5 week definitely feels like getting off on the right foot, especially doing so both straight-up and against the spread. But now we face the big questions for this week. Are we going to see the Patriots and Cowboys struggle to the degree we did this past week? Will teams like the Raiders and Cardinals make good on Week 1 victories to keep it rolling? Let's find out with our NFL Week 2 picks with predictions for all 16 games straight-up and against the spread.

NFL Week 2 predictions: Picks straight-up and ATS for every game

2026 NFL Picks Straight-Up Record: 11-5 (Last Week: 11-5) | ATS Record: 11-5 (Last Week: 11-5)

Note: All lines are courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook. Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.

Toughest NFL Week 2 prediction to make

Seattle Seahawks at Arizona Cardinals (+4.5)

On the one hand, what the Arizona Cardinals did in Week 1 is both impressive and somewhat fluky feeling. There was no doubt that they beat the Chargers on Sunday, but it's hard to escape the idea that they were also a bit fortunate to be in that position with Los Angeles playing a truly poor game. And now they're hosting the rival Seattle Seahawks on Sunday in a game where the defending Super Bowl champs won't have Sam Darnold in the fold.

At the same time, Drew Lock performed quite well when he was forced into action early against New England in the NFL Kickoff Game last week, so I don't think this is going to be a complete dropoff for the Seahawks. But I also recognize that it does, at least to some degree, hamstring the Seattle offense and now puts Lock in a position to start against a Cardinals team that simply might be better than we expected.

The core of this pick, though, comes down to the Seahawks defense. No matter who the opponent is, I trust Mike Macdonald and this staff to have that side of the ball fully buttoned up and ready to dominate. With the Cardinals on the right side of two key numbers, though, I will take Arizona to cover in what should ultimately end up being a low-scoring affair, even if Seattle is still my pick to take the victory outright.

Easiest NFL Week 2 pick on the board

Pittsburgh Steelers at New England Patriots (-4.5)

The Pittsburgh Steelers go on the road to Foxborough at 1-0 and the New England Patriots will be trying to get off the mat after starting 0-1. Drake Maye couldn't have looked much worse than he did against Seattle, which is saying something considering how bad he looked in last year's Super Bowl while facing the same defense. And yet, I'm not only taking the Patriots to win this game at home — I'm taking them to cover.

Starting with the Patriots side of things, there are two things that stand out. First, Macdonald and the Seahawks defense just have Josh McDaniels' number right now. Maybe that will flip at some point, but New England's offense, Maye and everyone else, just doesn't have answers when facing this unit. But Maye was an MVP candidate before the Super Bowl last year, so I do believe opponent matters. More than that, let's also not overlook that even an average offensive performance would've given the Pats a win last week in the 13-10 loss.

Then you have the Steelers, god bless 'em. Yes, Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy's reunion resulted in a win last week. But are you really going to tell me that you watched that game and came away with the notion that Pittsburgh is a dangerous offensive team or even a juggernaut defensively. The latter might be slightly more likely, but so much of that result feels rooted in how abysmal a Cooper Rush-led Falcons team is. This feels like the epitome of a matchup where everything normalizes a bit and that's why I'm so bullish on taking New England.

The pick that probably has you confused

Miami Dolphins (+13.5) at San Francisco 49ers

I feel as gross writing this as you probably do reading it. But hear me out.

Fully understanding that the Dolphins were quite atrocious in Week 1 against the Raiders, there are two things that feel notable. First, I'm not entirely sure the Raiders are going to be nearly as bad as some were projecting them to be this season. But more than that, let's not forget that travel to Australia works two ways, and the 49ers don't have the luxury of this being Week 1 and being able to get back and adjust as well as they did flying out to Melbourne.

If this spread were somewhere in the 9.5 range in favor of San Francisco, I'd be much more inclined to take them to cover in this game. However, when you have that kind of travel and now have to face a Dolphins team that, for all their many faults and flaws as a roster, does have juice with guys like Malik Willis, De'Von Achane and even rookie Caleb Douglas, 13.5 points is just too many for me to lay with the Niners in this one.

Don't get me wrong, I'd be appalled if the 49ers still didn't end up winning this game. But we're looking at a unique set of travel circumstances that I'm willing to get a bit risky on the Miami side of this against the spread.

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