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Basic Strategy Teasers: Best Week 2 NFL Betting Options


by Chris Vasile - 9/15/2017

Joe Flacco Baltimore Ravens

Week 2 of the National Football League got underway last night and proved to bettors that sometimes overreacting to a team's Week 1 performance is a good thing. Take last night's game for example; both Houston and Cincinnati were putrid offensively. As a bettor, we should have seen it coming though. Andy Dalton's four-interception performance in Week 1 should have raised a red flag and stopped you from laying six (yes, six whole points) with the Bengals in this one. If I were a Bengals fan and I had a choice between starting Dalton again or one of those jugs machines they use for practice, I'd be tempted to pick the more accurate of the two - the jugs machine.

The Texans and Bengals weren't the only team causing major overreactions. According to the general betting public, Sam Bradford and Alex Smith have finally shaken the "game manager" label and are ready to become true gunslingers. Need I remind you that the New Orleans Saints' defense is going to be terrible all year, and you couldn't possibly name five players who finished the game on defense for the Patriots. Let's see how these two QBs fare this week against stiffer competition before we go promoting them.

From a betting perspective, we were able to cash our "Basic Strategy Teaser" last week for a profit of 0.8 units. The Atlanta Falcons gave us a bit of a scare late but were able to close out the game by sacking Chicago quarterback Mike Glennon on fourth-and-goal from the six-yard line. The Falcons' offense seemed a bit sluggish and will need to correct that in a hurry as they host the Green Bay Packers in the Sunday-nighter. The Falcons are currently three-point favorites. The other half of the teaser was about a solid a pick as you will get. The Oakland Raiders went into Tennessee and handled the Titans from wire-to-wire. They easily covered the +8.5-point adjusted spread and even got the outright win as +110 underdogs.

For those of you who missed out on last week's win, I got you covered once again this week. There are currently three games that fall within the "Basic Strategy Teaser" outline. If this is your first time reading, you can find the requirements and how to play a BST here . In a nutshell, you need two teams in order to build out a six-point teaser, and I always tell readers to shop around for the best possible line.

Over the next several months, I will be offering you a "Best Bet" six-point teaser as well as any alternative options to consider playing.

Best Six-Point Teaser for Week 2. Lines courtesy of BetOnline

Baltimore -2 & Arizona -1.5 (-110)
Risk: $100 to win $83.33

Since it's only Week 2, let me take a second to explain these spreads. Baltimore is currently laying 8.0 points at home to the Cleveland Browns, and Arizona is laying 7.5 as visitors in Indianapolis. By combing these two teams and utilizing a six-point teaser, the end result would be a ticket that looks like the above.

But enough about logistics, let's get down to the football business.

After watching the Bengals falter once again this week, many might be quick to dismiss the Ravens' dominant performance in Week 1. The fact of the matter is that the Ravens' defense didn't fluke into picking off Dalton four times in addition to forcing and recovering a fumble. They continuously put pressure on the quarterback, and not even a six-year vet could make the necessary adjustments in order to produce points. Now the Ravens are at home - in their home opener - and playing against a rookie quarterback, who, by all accounts looked half-decent at times against Pittsburgh in Week 1. But for the majority of the game, DeShone Kizer looked like a raw rookie getting sacked seven times and throwing a pick. I have no reason to believe Kizer will be able to dissect this underrated Ravens defensive unit. It is also important to note that rookie QBs have traditionally struggled at M&T Stadium, going 0-5, so being able to get the Ravens at less than a field goal is a solid play in my book.

The Ravens have enough weapons offensively despite the loss of Danny Woodhead to a hamstring injury. Joe Flacco will need to step up and have a much better game than last week, where he was just 9-for-17 for 121 yards and one touchdown. This game will be decided on defense, and I believe the Ravens have the better unit.

For the second leg of this teaser, I am more so fading the Colts than I am playing on the Cardinals. We all know that David Johnson will be sorely missed and his production cannot be replicated. We also know that the Colts are currently a dumpster fire right now, and it doesn't matter who starts at QB - Jacoby Brissett or Scott Tolzien - the Cardinals' defense will still dominate.

I would much rather put my money on a QB like Carson Palmer as he is a legitimate starter and still has weapons like Larry Fitzgerald, John Brown, J.J Nelson and everyone's waiver-wire pick up Kerwynn Williams. I believe this is a much more winnable game than last week's game at Detroit was. Side note: The Lions tend to catch people by surprise, but I believe in them this year and what Matthew Stafford can do.

If you aren't exactly sold on the Ravens/Cardinals combo, you have one alternative option, and that is to replace one of those two teams. That option is the Denver Broncos +7.5 against the Dallas Cowboys.

I wouldn't recommend this play considering how dominant the Cowboys looked on Sunday night against the Giants. Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott looked just as sharp in the opener as they did all of last year. If the Broncos fall behind early, I don't see how they will be able to claw their way back into the game with a pedestrian offense led by Trevor Siemian. The Cowboys will win this one going away.

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