Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles renew hostilities in a big night of NFL on Sunday – Ross Williams previews all the action right here.
NFL betting tips: Week 2
2pts Cincinnati Bengals (-3.5) to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars at 10/11 (General)
2pts Philadelphia Eagles (-1.5) to beat the Kansas City Chiefs at 10/11 (General)
1pt Philadelphia Eagles (-9.5) to beat the Kansas City Chiefs at 10/3 (Sky Bet)
1pt Josh Allen (Bills) and Justin Fields (Jets) both to score a touchdown at 16/5 (bet365 Bet-Builder)
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Cincinnati Bengals @ Jacksonville Jaguars
- Sunday 1800 BST
Cincinnati’s early-season curse lifted last week. It wasn’t pretty – and the case can be made that they got away with one – but the crucial factor is the Bengals are 1-0, having beaten the Cleveland Browns by a single point.
It wasn’t a Bengals performance that particularly impressed. In fact, the Browns were probably the better team for sizable portions of the game, so you may be surprised to see Cincinnati featuring in this column this week.
However, they do indeed feature, and it’s actually the underwhelming method of their victory that has led to this.
The Bengals racked up just 141 total yards last week and accumulated 11 first downs – 50% of Cleveland’s tally of 22.
Joe Burrow had 113 yards of passing offence, way below his career average of 273 yards per game.
And yet, despite the high-intensity scenario of a divisional rivalry game, a general underperformance on both sides of the ball and an historically bad run of form in early-season match-ups, the Bengals won.
The monkey is off the back and it’s time to see the real Cincinnati, in a home game, against opposition they should be beating. I have every faith they will improve into week two.
Give us this game in mid-season, and I’d be surprised to see the Bengals favoured by less than a touchdown but due to their numbers a week ago – despite victory – they are only favoured by (a very backable) 3.5 points over the Jaguars.
Jacksonville did get their season off to a good start last Sunday, but they ultimately faced little opposition in a poor Carolina team.
The connection between Trevor Lawrence and Brian Thomas Jr. wasn’t quite there, which mirrored Burrow and his star receiver tandem of Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.
Chances are, at least one of those combinations will click into gear in week two and the fact of the matter is, Joe Burrow is a demonstrably better quarterback than Lawrence. He was a stat-leader last season and has been responsible for some absurd performances in recent seasons. Given the choice of who is most likely to kick on in their second display of the year, I’m with Burrow every time.
With homefield advantage and a tick in the win column early (by Bengals standards) I like Cincinnati to get down to business on Sunday and dispatch the Jags.
New York Jets @ Buffalo Bills
- Sunday 1800 BST
The Bills’ divisional clash with the New York Jets is one of the tastier match-ups of the weekend due to the historic rivalry and the nature of the two games they participated in last week.
For what it’s worth, I like Buffalo’s chances of going 2-0 but seeing as they showed some defensive deficiencies last week – and star defensive tackle Ed Oliver will be on the sidelines – I don’t have full confidence in the handicap number.
Instead, I’m going to keep things simple in the touchdown market.
The Bills conceded 40 points in week one (albeit in victory) and the Jets shipped 34 to the Steelers, so it’s fair to assume that points may not be at a premium on Sunday evening. That works in our favour.
There are cases to be made for a number of potential touchdown scorers, namely Breece Hall – who had an excellent performance against Pittsburgh – and James Cook, who was recently paid handsomely to be Buffalo’s bell-cow.
However, there is a BuildABet double that simply stares you in the face when looking at this match-up.
Of the 32 starting NFL quarterbacks last week, four of them scored multiple rushing touchdowns. One was Justin Fields of the Jets and another was reigning MVP Josh Allen, of the Buffalo Bills.
You hear a lot of commentary from coaches and players about how lethal Josh Allen is rolling to his right, which is absolutely correct.
— Joe Marino (@TheJoeMarino)
One of my favorite parts of Allen's performance against the Ravens was the dynamic plays he made rolling to his left.
Between them, they had TWELVE week one redzone carries and four touchdowns. The actual running backs on both teams combined for just ten carries inside the twenty-yard line, between four players.
The defences of both teams struggled to stop their opposition coming down the field last week, that’s a major tick, and when the offences of Buffalo and New York were called upon, with 20 or fewer yards to go, the task of claiming the six points was entrusted almost entirely to Allen and Fields.
It would be crazy for either offensive playcaller to move away from this strategy after the success it garnered in week one, and the price on offer for the double won’t hold for many more games. It has to be done.
Kansas City Chiefs @ Philadelphia Eagles
- Sunday 2125 BST
A Super Bowl rematch headlines week two and based on what we’ve seen so far, I have a sense we may be in for a little déjà vu.
Since their 18-point defeat in the biggest game of all, Kansas City have played one competitive game…and lost.
On paper, it was only a six-point defeat to the Chargers in week one but, in truth, they were beaten pretty comprehensively. The Chiefs’ defence had very little answer to Justin Herbert, who torched them to the tune of 318 passing yards and three touchdowns.
Kansas City weren’t totally awful on the night, but there were signs of regression in a team that has been so dominant over the last five years.
Meanwhile, the Eagles got their title-defending season off to a winning start. It’s fair to say they were aided by a trio of uncharacteristic Ceedee Lamb drops, but ultimately Philadelphia were able to outlast a Cowboys team that played better than many anticipated.
In short, Philly look like the same Philly that became world champions seven months ago and the Chiefs look no better than the side that fell away pretty tamely in that same game. In fact, due to an injury concern to star playmaker Xavier Worthy, there’s a fair argument that the Chiefs are actually worse equipped to deal with the visit of the Eagles on Sunday.
And yet, the spread sits at a measly 1.5 points in favour of Philadelphia.
This is an early-season handicap if I’ve ever seen one and it feels like the bookmakers are worried to write off Mahomes and the Chiefs due to their reputation, even though they know everything points to a greater margin of victory.
I think we should take advantage of this and even hazard a sprinkle on the Eagles sending a real, dominant message on Sunday evening.
Posted at 2135 BST on 12/09/25
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