The NFL gifted us with a Monday Night Football special this week: two games in one night. The New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers kick off at 7:15 p.m. as Bryce Young makes his primetime debut. One hour later, the Pittsburgh Steelers look to bounce back from a miserable opener as they host the Cleveland Browns.
While the teams playing on Monday aren’t exactly the flashiest in football, double the games equates to double the chances to make money. Let’s dive into the Best Bets for the Week 2 slate of Monday Night Football.
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Best Bet No. 1: New Orleans Saints -3.0 (-110)
The Saints weren’t exactly commanding against the Titans last week, but they did plenty of things right, keeping Tennessee out of the end zone and throwing the ball with relative ease. On the other hand, Young struggled against a middle-tier Falcons defense in his debut. Betting on a rookie quarterback under the bright lights of primetime football in just his second career start? No thanks. The Saints are early favorites to run away with the NFC South and should assert their dominance with a 2-0 start, handling the Panthers by at least one touchdown.
Best Bet No. 2: Rashid Shaheed OVER 36.5 Receiving Yards (-125)
Shaheed hauled in five of six targets for 89 yards and one touchdown in his first game with Derek Carr last week. The 25-year-old was expected to take a major step forward after flashing potential last season, and he did just that. So why, after coming close to triple-digit yardage, is his Week 2 line set at 36.5 yards? It would be one thing if Shaheed took volume from Chris Olave and Michael Thomas in a fluky type of game, but that wasn’t the case. Week 1 showed that Olave, Thomas, and Shaheed can all co-exist, and this gloomy outlook for Shaheed makes no sense. Smash the over.
Best Bet No. 3: T.J. Watt OVER 0.25 Sacks (-180)
Sacks are difficult to predict, the Browns’ offensive line is fully healthy, Deshaun Watson is mobile, and the odds here don’t provide the juiciest return. With those factors in mind, why should you bet on a Steelers defender’s sack total? Because it’s T.J. Watt; that’s why. If there’s anyone who should record a sack (let alone, half a sack), it’s Watt. The star pass-rusher has totaled at least half a sack in each of his last three games against the Browns, and he also sacked the quarterback three times in last week’s game alone.
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