‘Monday Night Football’ picks and open thread: Titans at Bills, Vikings at Eagles

The Seattle Seahawks - Denver Broncos matchup in Week 1 was so enticing that the league featured it as the only Monday night game to kick start the season. The traditional Monday Night Football double-header will of course happen this week, with the underdog Tennessee Titans (+9.5) traveling to take on the surging Buffalo Bills (-9.5). Later in the evening, the Minnesota Vikings (+2.5) will pay a visit to the Philadelphia Eagles (-2.5) in what is predicted to be a much tighter matchup.

Pretty much everybody is high on Josh Allen and the Bills after they dismantled the Los Angeles Rams in LA to kickoff the 2022 NFL Season. The Tennessee Titans, on the other hand, entered the season with some question marks and unfortunate injuries that have set them back after three straight trips to the playoffs — including a first-round bye last season. Accordingly, experts such as Pete Prisco of CBS Sports, Greg Rosenthal of NFL.com, and all but one of the staff af the Athletic are taking the Bills in this matchup. This is reasonable, as Draftkings Sportsbook has them listed as 9.5-point favorites at home, giving this game the second largest spread of the week. The Bills pretty effectively clamped down on the Ram’s offense last week that features a number of playmakers; the Titans have a passing game featuring rookies Treylon Burks and Kyle Phillips after trading their top pass catcher from 2021 during the offseason, so Derrick Henry will likely factor in heavily.

While the experts are pretty unanimously picking the Buffalo Bills over the Tennessee Titans, attitudes towards the second matchup are a bit more ambivalent; the Philadelphia Eagles are only favored by 2.5-points at home (3 points is the general rule for the home team), so the Minnesota Vikings are hardly “underdogs” in this one. Still, experts are generally favoring Philly, with a few notable exceptions such as ESPN’s Eric Moody and Pro Football Talk’s Michael David Smith. Saying that Jalen Hurts is a mobile dual-threat is an understatement, and the team’s newest pass catcher A.J. Brown looks to be picking up where he left off. The Vikings had a great opening weekend, hammering the rival Green Bay Packers in a statement victory that gives them some momentum heading into Week 2.

Here at Field Gulls, the staff are nearly unanimous in our Week 2 Monday Night Football picks. Everybody is taking the Buffalo Bills in the first matchup, unsurprisingly. The crew is largely behind the Eagles in the second game, with the notable exception of Devin Csigi — who is going with the Vikings and first-year head coach Kevin O’Connell.