yielded records of 185-100-1 SU (64.9%) and 159-123-2 ATS (56.4%), including his “Best Bets” going 13-7 SU\/ATS and “Upset Specials” a sparkling 15-3 SU\/ATS.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nWe wrote last week that anything can happen in Week 1 of the NFL season. And anything did \u2013 mostly bad for our picks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A monsoon at Soldier Field didn\u2019t help. Nor did some weird coaching decisions by Nathaniel Hackett and Lovie Smith. But the main reason there were so many surprises \u2013 exciting all around, but still surprises \u2013 was the lack of play for so many starters during the preseason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s face it, those summer exhibition games are designed to fill out the roster, not to put anyone of real value on the field for any length of time. The players who appear in those games try hard, but the overall quality of those preseason matches isn\u2019t worth watching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So when the starters (and stars) get going in the opening weekend, the sloppiness is apparent. And, at times, also unwatchable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here\u2019s hoping Week 2 brings us better football \u2013 and much more success with our picks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Texans at Broncos (-10)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If Hackett takes the ball out of Russell Wilson\u2019s hands once more, we might never pick Denver again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(BEST BET) BRONCOS 27-10<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nVikings at Eagles (-2)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While we believe Philly has the better team, it needs to fix that defense ASAP. Minnesota can score.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(UPSET SPECIAL) VIKINGS, 28-27<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bears at Packers (-10)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chicago is a bad team that won its opener in great part due to the elements. Aaron Rodgers and the Packers will wake up at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PACKERS, 26-12<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nSeahawks at 49ers (-9 \u00bd)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Seattle is a mediocre team that won its opener in great part due to bad coaching by its opponent. That won\u2019t happen this week, though San Francisco looked lost in the rain in Week 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
49ERS, 22-17<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nDolphins at Ravens (-3 1\/2)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maybe the best matchup of the weekend, and Miami knows how to defend Lamar Jackson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DOLPHINS, 19-16<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nTitans at Bills (-10)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The entire AFC South looks like a mess. Buffalo looks like a powerhouse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
BILLS, 33-16<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nColts at Jaguars (-4)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The rest of the AFC South, which made us nauseous last weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
COLTS, 23-21<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nBengals at Cowboys (+7 \u00bd)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hard to tell who played worse in their openers. Without Dak, have to go with Joe Burrow making a quick turnaround.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
BENGALS, 23-13<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nBuccaneers at Saints (+2 \u00bd)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wonder if we will be writing about a 55-year-old Tom Brady winning games. Though he struggles against New Orleans in the regular season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
BUCCANEERS, 27-20<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nCardinals at Raiders (-5)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Can Derek Carr target Devante Adams on EVERY play?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
RAIDERS, 24-13<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nPatriots at Steelers (+2)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Never a good matchup for Pittsburgh, even less so with T.J. Watt out. Can\u2019t see New England starting 0-2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PATRIOTS, 20-17<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nFalcons at Rams (-10 \u00bd)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The defending champions have had a long time to evaluate \u2013 and be ticked off by \u2013 their opening performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
RAMS, 30-13<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nPanthers at Giants (-2)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When healthy, is there a more exciting and versatile running back than Saquon Barkley? Another big day is coming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
GIANTS, 23-17<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nJets at Browns (-6 \u00bd)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cleveland won\u2019t need another long-range field goal here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
BROWNS, 20-10<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nCommanders at Lions (-1)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two teams that displayed lots of spunk last weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
LIONS, 29-26<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n___<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wilner\u2019s 2022 RECORD<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Season – Straight up: 6-8-1. Against the spread: 4-10-1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Best Bet – Straight up: 0-1. Against the spread: 0-1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Upset Special – Straight up: 0-1. Against the spread: 0-1.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Barry Wilner (EDITOR’S NOTE: Barry Wilner was a sports writer for the Associated Press for 46 years, covering the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":23525,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[129],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23523"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23523\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23526,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23523\/revisions\/23526"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}