Week 2 Thursday Night Football Preview: Buffalo Bills @ Miami Dolphins Best Bets and Props
Let's take a look at our Thursday Night Football matchup for Week 2.
It's time for our second week of Thursday Night Football and our first Thursday night game on Prime this season. Last week, we kicked off the season with a great matchup between the Baltimore Ravens and the Kansas City Chiefs, which saw the defending champs just barely hang on to a victory. We hit on every one of our prop bets and nailed both the winner and the over.
This week we get an AFC East clash between the defending champion Buffalo Bills and the Miami Dolphins who are coming for that top spot. This game will feature two of the most prolific quarterbacks in the league and explosive players all over the field. It should be a fun one. Now let's go win some money!
Week 2 NFL Best Bets
Both these teams come into Week 2 more banged up than teams usually are at this point in the season. The Dolphins could be without their top two running backs and their star pass rusher. Raheem Mostert was ruled out on Wednesday and De'Von Achane is a game-time decision. Bradley Chubb is still recovering from a torn ACL on injured reserve as well.
The Bills lost their best corner last week Taron Johnson and already had Matt Milano out until at least December, so these teams will have to adjust right off the bat.
The Dolphins bring the more dynamic offense led by Tua Tagovailoa and his unreasonably fast weapons Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle and hopefully Achane. If Achane is out, Jeff Wilson Jr. and rookie Jaylen Wright will likely split the backfield.
This offense is going to take shots down the field and get their playmakers in space for big plays. They are the most exciting team to watch on offense but have not had much success against the Bills in recent memory. Head coach Mike McDaniel will look to scheme up a way to buck that trend on Thursday Night Football.
The Bills will once again ask Josh Allen to be Superman after dismantling his weapons this offseason. He will have to do it all with both his arm and legs if their offense is going to be successful and keep up with Miami, especially when you consider all the losses they've suffered on the defensive side of the ball both in free agency and due to injuries.
This game will be a major test for both teams who looked sloppy last week and had to produce come-from-behind victories to defeat lesser opponents who had jumped out to 17-3 leads on them. The Dolphins and Bills will look to start off much faster and impose their will on the opposing team on both sides of the ball. It may only be Week 2, but this game could go a long way in deciding the division after Week 18.
This could be a changing of the guard type of game. The Dolphins appear to be better on both sides of the ball right now. However, they will still have to conquer Allen and thwart his heroics to get the win. That isn't something they've been able to do very often.
The Picks
Spread: Miami Dolphins -2.5 (-112)
Over/Under: Over 48.5 (-112)
Moneyline: Miami Dolphins (-135)
Player Props of the Night
Prop #1: Josh Allen, 40+ Rushing Yards (+110)
As we stated earlier, now that his arsenal of weapons has been depleted, Allen is going to have to do it all. There is no doubt he's going to try to do just that and his greatest strength is what he brings on the ground. Look for him to run a lot in this game to try to help drag his team to victory. Last week, he managed to rush for 39 yards. This week he'll hit the 40 mark.
Prop #2: Jaylen Waddle, 70+ Receiving Yards (+110)
After a bit of a down season in 2023, mostly due to injuries, Waddle is in for a huge season. He had a big game last week and he's going to have his way with a battered Bills' secondary this week. We expect a lot more monster games from both Waddle and Hill this year and less of a one-man show from Hill. Miami made Waddle one of the highest-paid wideouts in the league for a reason and you're about to see why.
Prop #3: Jeff Wilson Jr., Anytime TD Scorer (+105)
This is me calling my shot that Wilson and not Wright will be the next man up in this Miami backfield. We also got this before any final word on Achane so these odds could change. However, Wilson will be the lead back in this game if Achane is out or part of the top duo if he's active. There is no way the Dolphins are going to bypass Wilson and turn the backfield over to a rookie in his first-ever NFL game, on a shortened week against a division rival in primetime. If there is a long-term issue, Wright would be the guy, but he won't be the guy for this game.
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