Week 1 of the NFL season is done and dusted, and Week 2 is officially underway after Thursday Night Football. A new week means more predictions, and today, it’s time for everyone’s favorite: bold predictions.

Throughout the season, I’m going to be making five bold predictions every single week. And these aren’t just going to be “Josh Allen throws for 300+ yards.” No, these are actual BOLD predictions, which means many of them won’t come true, but I’m putting a lot of research into these, and my hope is to hit on one or two every week and at least be close on the others.

Week 1 went pretty well with me hitting two of my bold predictions, but I will admit that I completely missed the mark on two others. Here’s how my Week 1 predictions went:

Saints and Lions Combine for 800+ yards: 838 ✅

Raiders Score Most Points in the AFC West: 2nd most with 27 (Chiefs led with 31) ❌

Titans Score 30+, Cam Ward Throws 3 TD: Yeah…That didn’t happen ❌

The Entire NFC South Starts 0-1: Saints, Panthers, Falcons and Bucs all lost ✅

Cowboys Win By 14+: Giants dominated them ❌

2026 Season Record: 2-3

I’ll take going 2-3 in Week 1, but I’m going to try and do better this week. Even if I don’t hit on more than two, I want them all to at least be close to hitting, because the Titans and Cowboys predictions last week were just awful.

With all that said, let’s get into my Week 2 bold predictions.

Minnesota Upsets Chicago, Holds Bears Under 24 Points

Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears’ offense were unbelievable last week, scoring 59 points and totaling over 550 yards of offense in a 22-point blowout victory over Carolina. After that performance, everyone is extremely high on the Bears, but they could come crashing back down to Earth in Week 2.

The Minnesota Vikings gave up over 350 passing yards last week, but they still held the Green Bay Packers to 22 points and made Jordan Love’s life living hell in the second half. That was largely because of Brian Flores, who is a literal madman and blitzed Love on over 80 percent of his dropbacks, resulting in four sacks, including a couple of them late in the game in crucial situations. Meanwhile, Minnesota’s offense capitalized on great field position, scoring five touchdowns with just 239 yards of offense.

Over his last three games against Brian Flores, Caleb Williams has completed 56 percent of his passes, averaged 198 yards per game, and has scored two touchdowns with two fumbles. In those games, the Bears have averaged 18.3 points per game and have gone 1-2, with their only win coming in November of last year when their defense held Minnesota to 17 points. Needless to say, Brian Flores has bested Caleb Williams in the past, and I don’t expect Williams to suddenly dominate him this week.

Chicago has a good chance of winning this game, but I think Minnesota pulls off another stunner and beats Chicago thanks to a great defensive effort.

Tyler Shough Leads the NFL in Passing Yards Again in Week 2

Tyler Shough threw for 85 yards in the first half against the Detroit Lions in Week 1, but ended up leading the league in passing thanks to a 325-yard, three-touchdown effort in the second half/overtime. Unless you’re a Saints fan, you probably didn’t see a big performance from Shough coming, but now that he’s ironed out the wrinkles after not playing in the preseason, I believe he’s going to give the NFL world another wake-up call.

The New Orleans Saints travel to Baltimore this week, and if they want to win this game and avoid falling to 0-2, they’re going to need to put up some points. Their defense played well last week, but they were gashed in the run game, and there’s no reason to think Derrick Henry can’t do what Jahmyr Gibbs did to them last week. They might have to score 30 to have a chance in this game, which likely means Shough is going to have to drop back and throw the ball a lot, especially with the way their run game played last week.

This feels like a game where New Orleans could fall behind 14-0 early and have to resort to throwing the ball 40+ times to stay in it, and if that happens, Shough has proven he can put up big yardage numbers.

All 5 Afternoon Games Cash the Under

Last week, we saw one of the highest-scoring opening weeks in NFL history, and the highest-scoring Week 1 Sunday in NFL history. Points were being put up all across the league, and yet only nine games cashed the over. I expect the scoring to go down this week, so much so that every afternoon game has a great chance to cash the under.

The Jaguars and Broncos have two of the best defenses in the league, and Denver’s offense really struggled in their season opener. Jacksonville’s didn’t, but they played Cleveland, so who really knows. Under 45.5 is definitely in play here.

The Raiders and Chargers both have some offensive firepower, but this is going to be a big bounce-back spot for LAC. I still think they have an elite defense, and without a whole lot of downfield weapons, the Raiders are going to struggle to move the ball. Even if the Chargers score 28, the under of 43.5 might cash.

The Cowboys and Commanders have the highest point total of the weekend at 50.5, and while a lot of people are expecting a ton of points to be scored, don’t be surprised if the under hits. Dallas’s defense underperformed last week, and Washington’s did a pretty good job against a good Philly offense. Feels like the public is going to hammer the over, so I’d take the under.

Seahawks/Cardinals might be the lowest-scoring game of the weekend. We saw what Seattle’s defense did to Drake Maye and the Patriots, so imagine what they can do to Jacoby Brissett. I also don’t think Drew Lock is going to put up more than 20 points, so the 40.5-point over/under should hit pretty comfortably. I feel a 20-10 game coming.

Finally, the 49ers and Dolphins have an over/under of 44.5. San Fran should build a big lead early and then start chewing some clock, and I don’t see Miami scoring more than 14 points in this game. 28-14 cashes the under in this game.

I think the O/U lines in these games are basically perfect, but I still believe there’s a good chance all five could go under the total. There are a lot of good defenses and bad offenses playing in the late window.

Texans Beat Bengals By Double Digits

I’m incredibly bullish on the Houston Texans this year, even after their season-opening loss to Buffalo. Their offense looked like it made huge strides this offseason, and even though their defense was disappointing, they’re still a top-three unit in the league this year.

I like the Bengals this year, but I fully expect Houston’s pass rush to come alive this week and give Joe Burrow hell in Week 2, and with Derek Stingley on the back end covering Ja’Marr Chase or Tee Higgins on every play, I think their defense could have a day against this high-powered Bengals offense.

If Houston scores 27 or more points, which is very possible against this Cincy defense if Houston plays as well as they did last week, they could very well win this game by double digits. I fully expect DeMeco Ryans and this defense to get back on track and be as dominant as they were last year, and that starts this week.

Eagles Pitch First Shutout of the Year

The Philadelphia Eagles have one of the best rosters in the NFL, especially on the defensive side of the ball. They have two elite defensive tackles, some solid linebackers and one of the best secondaries in the NFL, and this week they get to play a Tennessee offense that did not look good in the preseason or in their first regular season game of the year.

In Week 1, Cam Ward threw for 140 yards and a touchdown while putting up a total of 10 points against the Jets. No disrespect to the Jets, but Philly’s defense is much, much better than theirs. The Titans did have some success running the ball, averaging 4.9 yards per carry, but they were forced to abandon the run early after falling behind, which is very likely to happen in this game.

If the Eagles get off to a hot start, get a few stops early, and go up 14-0 or something like that, they can start controlling the clock in the second half and give the Titans fewer chances to score. In reality, Tennessee probably scores 7-10 points, but the Titans are on shutout alert this week against the Eagles.