NFL Week 2 lookahead lines: Early best bets, plus what Week 1 line movement can tell us about Week 2 picks

The 2025 NFL season got underway last night, with the Eagles coming out victorious in a game that didn't end until well after midnight ET due to a weather delay. Now the public's attention turns to Friday's Chiefs-Chargers matchup in Brazil, followed by a stacked Week 1 slate. But while bettors will fire away at those games over the next few days, a select group of sharp bettors has an eye on locking in excellent value on Week 2 matchups prior to the Sunday evening rerelease of those lines.

Many sportsbooks offer lookahead lines on NFL games for the following week of play, and those numbers tend to not see much movement prior to closing once the main Sunday slate begins, as the volume doesn't compare even a little to what books see for the current slate of NFL games in a given week. That provides opportunity to take what we know about the current week along with what we expect to happen on Sunday and get ahead of key line movement by making plays early.

What are we looking for specifically? First, keep an eye out for lines that move significantly and see if that reevaluation of teams is reflected in the lookahead lines. The Micah Parsons trade caused serious movement in the lines for the Cowboys and Packers' Week 1 matchups, but does it appear the same is true for Week 2? Are there key injuries affecting lines in the current week where a top player could return the following week?

We also need to project our expectations for the outcomes of Sunday's games and how that will affect the rereleased lines, especially around key numbers like -3 and -7. For example, the Broncos are 3.5-point road favorites in Indianapolis next week, but if we see the Colts putting up a strong showing against the Dolphins, then it's likely that line reopens at -3 or lower.

Let's take a look at the consensus Week 2 lookahead lines and then share our best bets to lock in early.

Week 2 lookahead lines

Commanders at Packers (-3), 48.5
Browns at Ravens (-12.5), 44.5
Bills (-8.5) at Jets, 44.5
Bears at Lions (-4.5), 48.5
Jaguars at Bengals (-5.5), 49.5
Giants at Cowboys (-3), 44.5
Rams (-5.5) at Titans, 45.5
Seahawks at Steelers (-2.5), 41.5
Patriots at Dolphins (-2.5), 45.5
49ers (-7) at Saints, 44.5
Panthers at Cardinals (-4.5), 46.5
Broncos (-3.5) at Colts, 44.5
Eagles at Chiefs (-1.5), 45
Falcons at Vikings (-4.5), 45.5
Buccaneers at Texans (-1.5), 46.5
Chargers (-3) at Raiders, 44.5

Week 2 lookahead picks

The market is fading the Bills in their Week 1 matchup against the Ravens, turning them from favorites to short underdogs as of Friday. The Jets were consistently +3 at home against the Steelers early in the offseason and are now +2.5 in some spots even after the injury to Alijah Vera-Tucker. I believe the Jets will look much better than people think on Sunday, and if the market is right about the Bills, this number has the potential to drop down to Bills -7. Even if the Jets struggle this week, I'm not sure this number can get any higher in a divisional matchup, so there's more upside than downside in taking the lookahead spread.

The market has moved in favor of the Jaguars in their matchup with the Panthers and against the Bengals in their matchup with the Browns, but it feels like this number hasn't caught up just yet. Cincinnati's defense is a major question mark heading into Week 1, and if a Browns offense that is projected to be awful scores even 20 on the Bengals, then it's not going to change that narrative. The Jaguars could have blowout potential with Carolina's first unit not looking great in the preseason, and you could even see the market talking itself into there not being much separation between these teams in the event of a good Jacksonville performance.

One of my favorite parts of analyzing lookahead lines is using the transitive property to identify numbers that don't make sense. The Cardinals are -6.5 in New Orleans in Week 1, while the 49ers are -7 in New Orleans in Week 2. If both numbers are to be trusted, that makes Arizona and San Francisco pretty equal in rating. But the Jaguars are -3.5 hosting Carolina in Week 1 and the Cardinals are -4.5 hosting Carolina in Week 2, which means Arizona is only slightly better than Jacksonville in ratings as well. If there's that small of a gap between market ratings for the 49ers and Jaguars, it probably means the Jaguars are a great play against Cincy above. If the gap should be much wider, then the Cardinals deserve to be much bigger favorites here. I think both are true to an extent and would be looking to play both Jacksonville and Arizona on their Week 2 numbers, and I can see this line getting up to -6 upon rerelease.

I'd like to jump on this one while the 3 is still available, as I can see the Chargers having major issues against the Chiefs in Brazil on Friday. The Chiefs O-line could be much better this year with Josh Simmons looking like a big upgrade at left tackle, while the Chargers have their own O-line issues to worry about with the Rashawn Slater injury. The Raiders-Patriots line has tilted toward the road team, with +3s no longer available in the market. I see Vegas as having a real shot of upsetting the Patriots in Week 1, and if that happens along with the Chargers struggling, this number could shoot all the way down near pick 'em. As of now I'd only make the Chargers -1.

Other notes: I almost put the Titans as a pick, as I think they should be lower than +5.5, but I expect struggles for Cam Ward in a brutal debut matchup, so there's less chance we have significant line movement ... The Dolphins could be a worthwhile lookahead pick at -2.5 against the Patriots at home considering their great home-field advantage, but it feels weird to lock that one in now considering how the futures market has treated both teams. It seems likely once people pay attention to this line we'll get a better number if we want to back Miami ... I think the Seahawks could wind up lower than +2.5, but there's no reason to move early, and we'll certainly want to give ourselves the chance to play +3 if that line appears next week .. Right now I think the Broncos-Colts line should be 2.5 and not 3.5, which makes the Colts a solid lookahead play, but again, I think Denver cruises in Week 1, so I'm not sure we need to hurry to play this line unless we think Indy absolutely rolls the Dolphins.