104.5’s ‘Intern Mike’ Tries To Help With Week 2 NFL ‘Hot’ Picks

The Philadelphia Eagles kicked off Week 2 of the NFL on Thursday by kicking the Minnesota Vikings down to an 0-2 record. 'Intern Mike' of 'The Drive with Charlie & Dan' thinks he knows the winners and can make you look smart on Sunday. Here's 'Intern Mike' with his 'Week 2 Hot Picks.'

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Intern Mike: With the second week of the NFL season upon us, here are my five best bets for this Sunday:

Chicago Bears @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1:00 PM, FOX

The Buccaneers are coming off an impressive win on the road against the Vikings in Week 1, a game in which they held the Vikings to just 17 points and 41 yards on the ground with just 2.4 yards a carry. However, don’t expect this Bucs front 7 to be able to do anything close to that against Justin Fields and this Bears rushing attack. As for Tampa Bay’s offensive outlook, the Bears just surrendered 38 points and only had one sack on Jordan Love, while pressuring him on just 21% of his drop-backs. I’ll take this game to be one of the more entertaining ones in the earlier window, going over the game total.

PICK: Over 40.5 Points

Green Bay Packers @ Atlanta Falcons, 1:00 PM, FOX

The Packers got off to an ideal start in the dawn of the Jordan Love era. They defeated Chicago in dominant fashion and Love looked like a true pro while doing so, going for 245 yards and 3 passing touchdowns. In Atlanta's game, they dominated on defense, holding first overall pick Bryce Young and the Panthers offense to just 10 points on 3.9 yards per play. I expect the Falcons to lean heavily on their electric running back tandem of Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier against what was the league's 26th ranked rushing defense a season ago. With injuries to Packers RB Aaron Jones, and second year wideout Christian Watson, it will all depend on Love to get this win on the road. I’ll take Atlanta to establish the run game early en route to a 2-0 start to the 2023 campaign.

PICK: Falcons -1

Baltimore Ravens @ Cincinnati Bengals, 1:00 PM, CBS

The Bengals are coming off a game they’d like to forget against the Browns, totaling up just 157 yards on offense. Burrow will look to right the ship in this divisional showdown, against a depleted Ravens secondary, which he’s dominated in years past. In Joe’s last four starts against the Ravens he’s 3-1 while averaging 343 passing yards per game, coupled with 10 touchdowns. While I do like the Ravens outlook on the rest of the season, I’m taking the home team to bounce back in this one.

PICK: Bengals -3

Las Vegas Raiders @ Buffalo Bills, 1:00, CBS

Vegas is coming off a gritty win on the road against the Broncos where their defense showed out, spoiling Sean Payton's debut. Jimmy G completed 77% of his throws on one of the league's best secondaries in Denver. However, he was pressured a league low rate of 13.8% in Week 1, a number I expect to be twice as high on Sunday against Buffalo. I expect Josh Allen to play more conservatively, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be incapable of lighting up what was one of the worst defenses in football last season. Give me Buffalo at home in this one.

PICK: Bills -8.5

Miami Dolphins @ New England Patriots, 8:20 PM, NBC

In what is always an interesting matchup, the Dolphins will make the trip to Foxborough for a Sunday Night date with their AFC East rival New England Patriots. Tua is a perfect 4-0 against the Patriots in his young career, and I’m anticipating a fifth straight win in this one. The Dolphins pass attack has the potential to be among the best in all of football, and I believe Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle will cause one too many problems for these Pats to deal with, and in a shootout, give me Tua, Hill and Waddle, as opposed to Mac Jones, Juju and Kendrick Bourne…

PICK: Dolphins -3 Good luck and have fun in Week 2!