NFL - (Week Two)

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David John makes a score from San Francisco rookie Carlos Hyde one of his bets this Sunday in week two of the NFL.

3pts Atlanta to score under 22.5pts at Cincinnati at 5/6

1pt Jamaal Charles to score first TD v Denver at 17/2

1.5pts Carlos Hyde to score a TD anytime v Chicago at 10/3

Atlanta at Cincinnati (1800 BST)

Both the Falcons and the Bengals made a winning start to the campaign and something will have to give between two exciting young teams who will fancy their chances of making a play-off push.

The Falcons seem the most obvious place to start after a career-day from quarterback Matt Ryan as he threw for a franchise record 448 yards in a topsy-turvy shootout success against NFC South rivals New Orleans.

The issue for punters now is to weigh up whether Atlanta can reproduce those sort of fireworks once more against what is intrinsically a better defense despite the Bengals getting caught for a couple of big plays in their own victory at Baltimore.

Ryan has his top targets in Julio Jones and Roddy White fit and firing but they go up against a unit that held the Ravens to zero points in the first half while the loss of rookie right tackle Jake Matthews (potentially replaced by the average Gabe Carimi) to an ankle injury looks like good news for the Bengals pass rush.

The hosts are also defending nine-match winning streak in the regular season at Paul Brown Stadium and are unlikely to give that up easily in the opening game this year in front of their own fans.

There is inevitably some over-reaction to week one games and Atlanta are a good case in point as they may struggle to hit the heights offensively this time around in Ohio.

So I am tempted then to go with the Bengals defense and get shy of a visitors points total set at 22.5, which is 5/6 with Paddy Power.

Verdict: Atlanta 17 Cincinnati 22
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Kansas City at Denver (2125)

It is back-to-back home games for the Broncos and a first test for them within the AFC West as they take on a Kansas City side that were a distant second best to Tennessee in week one.

It adds up to Peyton Manning and his offensive juggernaut giving up double digits on the handicap after a reasonably straightforward 31-24 win over Indianapolis.

I say reasonably as they opened up a 24-0 advantage but quarterback Manning and head coach John Fox may be a little concerned that they allowed the Colts back into the game after the interval as Andrew Luck staged a revival.

Putting teams to bed when they have that sort of lead will be a key requirement for Denver this year and with the weight of history against them in terms of the record the following year for teams beaten in a Super Bowl, an "us against them" mentality should ensure that both sides of the ball remain vigilant for the full 60 minutes.

Manning has won all four encounters in a Denver uniform against the Chiefs and threw for 726 yards and six touchdowns against them in November and December last season.

There are one or two different pieces in place for the offense this time which may take a little bit of time before they completely click but tight end Julius Thomas remains a favourite target for Manning (three touchdown receptions last week) while new boy Emmanuel Sanders showed some big-play chemistry at wide receiver with his new quarterback in place of the departed Eric Decker.

Sunday's rivals won their first nine games 12 months ago but fell at the first hurdle and now face a daunting task not to slide to 0-2.

To that end, I think that we will see more from running back Jamaal Charles and head coach Andy Reid has placed the emphasis in practice this week on getting the ball in the hands of their best playmaker - he had just 11 touches against the Titans.

He averaged 4.9 yards per carry against the Broncos in their two meetings in 2013 with a touchdown thrown in and may just be worth a punt at 15/2 to open the scoring with another six points.

"My job is to get the team good," said Charles and the threat he poses from anywhere on the field should give Denver's new recruits on defense a decent early examination.

Verdict: Kansas City 19 Denver 31

Best of the rest:

San Francisco are around a touchdown favourite to see off Chicago as they officially unveil their brand new $1.3 billion Levi's Stadium at Santa Clara.

The 49ers weren't particularly hard-pressed to see off Dallas last week while Chicago suffered a pretty surprising loss at home to Buffalo - classic Bears to be fair of late as they produce another head-scratching display.

But the interesting angle in this game is rookie running back Carlos Hyde for the hosts and he looks well worth a punt at 10/3 with Sky Bet to add to his debut touchdown in Texas.

Considered the top player at his position in April's draft, at 5-11 and 230lbs the former Ohio State standout flashed tremendous early promise on his first start and the 49ers might just have found the long-term solution as they lighten the load on Frank Gore.

Hyde's first outing yielded a healthy 50 yards from seven carries while he was also given the responsibility to punch it in from four yards out by head coach Jim Harbaugh in the second quarter.

He is learning his craft from one of the best around in Gore and while the latter may do most of the heavy lifting, Hyde should not be overlooked in terms of hitting pay dirt once more against a rushing defense already ranked 30th having given up 193 yards to the Bills.

[bennythedip2]

A review of Sunday action in the NFL as Dallas Cowbows beat Tennessee Titans.


DeMarco Murray inspired the Dallas Cowboys to a 26-10 win over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.

Murray ran for 167 yards before scoring a touchdown as the Cowboys dominated, with Dan Bailey kicking four goals.

The Dallas defence also had two sacks and two interceptions which led to 10 points, with the victory meaning they avoided a dreaded 0-2 start.

Billy Cundiff claimed a dramatic late win for the Cleveland Browns as his 29-yard field goal with three seconds remaining gave his side a 26-24 victory over the New Orleans Saints.

Meanwhile, the Arizona Cardinals beat the error-prone New York Giants 25-14 without injured starting quarterback Carson Palmer.

Drew Stanton threw for 167 yards and led the Cardinals on three long scoring drives while Eli Manning threw two touchdowns for the Giants, who turned over the ball four times.

The New England Patriots took advantage of Adrian Peterson's absence for the Minnesota Vikings as they cruised to a 30-7 victory.

The Cincinnati Bengals took a 24-10 victory over the Atlanta Falcons after wide receiver AJ Green hobbled off the pitch.

Elsewhere, the Carolina Panthers moved back to the top of the NFC South with a 24-7 win over the Detroit Lions while the Buffalo Bills claimed a 29-10 win over AFC East rivals the Miami Dolphins.

The Washington Redskins were dealt a huge blow as quarterback Robert Griffin III dislocated his left ankle during the first quarter of their 41-10 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars at FedExField.

Kirk Cousins stepped in to replace Griffin - who had been hoping to have a big comeback year after a hangover from major knee surgery hampered him last season - and he threw for 250 yards and two touchdowns as he steered Washington to victory.

On the other side of the ball the Redskins defence put Jaguars quarterback Chad Henne under relentless pressure with a franchise record 10 sacks, including four from Ryan Kerrigan.

Jay Gruden, who took over as the Redskins head coach in the off-season, confirmed afterwards that Griffin had dislocated his ankle and said they are waiting on further scans to determine how long he will be out of action.

The Green Bay Packers rallied back from an 18-point deficit in the second quarter to close out a 31-24 victory over the New York Jets.

Jets quarterback Geno Smith rushed into the end zone early on and then found Eric Decker shortly after to complete a quickfire blitz, with Chris Ivory running in a third touchdown to make it 21-3 before the Packers got to work.

Aaron Rodgers took control, throwing for 346 yards and three touchdowns, as Green Bay got off the mark following last week's humbling defeat against reigning champions the Seattle Seahawks - who had a chastening experience of their own on Sunday.

Antonio Gates took three touchdown catches as the San Diego Chargers enjoyed a stunning 30-21 victory over the Seahawks at the Qualcomm Stadium.

It was the first time the Seahawks have been beaten since the Arizona Cardinals won at CenturyLink Field last December and it may just curtail talk of them cruising to a comfortable defence this time around.

Last year's beaten Super Bowl finalists the Denver Broncos moved to 2-0 but they did not have it all their own way as they beat the Kansas City Chiefs 24-17 at Sports Authority Field.

Broncos' defensive tackle Terrance Knighton was forced to bat away Alex Smith's fourth-and-goal pass to Dwayne Bowe with 15 seconds remaining to preserve the hosts' advantage.

Elsewhere the St Louis Rams, who started with third-string quarterback Austin Davis, edged the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 19-17, while the Houston Texans eased to a 30-14 win over the Oakland Raiders.