Four NFL Storylines to Follow

It's time to find your week two best bets, and the heavy hitters from Bet the Board--Payne Insider and Todd Fuhrman--are here to give you everything you'll need to put money in your pockets should Clay's Blood Bank guarantee go awry. From their thoughts on Monday Night Football's clunkers to money management to big game breakdowns, don't invest a dollar before listening to the podcast.

Four gambling storylines to follow:

Are the Houston Texans for real?

Beating the Bears is one thing; getting playoff revenge against an AFC contender is something very different.  Brock Osweiller showed flashes in his Texans debut but Lamar Miller was far from excellent.  Kansas City proved they have more offensive fire power than anyone expected battling back from a 17 point deficit in the fourth quarter but showed some vulnerability defensively.  KC lacks a viable pass rusher without Justin Houston...something they'll need to find if they're to take pressure off the secondary.

Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me

New England took us all by surprise; beating the Cardinals in their opener 23-21 as 9.5 point underdogs.  Jimmy G wasn't anything special but he did stay within himself dinking and dunking his way to the W.  Miami now has footage of the young quarterback and will make life more difficult for him in his home debut.  Mr. schedule maker did the Phins ZERO favors sending them to Seattle to start the season and then up to Foxboro Week 2.  It will be interesting to see if Adam Gase forges a gameplan capable of putting pressure on a revamped Patriots stop unit that looked vulnerable at times against the Cardinals.

Revenge is a dish best served...in Pittsburgh.

Cincinnati saw their season come to a premature end last year at the hands of the hated Pittsburgh Steelers.  The Bengals get a chance for revenge this weekend but the stakes won't be nearly as high.  Andy Dalton is back under center and has the benefit of an extra day compared to his Steeler counterparts.  Pittsburgh did what they do best on Monday Night; get the football to Antonio Brown.  AB went bonkers, absolutely abusing Bashaud Breeland en route to a commanding 20+ point W.  Cincinnati knows what it's like to face Brown and will do everything in their power to make someone else wearing black and gold beat them.

Will the real Rams step-up?

You rarely see performances as pathetic as that of what the Rams put forth in their season opener.  Los Angeles looked ill-equipped to do anything positive on offense, getting shut out by the "defensive juggernaut" know as the 49ers.  Case Keenum looked terrible; Todd Gurley couldn't find running lanes; the much ballyhooed defense was overmatched by a San Francisco ground attack.  In this business a team is never as good or as bad as they look in a one game sample size but there isn't a team in the league under more pressure to bounce back week 2 from their opener than Jeff Fisher's Rams.  Keep in mind Fisher is now the odds on favorite to be the first head coach fired in 2016 after that forgettable and embarrassing debut, but should be confident in a team that's had some success recently against the Seahawks.

Written by
Clay Travis is the founder of the fastest growing national multimedia platform, OutKick, that produces and distributes engaging content across sports and pop culture to millions of fans across the country. OutKick was created by Travis in 2011 and sold to the Fox Corporation in 2021. One of the most electrifying and outspoken personalities in the industry, Travis hosts OutKick The Show where he provides his unfiltered opinion on the most compelling headlines throughout sports, culture, and politics. He also makes regular appearances on FOX News Media as a contributor providing analysis on a variety of subjects ranging from sports news to the cultural landscape. Throughout the college football season, Travis is on Big Noon Kickoff for Fox Sports breaking down the game and the latest storylines. Additionally, Travis serves as a co-host of The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, a three-hour conservative radio talk program syndicated across Premiere Networks radio stations nationwide. Previously, he launched OutKick The Coverage on Fox Sports Radio that included interviews and listener interactions and was on Fox Sports Bet for four years. Additionally, Travis started an iHeartRadio Original Podcast called Wins & Losses that featured in-depth conversations with the biggest names in sports. Travis is a graduate of George Washington University as well as Vanderbilt Law School. Based in Nashville, he is the author of Dixieland Delight, On Rocky Top, and Republicans Buy Sneakers Too.