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PrintEach week throughout the NFL regular season, we’ll be providing our public perception rankings, a 1-through-32 look at the teams that might be overvalued or undervalued by Joe Public bettors.
For the second week in a row, the New England Patriots are on top, a spot they’ll occupy for much—if not all—of this season.
But there’s a new team in the basement, one that dropped four slots from Week 1 to Week 2: The Miami Dolphins. The public wants no part of the dumpster fire in Miami, evidenced by them being underdogs at home to the Oakland Raiders.
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On the Rise: Baltimore Ravens (ninth to second). A thumping of a pretty good opponent on national television does wonders for a team’s public perception. Some folks were worried about a “hangover” from Baltimore’s excruciating end to last season, but they showed no signs of that, and now they’re one of the most popular teams among bettors.
Free Falling: Philadelphia Eagles (third to 11th). Even though they won in a squeaker at Cleveland, people are starting to feel like maybe this Eagles team will never put it together, and now no one wants to touch them as 2.5-point home favorites against Baltimore.
With another win … The Washington Redskins will convince even more bettors that they’re for real. Robert Griffin III impressed in his debut, but another road win and cover—this time at St. Louis—would give bettors every reason they need to keep backing this team going forward.
With another loss … The New Orleans Saints’ betting stock could plummet. That high-powered offense will always give bettors a reason to back them, but if the Saints fall to 0-2 as 2.5-point road favorites at Carolina, look out.
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For people who like these rankings in plain-old text form, here ya go.
Previous weeks: 1
1. Patriots (Last week: 1)
2. Ravens (9)
3. 49ers (6)
4. Packers (2)
5. Texans (5)
6. Falcons (8)
7. Broncos (11)
8. Cowboys (12)
9. Steelers (4)
10. Lions (10)
11. Eagles (3)
12. Bears (14)
13. Giants (13)
14. Saints (7)
15. Jets (21)
16. Chargers (16)
17. Redskins (26)
18. Panthers (17)
19. Bengals (18)
20. Seahawks (19)
21. Bills (15)
22. Chiefs (20)
23. Buccaneers (25)
24. Vikings (24)
25. Titans (23)
26. Raiders (22)
27. Colts (27)
28. Cardinals (29)
29. Jaguars (32)
30. Rams (30)
31. Browns (31)
32. Dolphins (28)
