Picking a pair of teams to rebound

While Week 1 was an up and down affair with this NFL handicapper, Week 2 presents a solid shot to rebound. I see some onesided matchups and some teams making their home debuts who should cover.

One team that should rebound is Houston, a team I touted in this spot last week but ended up losing and falling a few points short of covering at New England last week.

Houston travels to Tennessee and the Texans have had the Titans’ number. In their last 14 meetings, the Texans are 11-3. The Texans should dominate this game on both sides of the ball with Deshaun Watson, DeAndre Hopkins and Lamar Miller producing points for an easy cover.

Another team to key on is Pittsburgh, which makes its season home debut against Kansas City and is coming off a 21-21 tie at Cleveland. The Steelers and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger always play tough at home. While Kansas City has its standouts on offense, the Chiefs defense can be beat.

Le’Veon Bell is still missing in action, but the Steelers’ passing game is still stellar and James Conner proved a solid replacement for Bell with 135 yards and two touchdowns last week.

And oh yeah, the Steelers are 6-1 in their last seven games in Pittsburgh.

SUNDAY’S GAMES

Indianapolis at Washington (-6): Colts quarterback Andrew Luck will keep his team in the game the first few quarters. But the Colts defense is the problem. It allowed 17 unanswered points in the fourth quarter last week against the Bengals. Nowak’s pick: Redskins 30-17.

Carolina at Atlanta (-51⁄2): The Falcons are another team that plays better at home. The Panthers also will miss tight end Greg Olsen who has a foot injury. Nowak’s pick: Falcons 27-17.

Minnesota at Green Bay (-1): Mystery still surrounds Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the knee injury he suffered last week — will he or won’t he play? Either way, the key here will be the Vikings defense. Nowak’s pick: Vikings 27-17.

Los Angeles Chargers at Buffalo (+7): The Chargers defense takes a hit with the loss of pass rusher Joey Bosa, but it should have no problem with the Bills’ weak offense. Nowak’s pick: Chargers 27-13.

Houston at Tennessee (+11⁄2): See above. Nowak’s pick: Texans 30-14.

Kansas City at Pittsburgh (-5): See above.

Nowak’s pick: Steelers 31-21.

Miami at Jets (-3): The Jets made a statement with a one-sided win at the Lions last week. Now they come home and show their fans it wasn’t a fluke. Nowak’s pick: Jets 30-14.

Philadelphia at Tampa Bay (-3): I think Ryan Fitzpatrick has one more good game in him before Jameis Winston returns from suspension on Sept. 30. The Eagles are also banged up with receiver Alshon Jeffery (shoulder) out again and running back Darren Sproles out (hamstring). Quarterback Nick Foles didn’t exactly light it up against Atlanta last week. Nowak’s pick: Tampa Bay 27-17.

Cleveland at New Orleans (-9): The Saints offense will score a lot of points. The Browns could do the same seeing the Saints defense allowed Bucs QB Ryan Fitzpatrick to throw for 417 yards and four touchdowns last week. Saints win, Browns cover.

Nowak’s pick: Saints 34-31.

Arizona at Los Angeles Rams (-121⁄2): The biggest point spread of week two and with good reason — the Rams are loaded on both sides of the ball and playing at home. Nowak’s pick: Rams 38-13.

Detroit at San Francisco (-6): Some handicappers are on the Jimmy Garoppolo bandwagon, but I think the key to this game is the Lions defense, or lack thereof, which allowed the visiting Jets to score 48 points last week. Nowak’s pick: 49ers 34-24.

New England at Jacksonville (+2): The marquee matchup of the weekend with the league’s best quarterback — Tom Brady — facing the Jaguars, one of the league’s top defenses. I think the key is the Patriots’ decent defense against an offense with a quarterback (Blake Bortles) who makes mistakes and a running back (Leonard Fournette) who is nursing a hamstring injury. Nowak’s pick: Patriots 27-17.

Oakland at Denver (-6): The Broncos, 4-1-1 against the Raiders in their last six games in Denver, should dominate this one on both sides of the ball.

Nowak’s pick: Broncos 30-13.

Giants at Dallas (-3): This looks like a trap game to me. Everything points to a Giants win. But you know, when the Giants are supposed to win, a lot of times they don’t. I see Ezekiel Elliott carrying the Cowboys to victory at home. Nowak’s pick: Cowboys 31-24.

MONDAY’S GAME

Seattle at Chicago (-3): The combination of a weak offensive line and standout receiver Doug Baldwin sitting out with a knee injury bodes well for the Bears. The Bears also love being on the Monday Night Football stage with a 12-5-1 mark in their last 18 Monday night games. Nowak’s pick: Bears 23-14.