NFL Week 1 Best Bets and Top Odds: Sunday, September 11

The NFL season has kicked off and we have 14 games this Sunday. It’s a return to the sport we all love and the excitement is through the roof for this upcoming season. Thursday night saw the Buffalo Bills beat the Los Angeles Rams on opening night and it set up a fascinating week one. There will be plenty of drama and here are our best picks from the 14 games. All odds courtesy of Bovada.

Baltimore Ravens v New York Jets

This bet should come down to Lamar scoring a touchdown. The Ravens are seven point favorites in their week one matchup against the New York Jets and they should have an easy time dismantling the Jets. At this point, the Ravens are a substantially better team than the Jets and it would be shocking to see them lose. But that’s only half of the parlay. The other half is Lamar Jackson, the Baltimore Ravens QB, scoring a touchdown. Lamar is one of the best rushing QBs in NFL history and he is a threat to score at all times. Although he only had two rushing touchdowns in an injury-riddled 2021-2022 season, he had seven in each year before then. We expect him to return to his healthy ways and start dominating on the ground again. In this game against a susceptible defense, Lamar should run all over them and lead the Ravens to victory, scoring a touchdown in the process.

Cleveland Browns v Carolina Panthers

This is going to be an epic revenge game and we are siding with the Panthers. They traded for QB Baker Mayfield from the Browns this offseason and Baker will be leading the Panthers into battle. He is a spiteful guy, so he should have a chip on his shoulder for this contest. Also, Mayfield now has more weapons than he did with the Browns and that should elevate his play. The Panthers are one of our favorite sleeper teams for this upcoming season and they should kick off their year on the right foot with a home win against the Browns.

The Browns are kind of in a state of disarray. While they traded for Deshaun Watson, an elite QB, he will be suspended for the first 11 weeks of the season. That leaves Jacoby Brissett at the helm. While Brissett is an alright back up QB, he is not very good and has an all-time record of 14-23 as a starter. The Browns have a good defense but they will not be able to score with Brissett. We expect the Panthers defense to lock down the Browns and do just enough on offense to come away with a win.

San Franciso 49ers v Chicago Bears

This should be an interesting game. The 49ers will have a new quarterback in Trey Lance and it remains to be seen how he will fare as a starting QB. That is why we are staying away from betting the Niners and sticking with a certainty. That certainty is that Deebo Samuel is a monster and should be set up to dominate once again. Last year, Deebo had six receiving touchdowns and eight rushing touchdowns. The Bears should struggle to contain Deebo in this contest and the 49ers love getting him the ball. He is a threat to score on any touch and we expect his touchdown odds to get significantly shorter after this game. The Bears do not have a great defense and Deebo should be able to run all over them. Take him to score a touchdown and watch one of the most electrifying players in the NFL continue to dominate.

New Orleans Saints v Atlanta Falcons

This is a game that could go a bunch of different ways. Both teams made massive changes and there is a lot of intrigue in how each team will line up. However, we are siding with the Falcons due to one factor, they are an underdog at home in an intra-divisional matchup. This is one of NFL bettors’ favorite trends in the sport and it should pay dividends here. The Falcons should not be a good team this season. They are a rebuilding team with weak spots across their roster. That being said, the Saints have a lot of question marks and 5.5 is a lot of points. The Saints lost their legendary head coach, Sean Payton and it remains to be seen how they will fare without him. While the Falcons may not be good, they should be able to keep this close and cover the spread at home in their opening game.

Kansas City Chiefs v Arizona Cardinals

The Chiefs will have a new offense this season. With the offseason trade of Tyreek Hill, NFL pundits have been speculating on who will replace his receiving production. One thing that is certain, is that Travis Kelce will be back. And he may have a bigger role. Kelce has 37 touchdowns in the last four years and he is a huge part of the Chiefs’ offensive gameplan. With the Chiefs, we know they will have a good offense due to having Patrick Mahomes, the best QB in the NFL. It just comes down to who will catch the ball and while they are some questions about the supporting cast, Kelce is a known commodity. He should dominate in this game and find his way into the endzone. This Chiefs’ point total for this game is 30.5, so they are expected to score. When the Chiefs score, Kelce usually does and -155 is a great value bet at this point in the season.

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