The NFL season is just days away! Our preseason futures portfolios are filled, and now it’s time to place some actual wagers on the first game! This NFL season opens with the Super Bowl rematch of the Patriots taking on the Seahawks on Wednesday night, September 9th. Let’s take a look at the NFL Season Opener’s best bets for the Seahawks vs. Patriots!
NFL Season Opener: Seahawks vs. Patriots Best Bets
A.J. Brown Anytime Touchdown (+160) / A.J. Brown To Record A 30+ Yard Reception (+185)
The first pick I’m looking at for my Patriots Seahawks best bets for the NFL season opener is A.J. Brown anytime touchdown. Priced at +160, this just feels like a lock. This offseason, the Patriots traded for A.J. Brown to give Drake Maye a true number one wide receiver who can stretch the field.
Brown has caught seven touchdown passes in the last three seasons on a run-heavy team that had Jalen Hurts throwing the ball. Now he comes to the Patriots in an offense that throws the ball a lot. Last year, Drake Maye completed 60 more passes than Brown’s former quarterback, Jalen Hurts. He also threw for 1,100 more yards.
Maye threw 31 touchdowns last season to guys like Stefon Diggs, Kayshon Boutte, Mack Hollins, and DeMario Douglas. No offense to any of them, but Brown is a better receiver and will command the target share in that offense. TreVeyon Henderson may be out, which would mean even more targets to go Brown’s way. Maye will make use of his new weapon right away and throw him a touchdown at some point in this game.
Just to throw another A.J. Brown prop in for this game, I would not be surprised to see him have a huge play for over 30 yards. Maye loves to push the ball down the field, and that offense is built on big shots. The difference is, Brown is a better receiver for those long shots than they had last year. At +185, I love this play.
Jadarian Price Over 51.5 Rushing Yards (-114)
The next pick for my Patriots Seahawks best bets during the NFL season opener is Jadarian Price over 51.5 rushing yards. We don’t know when Zach Charbonnet will return after his injury late last year. However, we do know it won’t be in Week 1. That leaves rookie Jadarian Price to handle the majority share of the Seahawks’ backfield.
The Seahawks drafted Price at the end of the first round, showing that they really liked what they saw out of his college game tape. That’s pretty impressive given he never had a season over 746 rushing yards, as he was the backup running back on the team.
Either way, the Seahawks run the ball very well. In fact, the last time these two teams faced off, Kenneth Walker ran the ball 27 times for 135 yards. I don’t expect Price to get the ball 27 times. I do expect he’ll get 15-20 carries, though. He’ll only need to average 3.43 yards per carry on 15 carries to exceed 51.5 rushing yards. This feels like a game where the rookie will have a nice debut, so I love the over here.
Drake Maye Over 1.5 Passing Touchdowns (+138)
For my next pick in my best bets for the NFL season opener, we’ve already seen this one cash in a Patriots-Seahawks game. That was the Super Bowl, when Maye threw for two touchdowns. I already attributed one to him, going to A.J. Brown. Now he’ll only need one additional touchdown to cash this one.
Maye had 11 games in the regular season last year where he threw for two touchdowns or more. That streak continued in the playoffs when he threw for three against the Texans and two in the Super Bowl.
Again, this is an offense that likes to push the ball down the field. There aren’t any offensive coordinator changes or scheme changes for Maye to adjust to. It’s the same offense that produced two-plus-touchdown games in 65% of his regular-season games last year. Now you can take this bet and get plus money on it against a Seattle defense that has a ton of new pieces.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba Under 6.5 Receptions (-110)
My last pick in my Patriots Seahawks best bets for the NFL Season opener is a little bit crazy. Am I really choosing to fade one of the best wide receivers in the NFL right now? I am. The reason isn’t that I think he’s taking a step back this year. Even though I do think the Seahawks offense may take a step back, especially in Week 1. New coordinator, Super Bowl hangover, and the like.
However, the main reason I like this one is because of the defender, Christian Gonzalez. Contract negotiations and drama aside, he’s a shutdown corner and one of the best in the NFL. He will likely blanket JSN most of the night.
Yes, JSN gets a huge target share in this offense. However, in the last playoffs and Super Bowl, he only went over this once. That includes the Super Bowl game against the Patriots, when he only had four catches for 27 yards on 10 targets. That’s the Christian Gonzalez effect. This defense already knows how to limit him. Now I expect they’ll do it again, so I’m taking the under at -110.
