It’s just 34 days until the Hall-of-Fame game in Canton, Ohio. Only a nice 69 days until the NFL regular season kicks off in Philadelphia as the Super Bowl Champion Eagles host divisional rivals the Dallas Cowboys. It’s never too early to start betting on Week 1 games, so let’s take an early look at NFL Week 1 best bets.
The NFL has blessed us with not only the Thursday opener for the champs, but we also get a Friday Night Football game. A full Sunday slate ending with Bills/Ravens and a Monday Night Football game between the Vikings and Bears.
Early Look: NFL Week 1 Best Bets
Arizona Cardinals -5.5 (-110) at New Orleans Saints
It won’t be an easy task for new Saints Head Coach Kellen Moore as he likely installs rookie Tyler Shough in as the team’s starting quarterback. New coach, new quarterback, new system, it’s all going to be a learning experience for the Saints. Only the Cleveland Browns have shorter odds to be the worst team in the NFL in 2025. The long-term answers and picture don’t matter here. It’s going to be hard for this team to be ready for a team that’s returning everything.
The Cardinals come in with the same staff, same quarterback, same main weapons, and should be ready to rock and roll. Kyler Murray should be in early-season form before Call of Duty comes out, and I expect the Cardinals offense to click right away with Trey McBride and year two Marvin Harrison Jr. Last year, the Cardinals were 5-3 ATS on the road, and 7-4 in Non-Division games. Overall, the Cardinals were a great team to bet on in 2024, going 11-6 ATS in the regular season. Head Coach Jonathan Gannon has the best ATS record by percentage of any active Head Coach at 55.8%.
Pittsburgh Steelers -3 (-102) at New York Jets
This is another case of a new team coming together. The Jets have former Lions Defensive Coordinator Aaron Glenn as the Head Coach, and former Steelers Quarterback Justin Fields is their new signal caller. The Fields revenge angle is in play, and I think attacking his rushing yards over prop in Week 1 will be the way to go when it comes to that.
While there doesn’t appear to be a record against first-year Head Coaches, Tomlin is amazing against rookie Quarterbacks (25-6). That shows his ability to game-plan against inexperience. Only three Coaches have a better ATS winning percentage against the spread, and Tomlin (53%) has more games coached than all of them. Add in the fact that it’s a Quarterback he just had on his team last year, he’s going to be able to pick apart Fields’ weaknesses. He’s also got the entire rest of the off-season to start game planning and get ready. The Steelers are 4-1 ATS in the last five seasons. Adding Aaron Rodgers to the mix could make one nervous, but the future Hall-of-Famer is a professional on the field and is exactly what the Steelers need.
Early Look: NFL Week 1 Best Bets
Las Vegas Raiders at New England Patriots -3 (-115)
This one is a battle of a lot of new stuff. Of course, Pete Carroll and Geno Smith worked together in Seattle, but they add Chip Kelly and the rest of the Raiders into the mix now. On the other side, Drake Maye enters year two as the quarterback but welcomes Mike Vrabel as the new Head Coach and Josh McDaniel as the new Offensive Coordinator. The good news for the Patriots, these guys are all familiar with New England and how things work there. Maye is the one stable piece in all of it, and I’m expecting a big breakout year for Maye, and bringing in Vrabel is the perfect thing to stabilize this legendary franchise. Surprisingly, these two coaches have never gone head-to-head in their careers. It should be a close one, but this time the home team covers.
Tennessee Titans at Denver Broncos -7.5 (-120)
The Titans had the #1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft and got their new franchise Quarterback in Cam Ward. Going on the road in Week 1 is no easy task in your welcome to the NFL game. Going on the road in Elevation, even tougher. The Titans were just 2-15 last year ATS.
The Broncos’ home-field advantage was a real thing last year as the team went 6-2 ATS in the comforts of Empower Field at Mile High Stadium. The Titans look like a team that’s getting some answers and putting together the right pieces, starting with Quarterback Cam Ward. But nothing about Brian Callahan screamed confidence in betting on him last year, and it’s going to take some time. The Broncos are in year two of Payton and Nix together, and it’s another team that should take a big step forward.
