NFL Week 1 Betting Preview
By SBRForum.com
Yes, we’re still seven weeks away from the beginning of this upcoming NFL season, but does that mean it’s too early to talk about the Week 1 NFL odds and betting action? Hell no. So without further ado, here we go.
The regular-season kicks-off when the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants host the division-rival Dallas Cowboys on a Wednesday night Sept. 5. Last year New York won the NFC East by going just 9-7, and then won three playoff games in a row, the last two on the road, to reach the Super Bowl. There the Giants upset the Patriots for their second championship of the Coughlin-Manning era.
Dallas, meanwhile, bumbled its way to an 8-8 record last year, and missed the playoffs for the second straight season. The Pokes also got swept by New York in the season series.
As far as recent defending champions go, last year the defending champion Packers won a wild one at home over the Saints 42-34; the season previous the Saints were the defending champs, and they opened with a 14-9 victory in a championship game rematch with the Vikings; and the year before that the Steelers opened with a tough 13-10 win over the Titans.
Most online sportsbooks are listing the G-Men as three-point favorites for that Wednesday game with the Cowboys. Looking from afar, we like Dallas to pull an upset on Opening Night.
Moving ahead to Opening Sunday the Colts, who will probably be starting rookie quarterback Andrew Luck, are 10-point dogs at the Bears; the Patriots are 6.5-point road favorites at the Titans; the Redskins, who might also be debuting their rookie QB sensation, Robert Griffin III, are 9.5-point underdogs at the Saints; the Packers are 6.5-point home chalk over the 49ers; in an AFC playoff rematch Sunday night the Broncos, now with Peyton Manning running the show, are one-point home faves over the Steelers; and Monday night the Ravens are 5.5-point chalk over the visiting Bengals.
Again, prognosticating from seven weeks away, we like the Bears minus the points over the Colts; the Titans plus the points against the Pats; the scandal-ridden Saints giving the points vs. the ‘Skins; the Niners plus the points vs. the Pack; the Steelers to beat the Broncos, and the Ravens minus the points over the Bengals.
