NFL Predictions Week 1: Odds, Picks and Projections for Opening Schedule

It's taken a long offseason, training camp and preseason to get here, but the NFL regular season is finally upon us.

Week 1 action starts Thursday night with a high-profile tussle between the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots and the Pittsburgh Steelers, but the rest of the slate features plenty of entertaining games as well. Playoff seeding isn't often on people's minds this early in the season, but some of the contests on the schedule require such forward thinking.

Let's run through each of the week's 16 games with a prediction against the spread, then highlight three safe bets you'd be smart to make this week.

Date	Away	Home	Pick ATS*
Sept. 10	Pittsburgh Steelers	New England Patriots	NE (-7)
Sept. 13	Seattle Seahawks	St. Louis Rams	SEA (-4)
Sept. 13	Green Bay Packers	Chicago Bears	GB (-6.5)
Sept. 13	Kansas City Chiefs	Houston Texans	KC (+1)
Sept. 13	Cleveland Browns	New York Jets	NYJ (-2.5)
Sept. 13	Miami Dolphins	Washington Redskins	MIA (-4)
Sept. 13	Carolina Panthers	Jacksonville Jaguars	JAC (+3.5)
Sept. 13	Indianapolis Colts	Buffalo Bills	BUF (+2.5)
Sept. 13	Detroit Lions	San Diego Chargers	DET (+3)
Sept. 13	New Orleans Saints	Arizona Cardinals	ARI (-3)
Sept. 13	Cincinnati Bengals	Oakland Raiders	CIN (-3.5)
Sept. 13	Baltimore Ravens	Denver Broncos	BAL (+4.5)
Sept. 13	Tennessee Titans	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	TB (-3)
Sept. 13	New York Giants	Dallas Cowboys	NYG (+6)
Sept. 14	Philadelphia Eagles	Atlanta Falcons	PHI (-3)
Sept. 14	Minnesota Vikings	San Francisco 49ers	MIN (-2.5)

Safest Bets

Miami Dolphins (-4) at Washington Redskins

The Washington Redskins are a mess.

Kirk Cousins is the starter at quarterback, despite head coach Jay Gruden's saying over the winter that it would be Robert Griffin III. And the team allowed the most passing touchdowns (35) in the league last year.

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Basically, the Redskins won't pass the ball well, nor will they be able to stop their opponents' passing attacks. In today's NFL, that's the ultimate kiss of death. Star running back Alfred Morris can do only so much.

The Miami Dolphins, on the other hand, seem to be on the upswing. Signal-caller Ryan Tannehill and running back Lamar Miller keep getting better, and the defense now features the beastly combination of Ndamukong Suh and Cameron Wake along the line.

Expect Cousins to get little time to throw behind a leaky offensive line and a balanced Dolphins attack, which will manhandle the Redskins defense.

Green Bay Packers (-6.5) at Chicago Bears

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Since Aaron Rodgers took the baton as the Green Bay Packers' starting quarterback from Brett Favre in 2008, his team has gone 12-3 against the Chicago Bears with a plus-10.7 point differential against its NFC North rivals, winning both games meetings in 2014 by a total of 62 points.

So do the Bears have much of a shot at Soldier Field in Week 1? Nope.

The loss of injured wide receiver Jordy Nelson hurts the Packers' vaunted offense, but the Green Bay Press-Gazette's Ryan Wood noted that star No. 2 wideout Randall Cobb doesn't plan on missing any time because of his right shoulder.

Along with Cobb, Davante Adams and James Jones, whom the team signed Monday, according to ESPN.com's Rob Demovsky, should provide all the firepower Rodgers needs to light up the scoreboard against a below-average Chicago defense.

Oh yeah—and workhorse running back Eddie Lacy is kind of good, too, and he'll join the festivities.

Now, the Bears will put up some points of their own. The team's offense, led by Jay Cutler, Matt Forte, Alshon Jeffery and Martellus Bennett, will expose the Packers' middling defense at times.

But it won't be nearly enough.

Philadelphia Eagles (-3) at Atlanta Falcons

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Sometimes, oddsmakers seem to overestimate the impact home-field advantage can have on a game. Sure, it's helpful, especially in the playoffs, but it won't be enough to make the matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and Atlanta Falcons a nail-biter this week.

Philadelphia is more talented than Atlanta, despite both teams' weaknesses on the defensive side of the field.

The Eagles offense ranked third last season in points, and that was with quarterbacks Nick Foles and Mark Sanchez each starting eight games. Now, Sam Bradford—a talented former No. 1 pick who struggled with injuries and a poor supporting cast in St. Louis—will take the reins. 

DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews will take LeSean McCoy's place in the backfield, and rookie wideout Nelson Agholor will soften the blow of losing Jeremy Maclin to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Atlanta's passing game is excellent, but its offensive line, rushing attack and defense are all suspect. The Eagles tied for second in the NFL with 49 sacks last year, so that pass rush could throw a wrench in the Falcons' presumed "throw early and often" game plan.

Note: All statistics are from Pro-Football-Reference.com unless otherwise indicated.