NFL Picks Week 1: Predicting Final Scores for Every Game Based on Vegas Lines

The Minnesota Vikings are getting tested in Week 1 of the 2016 NFL season.

The loss of Teddy Bridgewater appeared to ruin their season last week. Bridgewater tore up his knee in a non-contact portion of the Vikings practice, and that meant their improving young quarterback was done for the year.

The Vikings did not cry about their loss for a long time. Instead, they made a bold move by acquiring Sam Bradford from the Philadelphia Eagles. They are asking him to keep their hopes and dreams for a championship season intact.

It's never easy to win on the road in the NFL, particularly with a quarterback who just arrived and will have nothing but a crash course in the Vikings offense and a few practices under his belt.

While Shaun Hill has been in place, we fully expect Bradford to be under center on Sunday. While his main job will be to avoid mistakes and hand the ball off to Adrian Peterson, he will have to come through with a few key throws.

The Vikings are a team that has a chance to take over as the lead dog in the NFC North, and many looked at them as a possible contender for NFC superiority.

The best way to show off their talent would be to start with a strong effort on the road in Week 1. They have a strong defense led by safety Harrison Smith and outside linebacker Anthony Barr, and they are capable of shutting down an unproven team like the Tennessee Titans.

However, it will take an excellent effort. Second-year quarterback Marcus Mariota has a bright future, and he should be a more productive passer in 2016 than he was as a rookie. Additionally, head coach Mike Mularkey wants Mariota to use his running skills more this year and create big plays with his feet, according to the Associated Press (via USA Today).

The Titans should be pumped up in front of their home crowd. They are two-point underdogs at home, according to Odds Shark.

While that may sound like an inviting number, we like the road favorites. The Vikings were a playoff team last year, and while losing their starting quarterback hurts, head coach Mike Zimmer will not let his team feel sorry for itself or quit.

He will get the best effort out of his team possible, and the Vikings will win by a touchdown or more.

Game	Point Spread	Prediction
Carolina at Denver	Car. (-3)	Carolina
Minnesota at Tennessee	Minn. (-1.5)	Minnesota
San Diego at Kansas City	KC (-7)	Kansas City
Chicago at Houston	Hou. (-6)	Chicago
Oakland at New Orleans	NO (-1)	Oakland
Green Bay at Jacksonville	GB (-4.5)	Green Bay
Cincinnati at New York Jets	Cin. (-2.5)	Cincinnati
Cleveland at Philadelphia	Phil (-4)	Cleveland
Buffalo at Baltimore	Balt. (-3)	Baltimore
Tampa Bay at Atlanta	Atl. (-3)	Atlanta
Miami at Seattle	Sea. (-10.5)	Seattle
New York Giants at Dallas	Even	New York Giants
Detroit at Indianapolis	Ind. (-4)	Indianapolis
New England at Arizona	Ariz. (-6)	New England
Pittsburgh at Washington	Pitt (-3)	Washington
Los Angeles at San Francisco	LA (-2.5)	San Francisco
All predictions are against the point spread.

Ben Margot/Associated Press

Raiders show their improvement with an opening win on the road

The Oakland Raiders have been among the NFL's bottom-feeders for years. This could be the season that the Raiders shake their loser label and show some legitimate game-breaking talent on a consistent basis.

They get their first chance to show their abilities when they travel to New Orleans for a meeting with the Saints.

Last year, the Saints and the New York Giants were the two worst defensive teams in the league. Head coach Sean Payton hopes that the addition of defensive tackle Nick Fairley and linebacker James Laurinaitis will help the Saints improve on defense.

That may very well happen, but don't expect the Saints to suddenly become a powerhouse on defense in the first game of the season. That unit may have more ability than it did last year, but it does not have the rhythm or timing to be effective in Week 1.

The Raiders have a young offense that looks like it could be dangerous. Derek Carr is an emerging quarterback with courage and a strong arm, while running back Latavius Murray has breakaway skills and can also run with power.

The Raiders also have emerging superstar Amari Cooper as their No. 1 wide receiver. Cooper caught 72 passes for 1,070 yards and six touchdowns as a rookie, and the prediction here is that he will hit double figures in touchdowns.

There may be teams that can stop him, but one of them is not the Saints.

Oakland goes into the Superdome as a one-point underdog. It will win this game outright, as its offense will click, and the Saints defense still has a long way to go.

Darron Cummings/Associated Press

Colts prepare for bounce-back season with strong opening win

The Indianapolis Colts were one of the most disappointing teams in the league last year. They got off to a 3-5 start, and they lost franchise quarterback Andrew Luck to multiple injuries. They were never able to develop a winning rhythm and closed the season as an 8-8 team that did not make the postseason.

The only reason the Colts got to .500 was that they won their final two games of the regular season against the Miami Dolphins and Titans, but those wins proved to be too little and too late.

Prior to getting knocked out of the lineup, Luck was struggling with his playmaking ability. He played just seven games, and his 15-12 touchdown-interception ratio told the story of his ineffective play.

Many thought head coach Chuck Pagano would be fired as the season came to an end. However, he emerged from an end-of-season meeting with owner Jim Irsay with his job intact.

Look for the Colts to bounce back from last year's debacle. They have an excellent chance to get off to a good start against the Detroit Lions.

The Colts are at home and just 3.5-point favorites. That does not seem like much of an impost for a team that should be on a mission to erase last year's disaster. 

The Lions were 7-9 last season, and they lost superstar wideout Calvin Johnson to retirement and linebacker Stephen Tulloch to free agency (Eagles).

This team lacks playmakers on both sides of the ball, and head coach Jim Caldwell does not appear to be the right man to turn the situation around. 

The Colts will win this game and cover the spread.