NFL Odds Week 1: 5 Favorites in Serious Danger

Who is ready for football? With football comes something else that is fun, upsets.

Upsets happen a lot in week one, as the good teams are flat and previous bad teams fly under the radar.

These are some teams that need to be on upset alert. All point spreads are courtesy of Bodog.

San Diego Chargers (-9) against Minnesota Vikings

This one depends a lot on how you feel about Donovan McNabb. San Diego should do fine against the Vikings. I know that they missed the playoffs in 2010, but that was due to incredibly bad circumstances.

Their special teams unit let them down time and time again.

What’s been consistent with the Chargers is slow starting. My guess is that they will have learn their lesson and come out strong in 2011. But if history repeats itself, this is a trap game that the Chargers could lose.

Minnesota is a good enough team to take advantage of the mistakes that a Chargers team could make. San Diego is better and at home, so they should win. But nothing can be taken for granted.

McNabb will also be looking to prove his doubters wrong. The Chargers do have something to prove, they just aren’t alone in that.

Denver Broncos (-3) against Oakland Raiders

This isn’t exactly the most attractive game on the NFL schedule. The Raiders had a big step forward in 2011, but haven’t been too impressive in the offseason and preseason.

Kyle Orton will put some yards up on the Oakland secondary. The problem is that the Broncos have a lot of uncertainty pretty much everywhere on the roster.

The Raiders have their issues, but swept the division in 2010. Their attack is good, not great, but not bad.

The Broncos are getting the standard three point advantage that comes with being the home team. That’s fine and they may win, but this is not a team that can be counted on just yet.

A lot of turmoil and controversy is in Denver right now. The Raiders aren’t great, but they’re good enough to take advantage of a vulnerable Denver team.

Green Bay Packers (-4) against New Orleans Saints

I have nothing against the Packers. But I see the Saints having a big year. Their renewed aggressiveness on defense is encouraging, as that was their game plan when they won Super Bowl XLIV.

This is a big time matchup. There is nothing wrong with making the home team Super Bowl champions the favorites, but New Orleans is a team that can pull off an upset.

One way or another, this will be a fun game to watch. I would also say that this is a game that features two teams that will make deep playoff runs. Someone has to lose, but it won't do long term damage.

San Francisco 49ers (-6) against Seattle Seahawks

The 49ers aren't a good enough team to say that any loss will be shocking. But they are six point favorites, and that's pretty significant.

San Francisco was favored to win the NFC West in 2010. They opened the season with a 31-6 loss in Seattle. This one is in San Francisco, which was a much kinder result for San Francisco in 2010.

This will be important for the 49ers. The division is winnable, but the Seahawks are the defending NFC West champions. That's something that can't be forgotten, even though Tarvaris Jackson is the new quarterback.

Atlanta Falcons (-3) against Chicago Bears

The Bears have flown under the radar in this offseason. They were the NFC North Champions next year and hosted the NFC Championship Game.

To be fair, Atlanta was the top team in the NFC during the regular season.

I would pick the Falcons to win here, but the Bears can pull this one off. This will be a telling game for both teams. Both play challenging schedules and would really fall behind with a loss.