Week 1 NFL Picks: Latest Spreads, Predictions Leading into Opening Games

Matchup	Time (ET)	Spread	Who Wins
Thursday, September 10
Pittsburgh at New England	8:30 p.m.	NE -6.5	Pittsburgh
Sunday, September 13
Seattle at St. Louis	1 p.m.	SEA -4.5	Seattle
Green Bay at Chicago	1 p.m.	GB -3.5	Green Bay
Kansas City at Houston	1 p.m.	HOU -2.5	Kansas City
Cleveland at New York Jets	1 p.m.	NYJ -2.5	New York Jets
Miami at Washington	1 p.m.	MIA -1.5	Miami
Carolina at Jacksonville	1 p.m.	CAR -2.5	Carolina
Indianapolis at Buffalo	1 p.m.	IND -2.5	Indianapolis
Detroit at San Diego	4:05 p.m.	SD -2	Detroit
New Orleans at Arizona	4:05 p.m.	AZ -3	Arizona
Cincinnati at Oakland	4:25 p.m.	CIN -3	Cincinnati
Baltimore at Denver	4:25 p.m.	DEN -4	Denver
Tennessee at Tampa Bay	4:25 p.m.	TB -2.5	Tampa Bay
New York Giants at Dallas	8:30 p.m.	DAL -5	New York Giants
Monday, September 14
Philadelphia at Atlanta	7:10 p.m.	PHI -1	Philadelphia
Minnesota at San Francisco	10:20 p.m.	SF -4.5	San Francisco

Dust off your favorite jersey, fish out your lucky hat and make sure your throne in the television room has been established. The NFL officially returns on Thursday night with a number of attractive matchups throughout Week 1 welcoming back its fans after a long and sometimes drawn-out offseason. 

Let's take a look at the latest spreads courtesy of OddsShark.com along with my predictions on who will start their seasons with a win:

Week 1 Notable Games

Pittsburgh Steelers at New England Patriots

Thursday, Sept. 10, 8:30 p.m. ET

Who Wins: Pittsburgh

Everything is coming up in New England this past week or so. With Hall of Fame-bound Tom Brady returning from the clutches of a suspension, the Patriots and their star quarterback will be greeted to a hero's welcome at Foxboro.

A Super Bowl banner will be unveiled as last year's accomplishments will be celebrated as everything seems to be hunky-dory in New England.

But don't forget, the Pittsburgh Steelers are in town and they want to spoil the party. In the past three seasons, the defending Super Bowl champion has dropped its opening game of the season.

Brady should be able to pick apart a weakened Steelers secondary that lost Troy Polamalu and Ike Taylor to retirement. They added Brandon Boykin from the Eagles, but that might not be enough to deter teams from passing all over them. 

Pittsburgh's one saving grace on Thursday could be that Brady only attempted 18 passes in the preseason and hasn't seen much real game action since Super Bowl XLIX. Not saying that he's going to struggle, but he might have a slow start. 

And that slow start might doom New England.

The Steelers will most likely have to out-duel the Patriots in an offensive shootout in order to win. And it might be something like 35-31, but Pittsburgh has the offensive weapons to keep up with New England even without running back Le'Veon Bell. 

Look for wide receiver Antonio Brown to have a big game even in the inclement weather and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to thrive. He has a tendency to perform well in the rain, having only lost once while holding a slightly better passer rating than Brady, according to NFL Network's Andrew Siciliano.

The game's wild card might be DeAngelo Williams, who will be looking to start his career in Pittsburgh with a bang. He has the honor of filling in for Bell while given the opportunity to show that he has plenty left in those 32-year-old legs.

This game is going to be close, and it is going to be entertaining as the NFL kicks off its season with a game that should be filled with big names and great plays. 

New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys

Sunday, September 13 8:30 p.m. ET

Who wins: New York

On paper, it seems like the Cowboys should win this game. This year, it looks like the NFC East should be a two-team race between Dallas and the Philadelphia Eagles.

They have the playmaker in Dez Bryant with an offensive line that should be able to protect Tony Romo all day and make an irrelevant group of runners that includes Joseph Randle and Lance Dunbar relevant.

Dallas has not been kind to the Giants either. The past two seasons have seen New York leave the Lone Star State with losses each time. 

It all looks so good on paper for the Cowboys.

Which is why I'm taking the Giants.

Let's be honest here. It has been quite some time since a Cowboys team has lived up to the hype of a great season. A win against the Giants would not do much to state their intentions, but a loss could create quite an early hole for them.

There's a chance that Eli Manning's contract situation will be sorted out before kickoff, per ESPN's Ed Werder: 

Manning and offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo are ready to unleash their version of the West Coast offense that saw Manning throw for over 4,000 yards last year, his first season in the new scheme.

New York has a healthy Odell Beckham Jr. and the possibility of having Victor Cruz ready to go with Rueben Randle, who provides a strong option as a third receiver who could rack up plenty of yards.

If Dallas hones in on the receiving group, Manning has the option of hitting newly acquired Shane Vereen out of the backfield early and often.

A versatile-looking Giants team should have no problem keeping up on the scoreboard with the Cowboys. It could just be a question of which defense makes the one big play.

If it's close and I was given the option of Tony Romo or Eli Manning down the stretch, I would take Manning every time, even if it's in Week 1. The Giants could win this game 38-35 and like Pittsburgh against New England, it's going to be a shootout.

Stats courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com