Week 1 NFL Picks: Vegas Odds, Prop Bets and Predictions for Opening Schedule

From Odell Beckham Jr.'s Cleveland Browns debut to a clash of two AFC powerhouses, the NFL Week 1 schedule carries plenty of storylines to watch.

The Browns are one of the more interesting teams playing in the early-afternoon slate, as Beckham gets to combine with Baker Mayfield for the first time against the Tennessee Titans.

An NFC East showdown between the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys headlines the late-afternoon group of contests, which will serve as a bridge to the New England Patriots' latest faceoff with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The schedule features a handful of intriguing lines and prop bets, some of which are harder to figure out than you would expect.

NFL Week 1 Schedule and Odds

All Times ET. 

Predictions against the spread in bold.

Odds via Caesars. 

Sunday, September 8

Atlanta at Minnesota (-4) (1 p.m. Fox) (Over/Under: 47) 

Los Angeles Rams (-2) at Carolina (1 p.m. Fox) (O/U: 50)  

Washington at Philadelphia (-10) (1 p.m. Fox) (O/U: 45) 

Baltimore (-6.5) at Miami (1 p.m., CBS) (O/U: 39.5) 

Buffalo at New York Jets (-3) (1 p.m., CBS) (O/U: 41)

Kansas City (-3.5) at Jacksonville (1 p.m., CBS) (O/U: 51.5) 

Tennessee at Cleveland (-5.5) (1 p.m., CBS) (O/U: 45.5) 

Indianapolis at Los Angeles Chargers (-6.5) (4:05 p.m., CBS) (O/U: 45)

Cincinnati at Seattle (-9.5) (4:05 p.m., CBS) (O/U: 44.5) 

Detroit (-2.5) at Arizona (4:25 p.m., Fox) (O/U: 46.5) 

New York Giants at Dallas (-7) (4:25 p.m., Fox) (O/U: 45.5) 

San Francisco at Tampa Bay (-1) (4:25 p.m., Fox) (O/U: 51) 

Pittsburgh at New England (-5.5) (8:20 p.m., NBC) (O/U: 49) 

Monday, September 9

Houston at New Orleans (-7) (7:10 p.m., ESPN) (O/U: 52.5) 

Denver (-1) at Oakland (10:20 p.m., ESPN) (O/U: 43) 

Prop Bet Tips

Cleveland 1st-Half Spread (-3.5) 

Mark LoMoglio/Associated Press

Mayfield, Beckham and Co. have their first opportunity to live up to the offseason hype at home versus the Titans.

Sunday's game at FirstEnergy Stadium will mark the first time Mayfield and Beckham get to combine in a regular-season contest.

There could be some concern about rust and the lack of playing time together, but the second-year quarterback was quick to shake that off, per Cleveland.com's Mary Kay Cabot.

"I didn't take a snap with Jarvis [Landry] all last year during the preseason, so yes, it's probably pretty overblown," Mayfield said.

Mayfield closed his rookie campaign with 376 passing yards and three touchdowns versus the Baltimore Ravens, his seventh performance over 250.

Tennessee went 3-5 on its travels in 2018 and scored 20 combined points in the first half of its final three road matchups.

Conversely, the Browns produced at least two touchdowns in the opening two quarters of their last trio of home clashes, against the Atlanta Falcons, Cincinnati Bengals and Carolina Panthers.

Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota has also thrown the fewest touchdowns in the first quarter during his four-year career.

If you add up those factors,, the Browns could be up by a touchdown or more at halftime, which is why we are leaning for them to cover the first-half line.

Pittsburgh vs. New England 1st-Half Under (24.5) 

Don Wright/Associated Press

In three of their past four regular-season meetings, the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers have scored 24 or fewer points in the first half.

The lone exception from that sample size is 2017, when a Martavis Bryant touchdown reception with 25 seconds left in the second quarter pushed the first-half total to 27.

In their meeting in September 2018, the AFC powers went scoreless for the first 18:49 before they racked up 17 second-quarter points.

That game also included a late addition to the scoreboard, as Josh Scobee kicked a field goal with three seconds remaining before half.

In 2016, New England went to the locker room with a 14-10 advantage, while the Steelers led 14-7 at the break a year ago.

Based off those numbers, it is hard to believe the first-half over of 24.5 points will hit, so we suggest going after the under.

Predictions

Los Angeles Rams at Carolina (+2) 

Mike McCarn/Associated Press

Before their season went south, the Carolina Panthers opened 2018 with five consecutive victories at Bank of America Stadium, with two of them occurring against playoff teams, Baltimore and Dallas.

Since 2014, Cam Newton has won the first home contest he has played in each season, including a 16-8 victory over the Cowboys a year ago.

Newton and Christian McCaffrey will look to make life difficult for the Los Angeles Rams defense, a unit well aware of the threat they pose, per ESPN's David Newton.

"You already know playing Cam that you're going to have to look for him to scramble," Rams defensive tackle Michael Brockers said. "But having that weapon out of the backfield really makes the team dangerous, and the offense dangerous because you don't know where to pinpoint."

In losses to the Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Panthers pair proved how dangerous they can be, as Newton threw for more than 250 yards and McCaffrey had a triple-digit rushing total.

The running back out of Stanford is a tough matchup for any defense, as he picked up 1,098 yards on the ground and 867 through the air in his second season.

The Rams gave up 12 total touchdowns to running backs during their NFC championship season, and they conceded 5.98 rushing yards per attempt to quarterbacks.

If Newton eludes the interior pressure caused by Aaron Donald, he could end up with some decent gains around the edge.

McCaffrey's pass-catching ability could come into play as a target on short passes, so Newton can get the ball out fast and avoid quarterback pressures.

If Carolina's defense can contain the Rams, similar to what it did against the New Orleans Saints and Dallas last season, it should give Newton, McCaffrey the opportunity to pad the lead and cover in a home victory.

New York Giants (+7) at Dallas 

Frank Franklin II/Associated Press

The New York Giants fell by eight points over two losses to the Dallas Cowboys a year ago.

In fact, the Giants played in 12 one-possession contests, despite posting a 5-11 mark. That is why New York could be in line to cover the spread in a defeat to an NFC East rival.

When you shrink the sample size to their eight road contests, the Giants were knocked off by an average of 6.1 points. If you apply Sunday's spread to Dallas' 2018 home results, it would have covered on two occasions.

The Cowboys won all three of their NFC East matchups at AT&T Stadium, but the combined margin of victory was 21.

A year ago, the four divisional games in Week 1 were decided by a maximum of 10 points, which is another indicator of a close contest in the late-afternoon window.

The new season could buck all of the recent trends because of changes made on both rosters, but for now, we feel confident that the Giants will keep it close.

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90. Statistics obtained from Pro Football Reference.