NFL Predictions Week 1: Picks and Odds Advice for Opening Schedule

Week 1 got off to a rousing start, as the Kansas City Chiefs rocked the Houston Texans in a 34-20 beatdown. Kansas City covered what was a sizeable late spread of nine points, though settled for a late field goal that kept the score under the 54.5-point threshold.

While Thursday night's opener wasn't close, that's not going to be the case for every remaining game on the slate. There are some tough decisions to be made, especially with lines considered.

Here we'll run down the latest odds and over/unders from DraftKings Sportsbook, make score predictions for each game and examine some of our top plays heading into Sunday.

NFL Week 1

Sunday, September 13

Cleveland Browns (+7.5, 47.5) at Baltimore Ravens: 27-21 Baltimore

Philadelphia Eagles (-5.5, 42) at Washington Football Team: 23-16 Philadelphia

Indianapolis Colts (-8, 45) at Jacksonville Jaguars: 30-17 Indianapolis

New York Jets (+6.5, 39.5) at Buffalo Bills: 28-20 Buffalo

Miami Dolphins (+7, 41.5) at New England Patriots: 23-16 New England

Seattle Seahawks (-3, 49) at Atlanta Falcons: 26-24 Atlanta

Chicago Bears (+2.5, 42.5) at Detroit Lions: 20-16 Detroit

Green Bay Packers (+2.5, 45) at Minnesota Vikings: 23-21 Minnesota

Las Vegas Raiders (-2.5, 47.5) at Carolina Panthers: 21-20 Carolina

Los Angeles Chargers (-2.5, 42) at Cincinnati Bengals: 30-28 Los Angeles

Arizona Cardinals (+6.5, 48) at San Francisco 49ers: 28-26 San Francisco

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+3.5, 47.5) at New Orleans Saints: 27-24 New Orleans

Dallas Cowboys (-2.5, 51.5) at Los Angeles Rams: 30-17 Dallas

Monday, September 14

Pittsburgh Steelers (-6, 46) at New York Giants: 20-16 Pittsburgh

Tennessee Titans (-3, 41) at Denver Broncos: 26-24 Tennessee

Indianapolis Colts (-8) over Jacksonville Jaguars

Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated Press

This is another game with a frighteningly large line. However, this could also end up being one of the most lopsided contests of the gameweek.

The Jacksonville Jaguars spent their offseason tearing down the roster. Key contributors like Leonard Fournette, Yannick Ngakoue, Calais Campbell and A.J. Bouye are gone. Indianapolis, meanwhile, used the offseason to bolster its roster, adding the likes of DeForest Buckner, Philip Rivers and rookie running back Jonathan Taylor.

Expect Indianapolis' new-look backfield to run wild on Jacksonville while Rivers and Co. do enough to keep the defense honest.

"When you are willing to throw the ball over the top like that, maybe the percentage is lower and you might not hit all of them, but you sure as heck back the defense up," Colts offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni said, per Joel A. Erickson of the Indianapolis Star.

The Colts should cruise in this one.

Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears UNDER 42.5 Points

While Indianapolis' offense should be humming in Week 1, the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions are likely to experience some issues. The Bears, first of all, are bringing back Mitchell Trubisky as their starting quarterback—which does not set the stage for an offensive explosion.

Chicago averaged just 17.5 points per game last season.

The Lions, meanwhile, are getting back a healthy Matthew Stafford under center. However, they're also likely to be without star wideout Kenny Golladay.

Golladay is the sort of dominant No. 1 receiver who can open things up for the rest of the Lions offense. With him out, the Bears will have a better chance of keeping this game close and keeping the score low.

While Chicago's offense wasn't good last season, its defense was spectacular. Only three teams allowed fewer points on the season. This is a game that could go either way, but expect it to hit the under regardless.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New Orleans Saints OVER 47.5 Points

Gerald Herbert/Associated Press

The Lions-Bears game is going to be a low-scoring affair. Sunday's matchup between the New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers shouldn't be. The game features two teams that tied for third in scoring a year ago.

What's more, both of these offenses may have gotten even better.

The Buccaneers added Tom Brady at quarterback, Rob Gronkowski at tight end and Leonard Fournette and LeSean McCoy at running back. The Saints added Emmanuel Sanders as the long-absent reliable No. 2 receiver.

While Brady isn't the gunslinger that Jameis Winston was, he can still move the ball through the air.

"Actually, his arm looks stronger than what we saw last year on tape," Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht said of Brady, per Jenna Laine of ESPN.

Expect plenty of back and forth in this game as Brady and Drew Brees put on a show.