NFL Picks Week 1: Kansas City Chiefs and 3 Teams That Need Week 1 Win

The opening week of the NFL regular season isn't always too important.

Nobody ever wants to start 0-1, but plenty of teams will drop the opener and come back to make the playoffs.

Still, there are some teams that need a win in the opener. A loss from any of these teams will give them an uphill climb to the playoffs that they won't be ready for.

Kansas City Chiefs

 

At home against Buffalo, the Chiefs should be fine in this one. But the Bills are a team with enough talent to beat the Chiefs if they slip up in the opener.

The AFC West doesn't appear to be a great division, but it's better than it looks. Denver has made improvements, the Raiders were 6-0 in division play last year, and the Chargers are still one of the more talented rosters in the league.

The Bills are a team that the Chiefs will need to beat if they are going to have any chance at winning their division. The Chiefs got off to a hot start last season with a Monday Night win against San Diego. They will need to repeat that success this year against an opponent that's nowhere near as tough.

Arizona Cardinals

Last year, the NFC West was separated by two games. The Cardinals found themselves on the wrong end of that division, but they did get one benefit from it.

What's that benefit, you ask?

Well, they get to play a last-place schedule. That's only two games, but in a division that promises to be clustered, that's a big difference.

As it relates to the NFC South, look at who their division rivals have to play.

San Francisco plays Tampa Bay.

St. Louis plays New Orleans.

Seattle plays Atlanta.

Arizona is by far the team with the best chance at winning its game against the South. If they lose here, they will fail to take advantage of a nice benefit that they got last season.

New York Giants

 The Philadelphia Eagles have the most talented team in the NFC East. Still, they are filled with a lot of new faces. They looked sloppy at times during the preseason.

What does that mean? Well, it means that a slow start is very possible. However, by the end of the year, expect Philadelphia to finish on a strong run.

If any team in the NFC East has any chance at beating Philadelphia this year, they will need to get off to a good start. The Giants start against the Redskins.

If they can't find a way to work through the injuries and beat Washington, then the Giants are in for a tough season. The schedule doesn't get any easier.