1. Philadelphia Eagles (-8.5) vs. Cleveland Browns – The Eagles historically start out hot on opening day in the Andy Reid era, and this is a great match-up in Week 1. The Eagles have a lot of talent up and down the roster and face an inexperienced Browns team with a roster littered with rookie and 2nd year players on the offensive side of the ball. The Eagles will win this game going away and easily cover the point spread.
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2. Buffalo Bills (+3) vs. NY Jets – See money line analysis.
3. Oakland Raiders (-1) vs. San Diego Chargers – The Chargers are banged up at key skill positions and will be starting a rookie FA LT to protect Philip Rivers’ blind side. The Raiders will be fired up in head coach Dennis Allen’s debut and pull out the close victory late.
4. Green Bay Packers (-5.5) vs. San Francisco 49ers – The 49ers are tough as nails, but not really equipped to play from behind nor stop a potent passing offense. That is what GB brings to the table. No one does it better than Aaron Rodgers so look for GB to come out firing and pull out the 24-14 win.
The Rest
New Orleans Saints (-7.5) vs. Wash – The Saints are extremely tough at home.
Denver Broncos (-2) vs. Pitt – The Steelers are dealing with a lot of injuries as they head into Denver for Peyton Manning‘s debut.
St. Louis (+7.5) vs. Det – Jeff Fisher’s crew will keep this game a lot closer than people think.
Money Line Bet
Buffalo Bills (+120) vs. NY Jets – It’s been an offseason of turmoil and hoopla for the Jets. And while we shouldn’t base our decisions off of the pre-season alone, it’s safe to say it is going to take this offense some time to find its identity. The Bills made big splashes in FA (DE Mario Williams) to solidify their defense, to go along with an already talented offense. Look for Buffalo to head into Metlife stadium in Week 1 and pull out the 3-7 point victory.
