NFL Week 1 picks against the spread

The NFL is just days away from the greatest day of the year, the start of the football season. With gambling becoming legal nationwide, now’s the time to make our picks against the spread.

The NFL is back, and this season is one of the most intriguing in a long time. The NFC is closer than we’ve seen in years, multiple teams look like they can either be division winners or top-10 picks in next year’s NFL Draft, and just about every team seems like they at least have one good quarterback on their roster.

That’s what going to make picks against the spread so intriguing this season. There are so many possible outcomes for every division. Looking at the divisions, the only one that seems boring is the AFC East, and that’s been that way for a decade.

However, what makes this season most intriguing is the fact that gambling is legal nationwide. How will that change things throughout the season? Will it at all? It’s very possible that the NFL goes on with no changes due to the legalization of gambling. However, that seems extremely unlikely.

Now that we can bet on games in many states, it’s time to get some opinions. Picking games every week won’t be easy, but it will be interesting. There’s a reason why Las Vegas let people pick games for this long. It’s because they make a ton of money! Now, let’s try to find a way to make some money ourselves. Here are the week one picks against the spread.

All spreads produced by Westgate.

Atlanta Falcons @ Philadelphia Eagles (-1.5)

It only makes sense that we start with the first game of the season. The defending-champion Philadelphia Eagles take on last year’s Super Bowl runner-up. The Eagles number has plummeted after word came that Carson Wentz was not ready to go.

Nick Foles did not look very good in the preseason. He didn’t throw a touchdown, but did have two interceptions. He only had 26 attempts, so obviously it’s a small sample size, but it was a bad audition for his attempt to get a starting job elsewhere.

Meanwhile, Matt Ryan got paid this offseason. Julio Jones was given more money to make him happy. The team still has Steve Sarkisian running the offense, which is not great. It’s very strange the Falcons did not fix that in the offseason.

This seems like a hard pick to make, even with the Foles issue. Even without Alshon Jeffery missing the game, the Falcons still have a lot on their hands. The Eagles are getting their Super Bowl rings. They are playing in front of that Philadelphia crowd for the first time since they brought their first championship to the city since the Super Bowl came in existence.

Still, the Falcons are the play here. Foles will play better, but this Falcons offense has too many weapons. Expect a high-scoring game that ends with Atlanta going home with a win.

Atlanta 31, Philadelphia 24