NFL Week 1 picks against the spread

Atlanta Falcons at Minnesota Vikings (-4)

The Atlanta Falcons are looking to get back to their contending ways after missing the playoffs last season. Julio Jones and Matt Ryan are still in their primes. So, the Falcons want to take advantage of that by actually making it far in the postseason this year. To do that, they have to play well in the regular season, and they start the year with a major test.

The Minnesota Vikings are a team in the exact same spot as the Falcons. They expected to be a contender last season, but fell off to the point that they also missed the playoffs. They had a chance to play their way in on Week 17, and they couldn’t do it.

Kirk Cousins needs to play better in his second season under center. He was remarkably mediocre last season. He has all the weapons a quarterback would want (Diggs, Thielen, Rudolph, Cook). This offense should explode this season, but we thought the same thing last season. Take the points this week until we see that the Vikings won’t repeat what happened last year.

Pick: Falcons (+4)

Buffalo Bills at New York Jets (-3)

This intra-division matchup is between two teams with serious question marks but a lot to love. Both teams have their quarterback of the future on their sophomore season. Both teams have a few new offensive pieces to play with. These two teams also invested in making their defenses much better.

How does that translate to Week 1? That’s hard to say. The Jets are relying on Sam Darnold taking a step in the right direction thanks to the additions of Le’Veon Bell and Jamison Crowder. Add into that Robby Anderson and Quincey Enunwa at the receiver position. The Bills have Josh Allen trying to play the Michael Vick role, but they got him some receivers to help the air-raid offense. John Brown and Cole Beasley helps open things up for him.

These two teams are neck and neck. That’s exactly what this line says. The Jets were give three points for being the home team. We trust Darnold slightly more than Allen, who might be trying to do a little more that’s different. Go with the Jets, but don’t bet the house.

Pick: Jets (-3)

Washington Redskins at Philadelphia Eagles (-9.5)

This is tied for the biggest spread of the weekend. The Washington Redskins have talent, but they are generally thought of as one of the worst teams in the league. It’s not often a team signs one of the best players at their position in the offseason, but still has no chance to make moves in the eyes of most media members. The Redskins are starting Ereck Flowers on the offensive line in front of Case Keenum. That’s not what you want.

The Eagles are once again a Super Bowl contender led by Carson Wentz. They have a one-two-three punch of Desean Jackson, Alshon Jeffrey and Nelson Agholor at receiver. The offensive line is healthy, the defense looks great and they even added Jordan Howard at running back for close to nothing.

This is a big line, and Week 1 always has some strange outcomes, but we see this going more towards building the Philly hype over the Redskins making a statement.

Pick: Eagles (-9.5)