NFL Week 1 Betting Insights
Football fanatics, buckle up and grab your lucky jerseys because the moment we’ve all been waiting for has finally arrived – Week 1 of the 2023 NFL season! Football’s gridiron gladiators are lacing up their cleats, the stadiums are buzzing with anticipation and we’ve got a full slate of NFL betting odds available at Bovada Sportsbook!
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If history is any indication, Week 1 in the NFL is a thrilling rollercoaster ride full of shocking upsets that reverberate around the league. It’s a time when perennial powerhouses sometime stumble and underdogs often bite back. Football is a game where anything can happen on any given Sunday, and the Week 1 sets the tone for an unforgettable NFL season filled with jaw-dropping surprises and heart-pounding upsets.
In this article, we’ll give you a chance to cash in on the Week 1 lines by identifying some key betting insights leading up to the NFL’s opening slate of football games. Get ready because the NFL’s opening act never fails to deliver a few unexpected twists and turns!
Super Bowl Slump
One of the most popular betting trends to follow during Week 1 of the NFL season is to bet against the loser of the previous Super Bowl. This has been a common play with sharp football bettors for many years, and for good reason – Since the 2000 NFL season, the team coming off a loss in the Super Bowl has gone just 4-19 against the spread (ATS) in Week 1 the following season.
You’ll want to bet against the Eagles in Week 1 if you want to follow this trend, since Philly lost last year’s Super Bowl to Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. The Eagles are currently listed as a four-point betting favorite on the road in New England but there are a number of questions surrounding the team this season. Running back Miles Sanders is gone, with newcomers De’Andre Swift and Rashaad Penny there in his place. This will be a unique opportunity for Patriots head coach Bill Belichick to devise an effective defensive strategy to handle the Eagles potent rushing attack.
It’s tough to argue that Philadelphia isn’t the better roster in this matchup, but teams coming off a loss in the Super Bowl often have trouble getting back to their winning ways. With the Patriots playing in front of what should be a raucous Week 1 home crowd at Gillette Stadium, the Eagles seem to have have their work cut out for them in this one.
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Defensive Domination
Week 1 features an enticing betting matchup between two of the NFL’s premier defensive teams: The San Francisco 49ers and Pittsburgh Steelers. Bovada Sportsbook has San Francisco as 2.5-point betting favorite, while the game’s total currently stands at 41 points.
The 49ers own one of the NFL’s best rushing attacks, led by the elusive Christian McCaffrey, while the Steelers offense has been trending in the right direction following a stellar preseason. While both offenses should be respected, don’t let that fool you into making a misguided Week 1 wager. Offenses tend to take some time to fine-tune their attack, but perhaps more importantly, both of these teams featured top-10 stop units last season.
The 49ers and Steelers are loaded with elite defensive players; San Francisco boasts All-Pro defenders such as DE Nick Bosa and LB Fred Warner, while the Steelers have their own top-flight defensive talent, including edge rusher TJ Watt and FS Minkah Fitzpatrick. On top of that, San Francisco QB Brock Purdy is coming off off-season elbow surgery, so a low-scoring affair seems like it may be in the cards for these two teams in Week 1.
Fade the Hype
With football fans starved for action all summer long, it’s easy to see how some of the NFL preseason hype can get out of control. While there’s usually some truth to this excitement, it’s often overstated and blown way out of proportion. Betting against the NFL hype train can actually be a great way to approach Week 1, as it allows you to take advantage of the unbridled fanfare and win some money before the betting markets have a chance to adjust.
For example, take the NFL’s Week 1 matchup between the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers. There hasn’t been much talk about the Packers since QB Aaron Rodgers orchestrated a trade to New York, while the Bears hype has been growing daily with the ascending talents of Justin Fields and the team’s acquisition of WR DJ Moore. In reality, the Packers still have a very capable roster that features one of the best offensive lines in all of football, while the Bears are still basically the same team that went just 3-14 last season.
All of this hype has resulted in an inflated betting line, with the Chicago bears actually favored by a point over the Green Bay Packers. By fading the NFL hype and backing the Packers in their season debut, you could turn a tidy profit and start of the 2023 NFL betting season with a win!
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Under Control
With the NFL’s season opener kicking off this Thursday between the Detroit Lions and defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, most fans are expecting a high-scoring shootout of epic proportions. It’s an understandable assumption, as the Lions had the fourth-most points per game last season while the Chiefs ranked first overall at 29.2 PPG. Even with the total for this game currently sitting at 54.5, NFL bettors are quick to jump on the over.
The thing to keep in mind is that things change quickly in the NFL, and last year’s reality may no longer apply this season. For instance, the Lions had one of the worst defensive units last season but many betting experts expect that to change in 2023. The team bolstered their secondary by signing DBs CJ Gardner-Johnson and Emmanuel Moseley, while also drafting Alabama S Brian Branch. The Chiefs may still have one of the NFL’s best offensive attacks, but the holdout of All-Pro defensive tackle makes them vulnerable to the run and that could at up a lot of game clock. In spite of all the offensive firepower in this Week 1 matchup, you may actually be better off betting the under.