Well, that was a shock.
The much-hyped Rams were sent to the woods in Week 1, falling to the 49ers 27-7 in Australia.
Seattle and San Francisco are 1-0, while LA is 0-1 in the NFC West.
Odds shooters and sharp bettors offer their insights on some other intriguing plays as we dive into the NFL’s Week 1 betting portions.
This site may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you register or place a bet, FOX Sports may be compensated. Read more about Sports betting on FOX Sports.
In the American game of the week, FOX kicks it off with a big NFC East rivalry: Commanders vs. Eagles at 4:25 PM ET on Sunday.
At DraftKings Sports, the Eagles opened as 5.5-point favorites and made several trips as low as -4.5. But on Wednesday, the Eagles were back at -5.5.
Washington hopes a healthy Jayden Daniels can help keep up with Jalen Hurts and the Eagles. Last season, Daniels missed 10 games due to various injuries.
But bettors are leaning toward the house favorite on DraftKings, with 64% of tickets distributed and 76% of money distributed backing the Eagles. And without a doubt, Philadelphia will be an extremely popular game in paralays.
Another notable FOX matchup: Buccaneers vs. Bengals at 1:00 PM ET on Sunday.
A nagging toe injury kept Bengals QB Joe Burrow out of the lineup for most of last year, from Weeks 3 through 12. But Burrow is healthy for a matchup against Baker Mayfield & Co.
Caesars has Cincinnati as a 3.5-point home favorite, where that number has remained nearly all summer. While the public hasn’t weighed in much yet for this 1pm ET kickoff on FOX, Feazel is pretty confident about where things are going.
“There’s a lot of buzz around Joe Burrow. I anticipate seeing more Bengals action,” he said.
Sunday night fight
It’s another NFC East matchup on the NFL Week 1 odds table: Cowboys vs. Giants at 8:20 PM ET on Sunday.
In mid-May, the Cowboys opened as 1.5-point favorites, but quickly dropped to -2.5. During last week at Caesars, Dallas advanced to -3 several times, and that’s where the Cowboys sat on Wednesday afternoon.
With a familiar Dallas team in the spotlight Sunday night, this game could be a big decision for Caesars and any bookies. Especially if the other popular favorites have a good Sunday, leading to the money-obligation crash on the Cowboys on Sunday night.
“Public action will be one-sided,” Feazel said. “The Giants brought in John Harbaugh as coach, which will bring in some punters. But it will be a one-way action on the Cowboys, one-way traffic.”
Mahomes on Monday
Patrick Mahomes tore up his knee in Week 15 last season, but he will start for the Chiefs vs. Broncos at 8:15 PM ET on Monday. Likewise, Denver QB Bo Nix is back and healthy after suffering a broken ankle in an AFC divisional round win over Buffalo.
The Broncos — minus Nix — then lost to the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game.
Caesars opened the Chiefs as 2.5-point home favorites, and KC advanced to -3 several times. But at midweek, it’s Chiefs -2.5 (-117), and the early action is perhaps a little surprising.
“We’re actually seeing more money coming in from the Broncos. A few years ago, that would have been unheard of,” Feazel said. “But the Chiefs’ defense has definitely deteriorated, and there are questions in attack as well.
“So far, the public isn’t buying this Chiefs team.”
But a lot can change between now and Monday night. Keep in mind that in all of these NFL games, the bulk of the action comes on game day, and even more so in the last hour or two.
And if the favorites have a big Sunday, there will be no shortage of live money appearances for the Chiefs on Monday night.
