NFL Kicks Off Tonight !

Happy Thursday, and, more importantly, HAPPY START TO THE NFL SEASON!

That’s right. We’ve got the first NEW kickoff for the 2024-2025 season, and it’s an AFC Championship rematch.

Chiefs vs. Ravens

The back-to-back Super Bowl Champs, the Kansas City Chiefs, are hanging their banner tonight as they host the Baltimore Ravens at 8:20 pm on NBC.

The Chiefs won the SB when they had very questionable receiving and one of their weakest offensive outputs during the regular season. They’ve made some offseason adjustments and picked up a few receivers to help out their star quarterback. While the Chiefs rode on the backs of their stout defense last season, they were susceptible to giving up ground yardage, which may make it difficult tonight, especially against this Ravens team.

The Ravens were a phenomenal overall offense last year, including a great rushing game. The Ravens signed Derrick Henry in the offseason, and TE Mark Andrews will be ready to roll. The only question is how the offensive line will be for the Ravens. They have two guys who are making their first or second career start. The Cheifs DL is no joke. The Raven's secondary is stacked with talent, so they have the ability to shut down the passing game of the Chiefs… at least, we think so.

💰️ The Chiefs are favored by 3.5 points, and the O/U is 46.5. I’ll take the Ravens and the over.

From Sao Paolo, Brazil

The NFL International Series is heading to South America, where the Green Bay Packers and the Philadelphia Eagles will face off tomorrow night. The Eagles fell apart tremendously at the end of last season, while the Packers found new life as Jordan Love showed that he was a very capable quarterback—so capable that Love signed one of the richest quarterback deals in the NFL's history during the offseason.

We’re not going with the full breakdown here by remember, the Eagles lost Jason Kelce but added Saquon Barkley. Moving the ball on offense shouldn’t be an issue. The Packers made some notable secondary signings in the offseason. Let’s see how they hold up against AJ Brown and Devonta Smith.

📺️ Gametime is 8:15 pm ET on Peacock.

💰️ The Eagles are currently favored by 2.5 points and the O/U is 49.5 I’ll take the Packers ATS and I’m leaving the O/U alone.

Other Matchups To Look Out For

We’re getting back into the swing of things with football starting up. This week is a little different as we’re doing NFL before College, but we’ll come out with the key college matchups on Saturday morning. You’re getting a hard start on the NFL with week 1 starting tonight. Here are some other great matchups worthy of your eyeballs on Sunday.

🏈 Steelers @ Falcons, 1 pm ET on FOX

👀 This is a reset for the QBs on each team. Russell Wilson has been named the starter for Pittsburgh, and Kirk Cousins is ready to go for Atlanta, coming off of an Achilles tear. This will be a fun one to watch as we see if either team can be destined for a playoff run with some experience under center.

💰️ Atlanta is favored at home by 3.5 points and the O/U is 41.5

🏈Jaguars @ Dolphins, 1 pm on CBS

👀 This one is all about redemption for both teams. The Jags should’ve have a better season last year and they just keep throwing money at talent. The Dolphin's offense was unstoppable until their high-scoring run ended. Both teams have top 4 salaried QBs. Are either of them worth it?

💰️Miami is favored by 3.5 points and the O/U is 48.5

🏈 Texas @ Colts, 1 pm on CBS

👀 This one is simple. Anthony Richardson is back for the Colts and C.J. Stroud will be back in his 2nd year to show that his rookie season was no fluke.

💰️ Houston is favored right now by 3 points on the road. The O/U is 48.5

🏈 Raiders @ Chargers, 4:05 on CBS

👀 Two new Head Coaches facing each other. Antonio Pierce is taking over the Raiders sideline and Jim Harbaugh returned to the NFL after winning a natty with Michigan last year. We’re not really concerned with a Gardner Minshew led Raiders offense but their defense is going to look to play tough ball against a Harbaugh squad that will look to ground and pound.

💰️Chargers are favored by 3 points and the O/U is 40.5 I’ll take the Chargers with the points but the points total is a bit iffy at the moment.

🏈Cowboys @ Browns, 4:25 pm on FOX

👀Dak, CeeDee, Jerry Jones, it’s all you hear about during the offseason and it’s seriously fatiguing. Here’s what you haven’t heard much about. Deshaun Watson is making his return after having season-ending shoulder surgery last year. The Browns season was awesome; their defense dominated, and backup QBs, including Joe Flacco, tried to do as much as they could to salvage the season. We’ll see if the Browns are the real deal again or if Deshaun is just washed up now. The Cowboys’ defense should play well, but the offense will be a serious concern because they’ll need to stop Myles Garrett. Good luck, Dallas.

💰️ The Browns are favored by 2.5 points at home. That’s not much. The O/U is 40.5. I’ll leave the spread alone but I’ll take the under.

🏈Rams @ Lions, 8:20 pm on NBC

👀The Rams season ended in Detroit last year in a 24-23 wild card loss. It was electric in Detroit. We still have one of the most even trades between these QBs when Jared Goff and Matthew Stafford switched squads. Jared Goff can breathe a little in the backfield for the Lions now, as he doesn’t have to worry bout Aaron Donald breathing down his back every play. The Rams went to the draft to get some extra edge rushers, including Jared Verse from FSU. He’s a beast.

Speaking of beasts, the Lions offense was beastly last year. We expect the same thing this as not much has changed. David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs are both in the backfield and the Lions will still have Jameson Williams and Amon-Ra St. Brown at receiver. Sam LaPorta at TE too, watch out NFC North.

💰️ The Lions are favored by 4.5 points at home and the O/U is 52.5. I’ll take the under and we’d like see if we can get the Lions closer to 3 points.

Monday Night Matchup

We have to wait until Monday night for the most anticipated matchup in almost 360 days. That’s when Aaron Rodgers tore his Achilles on the fifth snap of his debut with the NY Jets. He’s supposedly fully recovered and ready to go. Unfortunately for him, he’ll have to face the San Francisco 49ers defensive front. If Rodgers can escape this game injury-free, the season should be bright. The NY Jets have offensive weapons. They just need the ball in their hands

The 49ers are back with their explosive offense, which will still include Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, and Brandon Aiyuk.

This game is set for Monday night at 8:15 on ABC and ESPN. The 49ers are faoved at home by 4.5 points and the o/u is 43.5 The spread opened at 6 points originally. We’re not sure that we love either number but I do like the over. I think we’ll get a 27-20 game at least.

That’s all for today. Enjoy the action for the next two nights. We’ll see this weekend.

-The DB