NFL 2024 Week 1 picks

 Thursday night

Baltimore Ravens at Kansas City Chiefs : The Chiefs start the season with one of their biggest challenges.  I give them the edge, but this game could go the other way.  CHIEFS, 24-20

Friday night

Green Bay Packers at Philadelphia Eagles : The Pack needs to build wins early in the season, before injuries limit their productivity.  Unfortunately, the strength of the Eagles offense will prevent that this week.  EAGLES, 28-20

Sunday early games

Arizona Cardinals at Buffalo Bills : This should be an offensive explosion for the Bills to start the season.  BILLS, 31-13

Carolina Panthers at New Orleans Saints : The Saints come out of the gate hot, and burn the limited Panthers defense.  SAINTS, 24-10

Houston Texans at Indianapolis Colts : The Texans may get off to a slow start, but the second half will be theirs.  TEXANS, 20-13

Jacksonville Jaguars at Miami Dolphins : Jacksonville's defense will make this game a challenge, but the Dolphins have enough strength to close it out.  DOLPHINS, 20-16

Minnesota Vikings at New York Giants : Giants won't be able to stop the Vikings offense.  VIKINGS, 31-16

New England Patriots at Cincinnati Bengals : The Patriots will take some time to develop.  BENGALS, 17-6

Pittsburgh Steelers at Atlanta Falcons : The stingy Steel Curtain defense will devastate the Falcons.  STEELERS, 20-6

Tennessee Titans at Chicago Bears : Speaking of defenses, we get the regular season debut of the crushing Beats defense, the defense that did not give up a touchdown at all during preseason.  BEARS, 23-6

Sunday late games

Dallas Cowboys at Cleveland Browns : The Cowboys come out fresh and eager.  COWBOYS, 24-13

Denver Broncos at Seattle Seahawks : The start of a long season for the Broncos.  SEAHAWKS, 19-13

Las Vegas Raiders at Los Angeles Chargers : The Raiders will find it challenging to advance against the stiff defense of the Chargers.  CHARGERS, 27-13

Washington Commanders at Tampa Bay Bucs : The Bucs will control the tempo for much of this game, frustrating the Commanders.  BUCS, 24-16

Sunday night

Los Angeles Rams at Detroit Lions : Both of these teams are strong, and either team could easily win this game.  While I often prefer the home team in these circumstances, but in this case I like the team that seems to have a more firm control over the tempo of the game.  That's the Rams.  RAMS, 27-24

Monday Night Football

New York Jets at San Francisco 49ers : The 49ers will dominate this game.  49ERS, 20-9