Week 1 NFL Betting odds and insights

The 2023 NFL season launches with a few primetime specials, one on Thursday, one on Sunday, and then Monday Night Football. You will note that while in past years, the NFL put two Monday Night Football games on television in Week 1, this year represents a twist. The NFL will have a Monday Night Football doubleheader in Week 2, but in Week 1, there will only be a single game. This leaves us with three national television showcases under the lights as the 2023 campaign takes off.

Thursday Night Football: Detroit Lions at Kansas City Chiefs
Odds At BetAnySports.eu: Chiefs -6.5, Total 53.5

The Detroit Lions made a huge national splash late last season with a big winning streak, which nearly took them to the playoffs. One late-season loss to the Carolina Panthers prevented them from playing in the postseason, but their Week 18 upset victory over the Packers knocked Green Bay and Aaron Rodgers out of the playoffs. With Rodgers going to the New York Jets in the offseason, that game now stands as the last game Rodgers played in Green Bay. The Lions enter this season with more hype and optimism than they have faced in a very long time. They get to open the NFL season on the first Thursday night of the new campaign against the defending Super Bowl champions and Patrick Mahomes in Arrowhead Stadium. If they lose, it doesn't mean they’re in trouble, but if they get blown out by 24 or 30 points, a lot of people will immediately doubt if they are for real.

Sunday Night Football: Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants
Odds At BetAnySports.eu: Cowboys -3, Total 46.5

The Sunday Night Football season premiere is an NFC East battle. The Philadelphia Eagles are the defending division champions, and they are also the defending NFC champions. The Cowboys and Giants will try to take both crowns away from Philadelphia, but only one team will be able to prevail in a crucial Week 1 game. There is always huge pressure on the Dallas Cowboys to live up to their talent and their stature as one of the NFL’s richest and most popular teams, but in many ways, this game is bigger for the Giants. Daniel Jones has signed a lucrative new deal. Now he needs to live up to that contract. If he falls on his face in this game and the Giants lose decisively, everyone in New York will be in a panic, regretting the investment the franchise made in its quarterback. Jones has to prove in 2023 that his solid 2022 season was no fluke. The Giants need to show they can get even better under head coach Brian Daboll after shocking everyone with their run to the divisional playoff round (the same round in which the Cowboys got eliminated) last season.

Monday Night Football: Buffalo Bills at New York Jets
Odds At BetAnySports.eu: Bills -1, total 47

This is the five-star showdown everyone can’t wait to see. Bills-Jets has not been a very big game in recent years because the Jets haven’t been very good. The Jets haven’t been to the Super Bowl since the 1968 season, and that’s because they have so rarely had an elite quarterback in their largely luckless history. Now they finally have an elite signal-caller. Aaron Rodgers came to the Jets from the Green Bay Packers and gives the Jets a real and legitimate chance to become something special. After all, he's the 7th favorite on the board with odds to be the NFL MVP at +1400. Rodgers going against Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills – one of the best teams in the AFC over the past three years – is appointment viewing for every NFL fan. The winner gets a huge boost, the loser a huge gut punch. Season openers are rarely more important and interesting than this one.