The start of the NFL season is upon us. The quest for Super Bowl 60 begins now, with 32 hopeful teams looking to claim the title. Week 1 sets the table for what’s to come.
For fans, Week 1 is an especially exciting time. With the preseason behind us, we can focus on watching meaningful football. It’s also one of the more unpredictable weeks of the NFL season. How will these teams fare, exactly?
With potential upsets abound, OddsTrader has released NFL Week 1 betting odds for every game. Don’t sleep on some of these longshots if you’re looking to turn a big profit this weekend.
What Makes NFL Week 1 Tough to Predict?
We have certain expectations for how teams will look this season. Much of that is based on how they performed in 2024 and years past. In reality, though, we never really know how good a team will be until we see them play.
Week 1 isn’t always indicative of how teams will perform for the rest of the season, either. Last season, the New Orleans Saints throttled the Carolina Panthers, 47-10, in their opening game. The Saints followed that up with another huge win before going on a seven-game losing streak.
With that in mind, if ever there’s a time to bank on upsets in the NFL, it’s during Week 1. That’s why we’ve hand-picked a few games to keep an eye on as the 2025 regular season gets underway.
Target These NFL Week 1 Upsets
There are five games on tap this week that have spreads of 5.5 points or more. Not all of these will produce upsets, but if any do, they’ll likely come from one (or more) of these three games:
New York Giants (+6) @ Washington Commanders
The Giants went 3-14 in 2024, but there’s reason to be optimistic about their chances of surpassing that lowly win total this season. Much of that hope rests in quarterback Russell Wilson, who may well be the best passer the franchise has rostered since Eli Manning retired.
Wilson isn’t what he used to be, but he can still win games and throw a beautiful deep ball. The Steelers went 6-5 in his starts last season, with victories coming in six of his first seven.
The Commanders are a tough opponent, but Wilson led the Steelers to a victory on the road over them last season. And while New York lost both matchups to Washington in 2024, neither was by more than five points.
Cincinnati Bengals @ Cleveland Browns (+5.5)
Over the last few years, the Bengals have been notorious for slow starts. Since Joe Burrow became the starting quarterback in 2020, Cincinnati has gone 7-10-1 in the month of September. Five of those losses came in the last two seasons.
The Browns are nothing special, coming off a 3-14 season and bringing a litany of issues into the 2025 campaign. Joe Flacco is the Week 1 starter, though, and he had some success during his last stint as Cleveland’s quarterback, going 4-1 in 2023.
Cincinnati’s defense is bad enough that most teams will have an outside shot of pulling off the upset. Considering that this is also a fierce divisional matchup between AFC North rivals, the potential for chaos is there.
Tennessee Titans (+8) @ Denver Broncos
The Broncos had a strong return to form in 2024, going 10-7 while ranking third in defense. Rookie quarterback Bo Nix also impressed following a lackluster September, throwing for 28 touchdowns to eight interceptions from Week 5 on.
However, Denver may be due for a comedown in 2025. This team doesn’t have the element of surprise on its side anymore, and Nix will need to continue elevating his game to bring this team to new heights.
Week 1 sees them welcome the Titans, who believe they have the quarterback of the future in No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward. We’ve seen a handful of rookie quarterbacks flourish from the jump in recent years (C.J. Stroud, Jayden Daniels). Perhaps Ward can guide Tennessee to a shocker in his debut?
