Expert tips for NFL week 1 game – The Athletic

The first Sunday Night Football game of the year has two 2020 playoff teams appearing in the Bears and Rams. Los Angeles is favored with 7.5 points, though their 2020 4-12 record against the Over makes the score here an interesting game.

Los Angeles reached the Divisional Round last year after going 10-6 in the regular season. It is expected to be close again with a total winnings of 10.5 games, except that odds makers give Los Angeles the fourth best odds to win the Super Bowl 12-1. A big reason for this is the inclusion of quarterback Matthew Stafford, who has the seventh-shortest MVP odds. Stafford won 74 games and led 38 wins over 12 seasons in Detroit, despite never winning a playoff game. There’s also Aaron Donald, who led the league’s No. 1 defense a year ago. Donalds has been named AP Defensive Player of the Year three times in four seasons and is a favorite with betting at +550 to get four wins in five years.

That off-season Chicago made its own quarterback move, parting with former No. 2 overall pick Mitch Trubisky, just two years after a 12-win season. Andy Dalton is slated to start Week 1 while first-round pick Justin Fields awaits an opportunity. The odds makers are good, bearish about the bears, fixing them at 7.5 wins after three consecutive seasons of eight or more. The ambiguity with the quarterback plays a role, but also a defense that is tending in the wrong direction. Chicago was number 1 in defense in 2018 before dropping to fourth in 2019 and 14th last year.

Odds, Over / Under, Moneyline

team	Spread	total	Money line
Eagle			+145
Hawks	-3.5	48.5	-165