Week 1 NFL Teaser Best Bets
September 8, 2023
Week 1 NFL Parlay Best Bets
September 8, 2023
The first week of the NFL season will come to an end on Monday night with a battle between AFC East rivals. The Buffalo Bills have won three straight AFC East titles, but there is a new sheriff in town. Aaron Rodgers is looking to lead the Jets to their first division title since 2002, and many pundits believe in Gang Green. A convincing win over the Bills would go a long way to proving the doubters wrong, but a loss would already put the Jets in a tough position given their schedule for the first two months of the 2023 campaign.
Week 1 of the 2023 NFL season will close on Monday, September 11, 2023, with the New York Jets hosting the Buffalo Bills. Kickoff is slated for 8:15 p.m. ET with ESPN and ABC broadcasting the game.
NFL Week 1 Betting Odds at BetRivers sportsbook.
Buffalo Bills -2.5
New York Jets +2.5
Total 45.5
Play: Buffalo Bills -2.5
Buffalo has won five of its last six games against the New York Jets coming into Monday night, and all of the Bills’ victories have come by eight points or more. The only Jets’ victory in that stretch came last November when Josh Allen had an uncharacteristic bad game behind a shaky performance from the offensive line. Allen was sacked five times and threw two interceptions in that loss.
The big question for the Bills coming into the season is whether or not they can run the ball with their running backs rather than with Allen needing to carry as much of the load as he had the last few years. Allen is a big, strong quarterback at 6’5 and 240 pounds, but wear and tear adds up, and he has now carried the ball 546 times over the last five years. The hope is for James Cook to have more success than Devin Singletary did as the primary running back, yet it will probably be tough for Buffalo to move the ball on the ground against the NY Jets’ front four.
It was pretty remarkable to see the Jets’ turnaround on defense last season. Gang Green went from finishing dead last in total yards and total points to finishing fourth in both categories last season. Head coach Robert Saleh played a big part in that improvement, but their production was probably a little overrated. While the defensive line is elite, the back seven only has two stars in C.J. Mosley and Sauce Gardner.
Thus, Buffalo should be able to have some success moving the ball against the Jets. Stefon Diggs is one of the top deep threats in the NFL, and Gabe Davis should have a better year than what we saw in 2022. The tight end duo is potentially elite too with rookie Dalton Kincaid joining Dawson Knox to give Allen some serious talent in the passing game. That makes Buffalo a very attractive pick on Monday night as less than a field goal favorite per the NFL betting odds.
Everyone is a little too quick to forgive Aaron Rodgers after his worst season ever last year. Rodgers is certainly a first-ballot Hall of Fame quarterback, but he will turn 40 in December and started to decline noticeably last year. He no longer has the mobility to extend plays that he did in the recent past, so he has to find targets early. Additionally, the offensive line is likely to be an issue, and that’s been a problem for Rodgers in the past too.
To make matters worse in that department, both of the Jets’ starting offensive tackles are questionable to play this week. Duane Brown and Mekhi Becton could both miss the season opener, and that would put the Jets in a very difficult spot.
Buffalo has a defensive line that can get after the quarterback. The Bills can bring pressure from anywhere along the line and that does not bode well for Rodgers and the Jets on MNF. We wouldn’t be surprised to see the Bills cruise to a double-digit win that in mind, so back the Bills on the football betting line against their division rival.
