NFL Betting: The Panel's Week 1 Tips & Trends You Need To Know
The NFL season kicks off this week with defending champions the Philadelphia Eagles hosting their NFC East rivals the Dallas Cowboys.
The best betting sites have the Eagles favourite to get off to a winning start, against a Dallas team that traded their best defender - Micah Parsons - to the Green Bay Packers.
Thursday's curtain-raiser is the first of 272 regular-season games, and the opening weekend has a history of throwing up a number of shock results.
The Eagles will be trying to avoid becoming the third Super Bowl champion in the last four years to lose their first game, after the Rams (2022) and Chiefs (2023).
Nick Sirianni's Eagles also lead the market to win Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara on Sunday, February 8.
However, they face stiff competition from a number of teams in each conference.
While there are no notable trends from this season to analyse, we have looked at what stood out from last season that you should be aware of before placing a bet this weekend.
Bengals To Score In All 4 Quarters
Scoring in all four quarters is becoming one of the most popular NFL markets.
Offenses often click and get on a roll and the Cincinnati Bengals did that better than anyone else last season.
The AFC North team scored in all four quarters in nine of their 17 regular-season games, but they missed out on the play-offs.
The Bengals have been guilty of slow starts in recent years, but with Joe Burrow leading their offense, Cincinnati will be expected to put the Cleveland Browns to the sword this weekend.
The Panel's Selection 1: Bengals To Score In All 4 Quarters - 7/5 With BetMGM
Commanders To Score In All 4 Quarters
The Washington Commanders were one of the stories of last season, with offensive rookie of the year Jayden Daniels exceeding all expectations.
The quarterback finished with 30 touchdowns and 10 interceptions as the Commanders were denied a place in the Super Bowl by the Eagles, who beat them in the NFC Conference Championship decider.
Washington posted points in all four quarters eight times last season, and with a home opener against the New York Giants - their division rivals, they will hope to keep the scoreboard ticking over regularly.
The Giants had a shocking campaign last year, giving up points in each quarter seven times, so the Commanders will hope to start fast this weekend.
The Panel's Selection 2: Commanders To Score In All 4 Quarters - 31/20 With BetMGM
Raiders To Concede In All 4 Quarters
The Raiders finished the 2024 season with a 4-13 record, and odds on betting apps suggest they will struggle this year too.
One reason why the Raiders were not as competitive as they would have liked was their inability to stop their opponents from scoring.
Las Vegas were the only team to give up points in all four quarters 10 times last season, including their final contest at home to the Chargers.
They face the Patriots this weekend, who registered points in each quarter when they beat the Buffalo Bills in their final game of the 2024 campaign.
The Panel's Selection 3: Raiders To Concede In All 4 Quarters - 21/10 With BetMGM
Packers To Score First And Beat The Lions
Some NFL teams are built to succeed after taking a lead, while others struggled when they fall behind on the scoreboard.
The Green Bay Packers, who boosted their Super Bowl hopes by adding Cowboys' star defender Micah Parsons to their roster, opened the scoring 13 times during the 2024 regular season, and went on to win 10 of those contests.
Detroit (7-0) and Kansas City (9-0) had perfect records when scoring the first points in games, but they face tricky openers this weekend at the Packers and Chargers (in Brazil) respectively.
The Panel are going for the Packers to take advantage of their home-field advantage at Lambeau Field to open the scoring against the Lions and win.
The Panel's Selection 4: Packers To Score First And Beat The Lions - 9/5 With BetMGM
Saints To Beat The Cardinals
The New Orleans Saints may have ended last season with a 5-12 record, but it will surprise many to know they actually have the best opening weekend winning streak going into the new campaign.
Last season's 47-10 win at home to the Carolina Panthers was their sixth Week 1 win in a row.
They can extend their streak to seven if they can beat the Arizona Cardinals in the Superdome.
The Cardinals are 0-3 in their opening games since beating the Titans 38-13 in 2021.
The Panel's Selection 5: Saints To Beat The Cardinals - 43/20 With BetMGM
Kyren Williams Anytime Touchdown Scorer
The Los Angeles Rams made it to the divisional round of the play-offs in January, with Matthew Stafford under center.
Stafford was helped massively by the performances of his running back Kyren Williams, who ended the regular season with 1,299 rushing yards.
Remarkably, in 12 of the 17 games, Williams scored the Rams' first touchdown and six of those were the first TD of the game.
He was the first player to find the end zone in their 27-9 win over the Vikings in a game taken away from LA because of the wildfires and played in Glendale, Arizona.
The Panel's Selection 6: Kyren Williams To Score A TD - 8/13 With BetMGM
Every Team To Score A Week 1 Field Goal
An outlandish bet you might want to consider this weekend, is for every NFL team to score a field goal.
Odds for all 32 teams to split the uprights with a kick works out to be around 180/1.
NFL betting sites have been hit with this type of bet before.
The Panel's Selection 7: Every Team To Score A Field Goal In Week 1 - Odds Not Yet Available
