After a long and eventful offseason, the 2025 NFL season is finally here. The quest for Super Bowl 60 began on Thursday as Philadelphia defeated Dallas thanks to CeeDee Lamb’s ill-timed drops, and then the Chargers hung on to beat the Chiefs in what was a tremendous quarterback duel in Brazil on Friday. Finally, we have arrived at this massive Sunday slate of games as the season starts in earnest this weekend.
With the 2025 campaign officially underway, let’s get right into my NFL Week 1 mega parlay that pays out at over 25/1 odds at FanDuel Sportsbook.
Packers ML (-148)
Raiders ML (+124)
49ers -1.5 (-108)
Jets +3 (-112)
Cardinals -6.5 (-110)
Parlay odds: +2512
Green Bay Packers ML (-148) over Detroit Lions
The Packers were already a team that I was looking to back early and often this season, and that impulse only got stronger once Green Bay acquired Micah Parsons for an aging Kenny Clark and a pair of first-round picks. Parsons was questionable for this game initially, but he is expected to make his debut in Green and Yellow on Sunday, and that could be the deciding factor in this contest. However, the real edge for Green Bay in this matchup is on the other side of the ball, where the Packers’ solid offensive line is going up against a Detroit defensive line that will be without Levi Onwuzurike and Za’Darius Smith. Look for Green Bay to establish the run early and open up the play-action pass game for Jordan Love, who has all of the tools to finally put it together in his 3rd season as a starter in Matt LaFleur’s system.
Grab our expert’s best bets for NFL Week 1
Las Vegas Raiders ML (+124) over New England Patriots
The Raiders are a very intriguing team in 2025, as Las Vegas is undoubtedly getting an upgrade at head coach with Pete Carroll, running back with rookie sensation Ashton Jeanty and at quarterback with Geno Smith replacing Aidan O’Connell in arguably the biggest year-to-year jump at the position across the NFL. Given all of the new talent in the system, I expect a solid showing from Las Vegas in its season opener against a Patriots defense that, while solid, does have a decent amount of moving pieces to work out in this season opener.
On the other side, I’m optimistic about New England quarterback Drake Maye in his second season and the Patriots should also be a much better-coached team over the course of the season with Mike Vrabel taking over for Jerod Mayo at the controls. However, this Patriots offensive line is still in a brutal spot and I have concerns about their ability to halt Maxx Crosby and the Raiders’ pass rush in this game. This one should come down to the wire, so let’s back the Raiders to pull off the small upset on Sunday.
San Francisco 49ers -1.5 (-108) over Seattle Seahawks
Following a season in which they narrowly missed the playoffs, the Seahawks are going through a change at quarterback as Geno Smith reunited with old coach Pete Carroll in Las Vegas. Enter Sam Darnold, who came over after a successful season with the Vikings, posting 4,319 passing yards in a 14-3 season with Minnesota. On the other side, it was a nightmare season for the 49ers as everything seemed to go wrong for San Francisco in terms of injuries and close game luck. This included an improbable victory for Seattle at home last November. However, before Seattle’s victory in that game, San Francisco had won the previous 6 meetings, including 5 by double-digits. Let’s go with Brock Purdy and the 49ers as a short road favorite to begin the 2025 season on a solid note.
Read our full 49ers vs Seahawks predictions
New York Jets +3 (-112) vs Pittsburgh Steelers
Aaron Rodgers’ return to New York as quarterback of the Steelers highlights this AFC showdown between Pittsburgh and the New York Jets. However, while the narrative might suggest that Rodgers shows up and plays well in a revenge spot, there is no reason to think there will be a return to the glory days in his age 41 season on Sunday. While we have concerns about Justin Fields being under center in New York, he was still productive in limited work for the Steelers last season and he has the potential to be a legitimate starting quarterback in this league. Breece Hall and Garrett Wilson are solid pieces for Fields to work with, and it helps that Sauce Gardner and this talented Jets defense should help shut down Pittsburgh’s air attack that is breaking in a ton of new pieces. I’ll take New York in what should be a low-scoring affair.
Don’t miss our full Steelers vs Jets predictions
Arizona Cardinals -6.5 (-110) over New Orleans Saints
Kellen Moore steps in as the new head coach to try and revive an offense that was really struggling down the stretch a season ago, but even with a surprising amount of talent on that side of the ball, the Saints are still going to be leaning on Spencer Rattler at quarterback. Frankly, that’s a losing proposition and not one that I anticipate working for New Orleans in what obviously feels like a hard reset following years of salary cap manipulation and operating on the fringes of contention in the NFC.
As for the Cardinals, this is a team with all of the tools to be successful on offense, and I’m interested in what head coach Jonathan Gannon has planned for his continued reshaping of a defense that was one of the worst in football a couple of years ago. While that turnaround still might be a year away, I’m confident in Arizona’s ability to take care of arguably the worst team in the NFL in Week 1, so let’s back the Cardinals to win and cover the current number.
Get our full Cardinals vs Saints predictions
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