NFL Prop Bets: Week 1 in the National Football League – 13/1 treble

IT'S BACK - we've been without our beloved NFL since Philly beat Kansas City to take Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans in February. We've had a couple of matches already - those champion Eagles began with a win against the Cowboys, while the Chargers upset the Chiefs in Sao Paulo no less.

Let's look at one or two of the mouth-watering clashes that still await as Week 1 really stretches its legs, and pick up a few proposition bets ('props' - additional markets to the main Money Line, Game Total and Spread/handicap lines). Enjoy!

NFL ODDS

I've approached this Week 1 task from the standpoint of 'who do I fancy solidly to win three football matches this weekend?' There's little of course to go on form-wise bar a handful of pre-season encounters and we won't have a firm handle on what the coming months hold in store until around Week 4 in my view.

No reason not to have a little tickle as the show gets underway, modest stakes recommended, and I'm taking what I hope are three solid prospects to have their noses ahead at both half-time, and full-time.

Patriots vs Raiders - Patriots/Patriots @ 11/8

Hopes are high at Gillette that Drake May will be the face of the franchise at QB and that happier times lie ahead post Brady-Belichick. Can we really still be referring to those legends of the past? Evidently so - though there seems little love lost between the former Pats coach and the current set-up, with each reportedly not welcome to visit the other (Belichick is now coaching North Carolina).

Both these teams propped up their respective Divisions last term, but Stefon Diggs is an interesting recruit and with May promising plenty I'm hoping the Pats can put on an opening weekend show for the New England faithful.

Jets vs Steelers - Steelers/Steelers @ 5/4

For either of these two to win Super Bowl LX in California in six months it would take herculean efforts and then some - they're 150/1 and 40/1 respectively in the betting.

In sensational fashion the brilliant Aaron Rodgers returns to New York but this time in a Steelers' shirt for what he hopes will be a thrilling swansong to a storied career under centre. DK Metcalfe can hardly wait to get on the end of some of Rodgers' dimes, and it's a fantastic sideshow in a riveting week.

The Jets new coach Aaron Glenn is thought to have played a part in the decision to move Rodgers on after his injury-ravaged and brief tenure in the Big Apple, so that's an added, spicy dimension - though both will play it down.

I can see the future shoo-in Hall Of Famer quietly orchestrating an authoritative win for the AFC North side and that the Jets will face a tough old time in the months ahead.

Bills vs Ravens - Bills/Bills @ 9/5

To the meeting of the week - almost any week. Baltimore roll into Buffalo, two giants of the AFC, and Division champions last term.

Lamar Jackson for the Ravens, Josh Allen in Buffalo blue. Two generational quarterbacks that are the very dictionary definition of box-office. It's a mystery, some might say tragedy, that Allen's career isn't yet marked by a Super Bowl ring, but there's plenty of time for that to happen.

It certainly wouldn't be undeserved, as he puts together a career and a body of work that's just outstanding. Jackson is also short of the ultimate validation, but his ability is similarly off the scale, with MVP honours raining down with richly-deserved frequency.

Both are in their late-20s. Peak-powers time. We're lucky to have them.

The season won't be sorted one way or the other in the early hours of Monday UK-time, but an important statement can be made - and I'm banking on the Bills making it.

Four of the last five campaigns have seen the superb Chiefs end Buffalo's post-season hopes and I'm expecting a big contribution from 25-year-old wideout Khalil Shakir, to help combat that statistic.

What a match. Can't wait.

Acca pays 13.96/1

 NFL Betting tips with Betfred Insights.