Opening weekend of the 2025 NFL campaign has arrived, and bettors have been clamouring to the sportsbooks to get wagers on Week 1 and the season in general. It's the most fun time to get in predictions, and those paying enough attention can turn the predictions into winning bets.
Need some advice on which wagers yield the most value, both this weekend and beyond? Look no further, football fans — this column will hand-pick the best spread, moneyline and over/under bets as well as the top futures offerings.
This way, you can cash in on the Week 1 action while also sprinkling in some longer-term and more lucrative investments. Let's diversify our NFL betting portfolio and take advantage of all that the books have to offer at this exciting part of the sports calendar.
Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley and the reigning Super Bowl-champion Eagles kick things off against the Cowboys in Philadelphia on Thursday. Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and the Chiefs play Jim Harbaugh's Chargers in São Paulo, Brazil on Friday.
Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers face Justin Fields' Jets on Sunday. Then, the Packers visit the Lions in Detroit in an NFC North clash of the titans. Soon after that game ends, MVP Josh Allen and the Bills will face two-time MVP Lamar Jackson and the Ravens. It's all happening!
Let's jump right into the best bets for the weekend, and the top futures wagers for the approximately 22 weeks between now and Super Bowl 60. Good luck, have fun and enjoy Week 1 and the rest of the 2025 NFL season!
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Best bets for Week 1 of the 2025 NFL season
All outright odds courtesy of Bet365 unless otherwise stated and correct at time of publish. Jump to futures bets including Super Bowl 60 prediction by clicking here.
Bengals -5.5 at Browns (20/21)
It's understandable that people have become a little gun-shy when it comes to the Bengals in Week 1. Joe Burrow has lost his past three season-openers, including a 24-3 stomping by Cleveland two years ago and a 16-10 shocker by the Patriots last year. Survivor Challenge contestants, beware!
Call us brazen, but we're jumping onto the Cincy bandwagon regardless. Burrow just had a fully-healthy training camp and preseason for the first time as a pro, and he's going against Joe Flacco and the perennially-bumbling Browns. The Bengals know full well that a bad start often coincides with a disappointing season, so we expect an epic beatdown by the visiting favourites in this one.
Patriots -2.5 vs. Raiders (4/5)
The Pats enter the weekend as three-point favorites over the visiting Raiders, but it's important to know that you can buy that down by a half-point to avoid a push if New England wins by three.
That being said, the favourites should win this one — and likely by more than three anyway. Head coach Mike Vrabel has been coaching this squad up quite well all preseason, quarterback Drake Maye looks as confident as ever, and TreVeyon Henderson might be the most buzz-worthy running back not named Ashton Jeanty.
And let's not forget about the Patriots' defense, which should have fun tormenting the still-shoddy Raiders offensive line. This feels like an easy bet.
Chargers (6/4) vs. Chiefs in Brazil (Betfair)
Upset special! Coach Jim Harbaugh and the Chargers have been preparing for this divisional clash for months, and American football fans know how dangerous Harbaugh can be on a neutral field. Sorry, Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, but this squad might be ready for whatever you throw at it.
With QB Justin Herbert healthy, veteran wide receiver Keenan Allen back in town, and rookie running back Omarion Hampton ready to show his worth to the international audience, we like the Bolts to crash into Kansas City in Saô Paolo.
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Jayden Daniels, QB, Commanders vs. Giants: OVER 1.5 passing touchdowns (17/20)
Daniels comes off a stellar Offensive Rookie of the Year campaign, he's got Terry McLaurin back and Deebo Samuel became a Commander in the offseason, and now Washington's at home against a poor Giants team. There still seems to be some uncertainty in the Commanders' running game, but there's no doubt that Daniels is the real deal.
Dating back to Daniels' final five regular-season games and three playoff games in 2024 (excluding his brief appearance in a meaningless Week 18), the young phenom has thrown 20 touchdowns. That's 2.5 pass TDs per game, for those without their Calculator apps handy. JD's about to slay the Giants.
Best futures bets for 2025 NFL season
MVP: Joe Burrow, QB, Bengals (13/2, BetVictor)
Like we already mentioned, Burrow has finally enjoyed a full offseason in full health. He also has wideouts Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins healthy and 2024 breakout running back Chase Brown in his prime. It's time for the Bengals to return to glory, and a dominant regular season would be a good start.
Burrow led the NFL in passing yards and passing touchdowns last season, and if the Bengals won a few more games there never would have been a Josh Allen vs. Lamar Jackson MVP debate. We've got Burrow projected for 5,000 yards, 45 passing touchdowns and his first MVP award.
Offensive Player of the Year: Jahmyr Gibbs, RB, Lions (12/1, Paddy Power)
A lot of colleagues have been predicting Bijan Robinson, Ja'Marr Chase and even Ashton Jeanty to win this award, but we're not so sure the Falcons or Raiders will be good enough for Bijan or Ashton to win and we're afraid Burrow will take away from Chase's OPOY chances. We're going with Gibbs, a stud running back entering his prime and playing for a Super Bowl contender.
Don't worry about departure of offensive coordinator Ben Johnson (now the Bears head coach). In fact, Detroit might go to Gibbs even more than it did with Johnson running the offense. David Montgomery is now 28 (Gibbs is 23), and the days of a 50-50 split are likely in the past.
Gibbs gets better with volume — in the three games without D-Mont at the end of the 2024 season, he totaled 365 rushing yards, 122 receiving yards and six touchdowns. Those are borderline MVP numbers, not just OPOY stats. If the third-year back gets 20-25 touches per game across an entire season, he will cruise to this award.
Defensive Player of the Year: Maxx Crosby, DE, Raiders (14/1 with Betway)
In some cases, winning a ton of games doesn't really matter. DPOY is one of those cases. Crosby has been consistently great for many years now, even leading the NFL in tackles for loss in 2022 and 2023.
Mad Maxx is also a sack monster, and we all know the kind of power sacks hold in DPOY voting. If the Raiders improve this season and get the black-and-silver in the headlines a bit, this could be Crosby's award to lose this year.
Super Bowl champion: Ravens (13/2, BetVictor) over Packers
Lamar Jackson coming off an MVP runner-up season and yet another playoff run halted by either Josh Allen or Patrick Mahomes. Derrick Henry months away from his 32nd birthday. John Harbaugh looking for that elusive second Super Bowl win. There's plenty of motivation in Baltimore, and the Ravens have plenty of star power on both sides of the football.
We said it again and again with the Dodgers, Thunder and Eagles last year: sometimes the odds-on favourite is also the best bet. There's no team in the NFL better assembled from top to bottom to win it all. Here's betting LJax finally makes that postseason leap and hoists the Lombardi Trophy in Santa Clara next February.