NFL Bold Betting Predictions: Week 1 with Ravens, Jets and 49ers

Will the Kansas City Chiefs become the first team in NFL history to win three straight Super Bowls?

This writer says no with all that extra football catching up to Patrick Mahomes & Co. this year. In fact, I think the Chiefs lose their opener among bold Week 1 predictions.

Ravens Get AFC Championship Payback

Per usual, the NFL regular season begins on a Thursday night with the Kickoff Game hosted by the reigning Super Bowl champions. That is the Kansas City Chiefs again this Thursday as they welcome the Baltimore Ravens in a rematch of last season’s AFC Championship Game. It’s also a matchup of two-time MVP-winning QBs in Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes and Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson, who was the 2023 winner.

Marquise Brown

Reigning Super Bowl winners have won the Kickoff Game the vast majority of time, but I like Baltimore +3 and believe the Ravens win outright. Kansas City will not have starting receiver due to a shoulder injury suffered in the preseason. Brown was one of two big additions to the wide receiver room this off season, along with first-round pick Xavier Worthy. They are each expected to bring an element of speed and explosiveness back to the offense after the team pivoted heavily toward short and intermediate passes and slowly matriculating the ball down the field over the past two seasons.

Brown signed a one-year contract with the Chiefs in March, with the deal worth up to $11 million. He will miss the chance to play against his former team, Baltimore, which drafted him 25th overall in 2019. Brown spent the past two seasons with the Arizona Cardinals. He caught 51 receptions for 574 yards and four touchdowns, with the first two being career lows.

There is also the fact that the Chiefs played the entire preseason without their best offensive lineman in Joe Thuney and defensive lineman in Chris Jones due to injuries, so they might not yet be 100 percent.

Mark Andrews

Ravens Pro Bowl tight end was in a recent serious car accident, but he made it out unscathed. A three-time Pro Bowl player, Andrews ranks in the top three in franchise history in receptions (381), receiving yards (4,857) and touchdown catches (40). He needs two touchdown receptions to surpass Todd Heap for the most in Ravens history. Thursday will also be the Baltimore debut of former two-time NFL rushing champion Derrick Henry and he will wear that KC defense down by the fourth quarter.

Zach Orr

Perhaps the biggest question surrounding Baltimore is on defense. That was the NFL’s top unit last year but also lost defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald as he’s now Seattle’s head coach. Ravens head coach John Harbaugh promoted linebackers coach Zach Orr so there should be plenty of continuity. It’s quite a first test for Orr to face the Chiefs, who lead the NFL in scoring (28.6) and total yards (396.8) per game since Mahomes became their starting quarterback in 2018.

Last season, the Ravens were able to pressure the quarterback without having to send many extra pass rushers. Baltimore’s 21.9% blitz rate was the eighth lowest in the league. With Orr, the blitz frequency is expected to increase. When he was named the Ravens’ defensive coordinator, Orr said he wanted his defense to produce “organized chaos.”

Jets Upset Chaos-Filled 49ers On MNF

Week 1 around the NFL concludes on September 9 as Aaron Rodgers makes his return from an Achilles injury for the New York Jets against the San Francisco 49ers – a homecoming for Rodgers, who is a Bay Area native. This could be a preview of LIX in New Orleans, with the Niners as 3.5-point favorites.

I think the Jets pull the outright upset, as Rodgers has such a flair for the dramatic. He lasted only four plays in 2023 in his New York debut before going down with that Achilles injury also on a Monday night in Week 1. The Jets fell apart without him, and Coach Robert Saleh enters 2024 on the hottest seat in the NFL. It might also be Rodgers’ last season at age 40 (41 in December).

This will be extra personal for Rodgers because he was 0-4 against the 49ers in playoff action for Green Bay, with a 6-3 regular-season record that includes wins in his 2020 and ’21 visits to Levi’s Stadium.

ICYMI:#49ers' Leonard Floyd on Aaron Rodgers: 'He will embarrass you'

via @TheSportsHernia | #FTTB

Read:https://t.co/JxaLdkybnm
— 49ers Webzone (@49erswebzone) September 2, 2024

The Niners might have the best overall roster in the league when fully healthy, but they have dealt with a lot of injuries and distractions this summer, and that’s why I think San Francisco is on upset alert.

Preseason Absences

Three offensive stars in running back Christian McCaffrey, left tackle Trent Williams and receiver Brandon Aiyuk all missed the entire preseason. McCaffrey is hurt, while Williams and Aiyuk wanted new contracts. McCaffrey will play Week 1 but likely not at 100 percent. Aiyuk also will play as he did just get a new deal late last week, but Williams is prepared to sit out into the season.

Williams has three years remaining on his current deal and will be paid $20.05 million in base salary this season, making him the highest-paid offensive lineman in 2024. But in terms of average annual value, Williams’ $23.01 million per year ranks sixth among offensive linemen in the NFL.

On top of all those distractions, 49ers rookie first-round pick Ricky Pearsall now might miss the season after being shot in the chest over the weekend in an robbery attempt in downtown San Francisco – his injuries were not life-threatening. The suspect, a 17-year-old male, has been arrested. Pearsall’s mother said Sunday in a social media post that the bullet exited out her son’s back and missed his vital organs, adding that he is “extremely lucky.” The Niners selected Pearsall with the 31st pick in April’s NFL draft out of the University of Florida. He was set to be the club’s No. 3 wideout this year.