By Anthony Wootton
Week 1 of the new NFL season is here. It seems like a lifetime ago when Semaje Perine was taken down by Aaron Donald on 3rd and 1 for no gain. The Super Bowl and the 2021 season are now in the past, teams can look forward, as will we with our plays over each of the next 20-plus weeks.
Here is my three-pick parlay for opening weekend, which will turn your $10 into $120.75 (odds at +1107 via DraftKings SportsBook).
Atlanta Falcons +5.5 ATS (-110)
This is a divisional matchup to open the season against a team that’s moved from one of the league’s best offensive minds to a defensive head coach; and the home team is being handed 5.5 points. The New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons hate each other. The Atlanta fans, with all the hopes of the new season, will be fired up for this one.
New Orleans has won each of its last four road games against the Falcons, tied for its second-longest road win streak against any single opponent. That record was with Sean Payton as head coach. Dennis Allen is in charge now, and his record as head coach was 8-28 with the Raiders from 2012-2014.
Atlanta went 7-2 last season in games decided by single digits, the second-best record in the NFL (Raiders; 8-2). This game will be close, which is why the points being laid are a gift.
Trevor Lawrence to throw +1.5 touchdowns (+130)
The 2021 first-overall draft pick could be in line for a breakout season in Jacksonville. He was phenomenal at college, throwing 90 touchdowns and going unbeaten during the regular season at Clemson. Scouts, analysts and draft evaluators were calling him a generational talent. The problem for him last year was that he was on a bad team with a terrible head coach.
Lawrence became the third quarterback to attempt 600 passes in his rookie season (602), joining Andrew Luck (627) and Carson Wentz (607). He was also in a lot of games where the Jags were trailing, so there was no other option than to throw.
In new head coach, Doug Pederson, he has a leader who understands his position. Pederson was backup QB to Brett Favre at the Green Bay Packers, and Dan Marino at the Miami Dolphins. In the 2017 season he got MVP-calibre play out of Carson Wentz, and coached Nick Foles into beating Tom Brady and the New England Patriots at the Super Bowl.
Washington has not held an opponent scoreless in any of its last 492 games with its last shutout coming on September 30, 1991 against the Philadelphia Eagles. That is 92 games longer than any other team, the Cardinals went 400 games from 1992-2017.
I expect Pederson to have his quarterback coming out hot against an evenly matched opponent, which makes +130 for multiple touchdowns a value pick.
Brandon Aiyuk anytime TD scorer (+175)
The Bears and 49ers have played each other evenly in their last seven matchups, and there’s been no back-to-back winner during that span. The Niners hold a 4-3 advantage, winning on their last two trips to Soldier Field in 2021 and 2017.
Those wins came with Jimmy Garoppolo under center. The Illinois native is now San Francisco’s backup, with 22-year-old Trey Lance leading the offense.
49ers’ wide receiver, Brandon Aiyuk, began last season in head coach Kyle Shanahan’s doghouse. Aiyuk eventually saw his targets increase by Week 8, in Chicago. He caught a total of 5 touchdowns last year, all of them coming outdoors and 4 of them on grass.
In Trey Lance’s second NFL start, against the Houston Texans in Week 17, Aiyuk was the quarterback’s leading receiver with 94 yards (4 receptions off 6 targets). The pair have worked closely during the offseason, while Deebo Samuel was estranged with the franchise following a trade request. The pressure is on Lance as the QB 1, which will have intensified with Garoppolo being named as his backup, so expect him to target someone he can trust as he looks to command this offense. Aiyuk is a good play to find the endzone in this game.
