Week 1 NFL Picks:
2025 Edition

Welcome back! After a year off from podcasting and publishing our picks thanks to Cory's absence, we're back this season and better than ever!

This year we are hosting our pick'em contest on Sleeper, and just because you missed Week 1 doesn't mean you can't still join and try to catch the pack.

Since we no longer have to lock in our picks prior to kickoff of individual games, we will not be publishing all our picks ahead of time this year, but we still track our results, shout out folks who beat us, and this year we'll highlight the games we all got wrong and our lone wolf picks.

Big Misses

This week featured 4 games where the three of us were in agreement and went down with the ship together. Those games were:

Cincinnati Bengals (-5.5) at Cleveland Browns - All three Sportsballers took the Bengals. Guess we were wrong that starters playing in the preseason would lead to a hot start for the Bengals this year. 

Pool results: 5% took CLE

Miami Dolphins at Indianapolis Colts (-1.5) - All three Sportsballers took the Dolphins. The Colts obliterated them, so the question we'll have to answer is: are the Dolphins worse than we thought they'd be, are the Colts better, or both?

Pool results: 20% took IND

Carolina Panthers at Jacksonville Jaguars (-3.5) - All three Sportsballers took the Panthers and all three of us were firmly in the minority within our pick'em pool.

Pool results: 67% took JAC

Arizona Cardinals (-6.5) at New Orleans Saints - Perhaps surprisingly, all three Sportsballers took the Saints. This outcome was even worse than the Carolina pick, though, because our pick'em pool was nearly unanimous outside of the three of us.

Pool results: 86% took ARI

Lone Wolf

We also had a few games where one of us went off the beaten path. Here are those games and whether our lone wolf got the kill or unexpectedly found himself as the prey:

Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles (-7.5) - Cory was the lone member of the Sportsballers to take the points, and it worked in his favor as the Cowboys covered in a 20-24 loss.

Pool results: 6% took DAL

Kansas City Chiefs (-3.5) at Los Angeles Chargers in Brazil - Evan was the lone member of the Sportsballers to take the points, and the Bolts rewarded him by not only covering but by winning outright the league's first international game of the year, 27-21.

Pool results: 26% took LAC

Las Vegas Raiders at New England Patriots (-3.5) - Eric was the lone member of the Sportsballers to take the points, and the Patriots suffered their record-extending 24th home loss since the start of the 2021 season by a 13-20 score.

Pool results: 40% took LV

Pittsburgh Steelers (-3.5) at New York Jets - Eric was the lone member of the Sportsballers to take the points, and Gang Green just did deliver for him, covering the spread with a two-point, 32-34 loss.

Pool results: 17% took NYJ

Tennessee Titans at Denver Broncos (-7.5) - Eric was the lone member of the Sportsballers to take the points, and finally we have a lone wolf loss to report. It was another close call, but by a score of 20-12 Denver beat the spread.

Pool results: 84% took DEN

San Francisco 49ers (-2.5) at Seattle Seahawks - Evan was the lone member of the Sportsballers to take the points, but the Seahawks failed to cover as the 49ers played to a 17-13 road win to open the campaign.

Pool results: 65% took SF

Detroit Lions at Green Bay Packers (-2.5) - Cory went against his team as the lone member of the Sportsballers to lay the points. He ended the day disappointed with his team, but the emotional hedge paid off as the Pack trounced their division rival by a score of 27-13.

Pool results: 33% picked GB

Houston Texans at Los Angeles Rams (-3.5) - Eric was the lone member of the Sportsballers to take the points, but Sean McVay had other ideas as his Rams got the job done, covering the spread with a 14-9 victory.

Pool results: 47% picked LAR

Baltimore Ravens at Buffalo Bills (-1.5) - Cory was the lone member of the Sportsballers to lay the points, and though the Bills did pull off a come-from-behind effort to steal the win, it was by just one point in a 41-40 contest.

Pool results: 48% picked BAL

Minnesota Vikings (-1.5) at Chicago Bears - Cory was the lone member of the Sportsballers to lay the points, and after a rough first half, J.J. McCarthy and the Vikings offense figured some things out in the second half to win and cover the spread.

Pool results: 51% picked MIN

Standings

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