The first full Sunday slate of football is here. The long offseason officially ended on Thursday with the Ravens/Chiefs kickoff. We had a double feature with the NFL travelling to Brazil for the first time and saw the Eagles and Packers face off against one another. As we gear up for an exciting day of kickoffs, redzone, and sitting on the couch, let’s go through the matchups to see where we can win some money today.

To start, I’ll highlight the best value bets that I can find. I’ve gone through the slate and picked two Best Bets and provided some background on each. I have put together a parlay for the day as well. I am also including some other bets that I like and am leaning towards placing. Let’s make some money.

Best Bets

• Jacoby Brissett- o11.5 Rush Yards (-110) FanDuel
• Zach Ertz – o24.5 Rec Yards (-110) FanDuel

Best Bet Background – Brissett- o11.5 Rush Yards (-110) FanDuel

The Patriots are going to be facing off against the Bengals in Cincinatti. Like most week 1 games, this will set the tone for the season for both of these teams. The Bengals have been slow out of the gates for every one of Joe Burrows seasons in Cincy. The Patriots have a ton of new in their building. New coach, new (old) quarterback, new general manager, etc etc. With that much change, it is difficult to predict how a team is going to fare when it comes to wins and losses.

For that reason, I am looking at Jacoby Brissett’s rushing o/u. He is averaging 11.5 yards a game for his career. In the years that he has been the starter, he is averaging 15 yards a game. His splits show that he rushes more during the first 4 games of the season than any other stretch during the year. The Patriots are predicted to be struggling, particularly the offensive line. There will be plenty opportunities for rushing as plays break down and Brissett will try to salvage a play. Add in the fact that it is a new system for him and his receivers, there may be times that they are not on the same page, and he will have to scramble for yards. The Bengals defense was 26th in the league last year in rush yards allowed. While the running backs may eat up some yards, I believe that there will be plenty there for both of them.

Best Bet Background -Zach Ertz – o24.5 rec yds (-110)

The Commanders are facing off against the Tampa Bay Bucs in Tampa Bay. They are sporting an entirely new coaching staff, quarterback, and roster. They are giving rookie QB, Jayden Daniels, his first start. Daniels will be going against a hard-nosed Todd Bowles defense. However, that same defense was 29th in pass yards allowed last year. They did not do much in the offseason to address this issue so I believe that we can expect more of the same. With that being said, Jaydens new offensive coordinator is Kliff Kingsbury who ran the offense when he was a head coach in Arizona. Who was his most recent tight end in AZ? Zach Ertz.

Ertz signed on to Washington in the offseason. He comes in with a lot of familiarity with the system that Kliff will be running. In his 28 games played in Kliff’s system, he averaged 41.7 yards a game. He averaged 6.8 targets a game. Add in that a veteran tight end is a great safety blanket for a rookie quarterback, I think it is safe to say that Ertz will be heavily involved in this offense. He should get his fair share of targets which will result in yards. He should be able to get 25 yards easily in this week 1 matchup against the Bucs.

Parlay

(+778) No Sweat DraftKings

Leans

• Tua o267.5 Pass yds (-110) FanDuel
  • Dolphins have an offense that can light up the scoreboard. Tua has put up 270 and 466 yards in his two years with Mike McDaniel as his coach.
• De’Von Achane o54.5 Rush yds (-110) FanDuel
  • In that same offense, Achane has the chance to duplicate his breakout year from last season His blazing speed makes him a threat to break a huge run at any given time.
• Tony Pollard o11.5 Rec yds (-115) FanDuel
  • Will Levis is still a young QB who will be checking the ball down against a Bears defense that struggles to defend passes to the running backs.
• Panthers +3.5 (-104) FanDuel
  • Dennis Allen, Saints Head Coach, is one of the worst coaches against the spread.