Before I start, thanks to Ken Thomson for having me on his excellent radio show Thursday; it is always fun and an honor to chop it up with one of the best in the business.
— Aaron Rodgers’ Jets get five primetime games, plus the Black Friday game in November against the Dolphins— that game is a 3pm local time kickoff, the day after Thanksgiving.
— Cardinals, Colts, Falcons, Texans do not have any primetime games scheduled; the NFL’s schedule team doesn’t have high hopes for these teams.
— Thanksgiving tripleheader:
Packers @ Detroit
Commanders @ Dallas
49ers @ Seattle
— Christmas tripleheader:
Raiders @ Kansas City
Giants @ Philadelphia
Ravens @ San Francisco
— In Weeks 2-3, there are two games on Monday night:
Week 2: Saints @ Carolina, Browns @ Pittsburgh
Week 3: Eagles @ Tampa Bay, Rams @ Cincinnati
— Division rival Cowboys-Giants meet in Week 1 for 7th time in the last 12 years.
— There are conference final rematches, but both are later in the season; 49ers travel to Philadelphia in Week 13; the Bengals go to Kansas City on New Year’s Eve in Week 17.
— Deshaun Watson’s Cleveland Browns visit Houston, Watson’s old home, on Christmas Eve in Week 16.
— The two New Jersey teams visit Las Vegas on consecutive weekends in November; Giants visit the Raiders in Week 9, Jets visit in Week 10.
Raiders’ defensive coordinator Patrick Graham was with the Giants two years ago, got passed over for their head coaching job when Big Blue hired Brian Daboll.
— Over is 11-0 in the Lions’ last 11 season openers; over is 7-0-1 in Kansas City’s last eight.
Last 20 years, the defending Super Bowl champ is 11-6-3 ATS in Week 1 the next year.
Last 20 years, the Super Bowl loser is 4-16 ATS in Week 1 the next year.
— Baltimore Ravens have three divisional games in the first five weeks; they’ve got only one divisional game in December. Lamar Jackson missed their last six games last year, their last four games the year before.
— Buffalo Bills have three consecutive primetime games in Weeks 8-10.
— New Orleans Saints play their five AFC opponents in the season’s first eight weeks; they also don’t have any cold weather games, unless November 5 in Chicago turns nasty.
— Detroit Lions have four primetime games, plus their traditional Thanksgiving game; high expectations for a team that hasn’t won a playoff game since 1991.
— This is the first time since 2016 that Jacksonville is favored in its road opener.
— NFL Week 1 pointspreads:
Lions +7 @ Kansas City
Bengals -2.5 @ Cleveland
Buccaneers +5.5 @ Minnesota
Panthers +1.5 @ Atlanta
Jaguars -3.5 @ Indianapolis
49ers -2.5 @ Pittsburgh
Texans +9.5 @ Baltimore
Titans +3.5 @ New Orleans
Cardinals +5.5 @ Washington
Packers +3 @ Chicago
Raiders +4 @ Denver
Eagles -3.5 @ New England
Dolphins +3 @ LA Chargers
Rams +4.5 @ Seattle
Cowboys -2.5 @ NJ Giants
Bills -2 @ NJ Jets
