2022 NFL Week 1 Opening Lines

The NFL once again grabbed the spotlight on Thursday night with its much-anticipated schedule announcement. We now know the week-by-week schedules for all 32 teams, and DraftKings has already posted lines on all the Week 1 games. Let’s take a look at some of the biggest games in the first week of the 2022 NFL season.

NFL WEEK 1 BETTING LINES

The defending Super Bowl champions will open their season at home against this year’s Super Bowl favorite. The Los Angeles Rams are reigning world champions as Matt Stafford led the franchise to its first Super Bowl in LA, but the best team last year might have been Buffalo. The Bills have gotten even better this offseason after their tough loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in January, and they will look to start the season with a win.

Were the Cincinnati Bengals a one-hit wonder or will they be a Super Bowl contender again this year? Joe Burrow was exceptional in last year’s playoffs, but Cincinnati has some major questions along the offensive line and with its defense. Reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year T.J. Watt will test Burrow’s protection in Week 1.

This is a put up or shut up year for Tua Tagovailoa. The No. 5 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft was taken ahead of Justin Herbert and was in the same draft as Burrow, but he hasn’t had anywhere near the same success. Miami has spent the last two seasons giving him a lot of talented skill position players like Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, and Chase Edmonds, so he has to produce in his third year. It’s never easy to move the ball against a Bill Belichick defense though.

Deshaun Watson will make his first start since January 2021 this September. Cleveland dealt a ton of draft capital to Houston in order to bring in Watson, and one of the teams that was also in on the quarterback was Carolina. The Panthers know that Sam Darnold is not the answer and hope that rookie Matt Corral can be the long-term answer to their quarterback issues.

The two teams that opened the 2021 NFL season will meet on Sunday Night Football in Week 1. Tom Brady is back for his 23rd season in the league, and he has made the Tampa Bay Buccaneers a contender again with his return. Dallas ranked first in scoring offense and total offense last year, and the Cowboys are a sneaky Super Bowl pick at 17-1 considering some of the moves they have made on defense.

The final game of Week 1 will pit Russell Wilson against his former team. Seattle dealt Wilson to Denver for a package that included premium picks and a few players back in March, giving John Elway the star quarterback he has coveted for the Broncos ever since Peyton Manning retired. It will be interesting to see the kind of reaction that Wilson gets upon his return to the Emerald City.

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