A great way to enhance the excitement of your viewing of Week 1 of the 2020 NFL season can be to get involved in prop bets, be that on lines available before or during the game. Each week, our NFL betting team will be providing you with our favorite prop bets of the week to help win you some cash. This article will take you from Thursday Night Football through to Monday Night Football, as we continuously update our selections as more lines become available.
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In Week 1, we have a plethora of football with four primetime games, including two on Monday night. Of course, that all starts with the big kickoff between the Houston Texans and Kansas City Chiefs. Let’s dive into some of our favorite prop bets for Week 1!
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Recommended prop bets for Week 1 of the 2020 NFL season
Pittsburgh Steelers @ New York Giants | Monday, September 14th, 7:10 pm
Ben Rolfe: 0.2u – Pittsburgh Steelers two defensive touchdowns @ +2700
The Giants’ offensive line against one of the better pass rushes in the league is a terrifying prospect. Daniel Jones will be under pressure all game and given his fumbling issues, as well as the ball-hawk nature of the Steelers secondary, it would not surprise me if we see multiple turnovers. The only question is whether the Steelers can take those turnovers to the house and at +2700 it is worth a small play.
1u – Daniel Jones over 15.5 rushing yards @ -110
Jones is actually a solid athlete and contributed plenty with his legs last season. In seven of his 13 games in 2019, he carried the ball 20 yards or more. Look for Jones to need to use his legs to make plays as he will be constantly under pressure behind an offensive line which should be overmatched in this one.
Green Bay Packers @ Minnesota Vikings | Sunday, September 13th, 1:00 pm
Ben Rolfe: 1u – Davante Adams anytime touchdown @ +130
It was a down year for Adams in 2019, with just five touchdowns in 12 games. However, the previous three years saw him score a combined 35 touchdowns in 45 games. Looking at the Vikings depth chart, I am not sure anyone is going to be able to shut Adams down unless they double-team him all day. Equally, looking at the Packers depth chart, I am not sure who else commands serious targets in the red zone.
New York Jets @ Buffalo Bills | Sunday, September 13th, 1:00 pm
This game may not appear the most thrilling of the NFL’s Week 1 matchups, but from a prop bet point of view, it has some intriguing options available.
Ben Rolfe: 1u – Josh Allen over 28.5 rushing yards @ -110
In his career, Allen averages over seven carries and 40.8 yards per game. Last year that number dropped closer to 30, but he still went over the 30-yard mark eight times, including Week 1 against the Jets, when he carried the ball 10 times for 38 yards.
1u – Josh Allen anytime touchdown @ +150
Josh Allen has 17 touchdowns in his 28 games as a quarterback in the NFL, including Week 1 of the 2019 season against the Jets. I am not sold who will be the Bills’ goal-line back and I believe this plays into the hands of Allen.
1u – Le’Veon Bell over 23.5 receiving yards @ -110
Apparently Bell has looked sluggish in camp and this has a lot of people concerned, driving his projected numbers down. In 2019, Bell averaged over 30 receiving yards per game. He topped 25 yards in 10 games, including both games against the Bills, and was targeted five or more times in eight games. With an uncertain receiving core in New York, look for Darnold to lean on his reliable hands in Jamison Crowder and Bell in this one.
1u – Cole Beasley over 3.5 receptions @ +115
This line makes little sense given Beasley had four or more receptions in 10 of his 15 games last season. With limited competition for targets outside of Stefon Diggs and John Brown, Beasley should see at least five targets in this one. In the same Week 1 matchup last year he saw nine targets with five receptions for 40 yards. I expect similar numbers this week.
Indianapolis Colts @ Jacksonville Jaguars | Sunday, September 13th, 1:00 pm
1u – Jack Doyle over 3.5 receptions @ +133
While Doyle averaged just 2.7 receptions per game last season, he actually saw 6.2 targets per game, as he registered the lowest catch percentage of his career (59.7). New QB Philip Rivers should present an upgrade on Jacoby Brissett and help Doyle improve that number.
Seattle Seahawks @ Atlanta Falcons | Sunday, September 13th, 1:00 pm
George Templeton: 0.5 – D.K. Metcalf to get 100 receiving yards, 1 TD, and Seattle to win @ +600
D.K. Metcalf emerged as a serious downfield threat for Seattle in his rookie season, and while he has only one 100-yard receiving game he’s going up against a Falcons secondary that struggled a lot last season. I am counting at least one big play out of Metcalf and a few other chunk plays to get him over 100 yards as well as helping the Seahawks to an opening day victory.
Los Angeles Chargers @ Cincinnati Bengals | Sunday, September 13th, 4:05 pm
Ben Rolfe: 1u – Keenan Allen anytime touchdown @ +135
Mike Williams is coming into this game banged up, leaving just Allen, Austin Ekeler, and Hunter Henry as the main recognized receiving threats. Allen is superb at creating little pockets of space to make receptions and the Bengals secondary has a lot of question marks. Allen has 18 touchdowns over the last three seasons, and he has a great chance to open his account in Week 1 of the 2020 season.
0.2u – Keenan Allen, Davante Adams & Josh Allen all to score a touchdown @ +1250
Every week when I place my NFL prop bets, I try to have a couple of anytime touchdown scorer parlays, and Week 1 of the 2020 season is no different! I have made the case for all of them individually above, but this feels like a touchdown scorer parlay with a great chance to hit. Let’s call it the triple-A parlay.
Arizona Cardinals @ San Francisco 49ers | Sunday, September 13th, 4:25 pm
Ben Rolfe: 1u – Kyler Murray over 28.5 rushing yards @ -110
The Cardinals are one of the two team totals that intrigue me this week. Their offense demonstrated they could go toe-to-toe with the 49ers impressive defense last season. This is actually a situation where I believe the aggressiveness of the 49ers defensive line helps Murray, as he should be able to make space and pick up yards on the ground. Last season, Murray topped 30 rushing yards in eight games, including both games against the 49ers.
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Houston Texans @ Kansas City Chiefs | Thursday, September 10th, 8:20 pm
James Aguirre: 0.5u – Will Fuller anytime touchdown @ +188
I like Will Fuller to score a touchdown at +185. It was +210 at FanDuel before the news broke that Brandin Cooks could miss this game. I believe it should be priced closer to +100.
Chris Smith: 0.2u – Darren Fells anytime touchdown @ +525
I like Darren Fells TD prop tonight at +525 on DK. Implied probability of 16% but he scored seven touchdowns in 15 games last season. The Chiefs were eighth-worst in the league against opposing TEs last season, including giving up seven touchdowns to the position. In two games against Kansas City last season, Fells caught nine balls on 14 targets for 91 yards and one touchdown. His yardage prop is currently 23.5 (-110) if you’d rather go that route.
Ben Rolfe: 1u – Clyde Edwards-Helaire over 49.5 rushing yards @ -110
The Chiefs run game has a lot of question marks surrounding it following the opt-out of Damien Williams. The current Chiefs depth chart has Edwards-Helaire listed as the top back, which should be promising for his chances of hitting the over on this line.
In 2019, the Chiefs had more than 80 rushing yards in 15 of their 19 games. Projecting which back would do the damage was tough last season, but with Williams and LeSean McCoy sharing touches, the situation in Kansas City was a lot more difficult to call.
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In this matchup, they go up against a Texans team that ranked 25 and 27 in the league in rushing yards and yards per carry, respectively. At 121.1 rushing yards per game, they allowed the eighth-most yards per game on the ground in the league. With the departure of D.J. Reader, that defense may just have gotten worse as well.
Ryan Gosling: 1u – Kenny Stills over 47 yards receiving @ -117
There are two reasons why I think this is the best prop bet for opening night of the NFL season. First, there is a good chance that Brandin Cooks is sidelined for this matchup due to a quad injury. The receiver, now in his first season with the team since being dealt by Los Angeles, has dealt with load management throughout training camp. Even though there is a slight chance he plays tonight, he will not be at 100%.
This means that Kenny Stills will likely be lining up opposite from Will Fuller. Stills, a deep threat with explosive speed, has a history of lighting up this Chiefs secondary. In last year’s divisional playoff matchup, Stills caught three balls for 80 yards and a TD. Considering the fact that DeAndre Hopkins had 14 targets in that divisional game and Stills was still able to put up those numbers, imagine what he will do with Hopkins gone and Cooks sidelined.
The second reason I like this play because I think the Texans will be down early. With this impressive Chiefs offense, there will be points scored and Houston will likely need to play catchup. With more opportunity and less competition around him, look for Stills to have a big game. He could even surpass this yardage total on one big pass from Watson.