The 2026 NFL season is officially here, and the first Sunday of the new campaign is ready to deliver everything fantasy and football fans have been waiting for.
All 32 teams enter Week 1 with the same ultimate
goal: playing their way to Super Bowl 61 in February. But before we get anywhere near the postseason, there are plenty of questions to answer and plenty of opportunities for bettors to find an edge.
The AFC once again features a crowded field of contenders, while the NFC looks top-heavy with several teams capable of making a run at the conference crown. Every game brings a new storyline, from established stars looking to pick up where they left off to new faces stepping into bigger roles.
That's where we come in.
Our NFL experts have analyzed the Week 1 slate to identify the best bets across the board, including spreads, totals, player props and anytime touchdown markets. We'll break down the matchups, highlight the trends that matter and explain why each pick is worth a look.
With the bulk of Week 1 action kicking off Sunday, the USA TODAY Sports team has gathered its best bets in one place.
Here are our best NFL bets for Sunday's games, with odds from BetMGM. Best of luck if you tail.
Best bets NFL Week 1
All odds listed are provided by DraftKings Sportsbook. Access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a complete list.
Participating analysts: Nick Brinkerhoff, Jack McKessy, Jacob Camenker, Adam Kaufman, Tom Viera
Jets, Panthers, Texans ML parlay (+908)
Nick Brinkerhoff: If there’s one thing my friend and colleague Tom Viera loves, it’s a parlay (he actually hates them). That means there is only one way to celebrate the start of a new season – we’re throwing a parlay together. Three sides, three wins and the mountain of cash that comes with it.
To spice things up even more, we’re backing three underdogs, courtesy of my “best underdog picks” you can read here (shameless plug). We kick things off with the Jets in Tennessee against the Titans. Robert Saleh is seeking revenge, but we’ve seen how his teams operate under his leadership. Cam Ward struggled in the preseason and the Jets might be sneaky decent this year. We’ll take experience and talent to win out in the “Music City.”
Our tour continues with a home underdog finding victory in a battle between AFC powerhouses. That’s right, I’m talking about C.J. Stroud and the Texans. Change has been aplenty in Buffalo this offseason and it remains to be seen whether any of it is good. Josh Allen is great and all, but this Houston defense is a serious problem for the opposition. Defense is the difference early in the season and the Texans are second to none.
We wrap this up with another defense to trust in Week 1 – the Carolina Panthers. New additions like Jaelan Phillips and Devin Lloyd should elevate this unit, while the Bears are a regression candidate because they haven't improved on the edge. Coupled with Coby Bryant’s absence, the Panthers are a live dog in Week 1 at home – a place where they collected five of their eight wins in 2025.
If these teams take care of business, we’re going up over nine units in Week 1 and playing with house money for almost half of the season. See you at the window.
Chiefs WR Xavier Worthy UNDER 36.5 receiving yards vs. Broncos (-115)
Jack McKessy: Worthy averaged just 37.5 yards per game as a rookie and 38 yards per game in his second season last year. Perhaps counterintuitively, his yards-per-game rate goes up in games when fellow Chiefs receiver Rashee Rice is active (38.5 in 2024, 43.3 in 2025), as he will be on Monday night.
However, several factors are working against Worthy. One of them is his opponent. In three career starts against the Broncos, the speedster has been targeted 12 times – catching four of them for 36 yards. I'm having a hard time believing Worthy will surpass his career yardage total against the Broncos in one game to start 2026.
Another factor – well, a group of factors – working against Worthy is the Chiefs' offensive outlook to start 2026. Kansas City invested in its running game by bringing in reigning Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker to be its starting running back. And quarterback Patrick Mahomes is coming off of an ACL and LCL tear he suffered last year – Monday night will be his first game back. It sure feels like, against a top-rated passing defense with a yet-to-prove-he's-100% quarterback and an outstanding new running back, the Chiefs are going to lean less heavily on their passing game. That likely means fewer looks for Worthy, who never saw much production against Denver in years past.
Saints TE Juwan Johnson anytime TD vs. Lions (+245)
Jacob Camenker: The Lions are getting a lot of love ahead of the 2026 NFL season, but their defense figures to struggle more out of the gate than most are anticipating.
Detroit is set to be without its two star safeties, Brian Branch (Achilles) and Kerby Joseph (knee), for at least the first four games of the season. That, plus the loss of veteran linebacker Alex Anzalone in free agency, will render the Lions weak up the middle of the field, affording opposing offenses an opportunity to make plays with their tight ends.
Not only is Johnson's matchup enticing, but he should receive plenty of targets from Tyler Shough. The Saints don't have a clear-cut, No. 2 target across from Chris Olave with rookie first-round pick Jordyn Tyson out of the lineup, so Johnson could emerge as his top safety valve. That will give the 29-year-old an opportunity to find the end zone in what figures to be a high-scoring game.
Detroit Lions -6.5 vs. Saints (-122)
Adam Kaufman: After back-to-back NFC North-winning seasons, Dan Campbell's Lions dropped six games in the win column on the way to a playoff-less 2025. It was a multifaceted failure, from losing both coordinators in the offseason to failing to establish any continuity. Detroit never won consecutive games after jumping out to a 4-1 start, while the losses piled up in December.
There's no question the division is tough with the ascending Bears, new-look Vikings and a talented Packers team in flux on both sides of the ball, but the Lions' path to the postseason is undeniable with one of the league's easiest schedules.
That starts at home with the Saints. New Orleans finished out last year on a high note, but Tyler Shough was untested against equally lousy NFC South competition. The Lions are out for blood. Jared Goff still has Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Sam LaPorta and, best of all, now dual-purpose back Jahmyr Gibbs is the bell cow option - Offensive Player of the Year, incoming.
Lay the touchdown with the Lions. This won't be particularly close.
Chargers RB Omarion Hampton 2+ TDs vs. Cardinals (+410)
Tom Viera: Just like that, we're back and we're heading to the west coast for our first best bet of the year. It's time to climb aboard the touchdown train. Our first stop? Los Angeles.
Hampton is one of our favorite candidates to break out in Year 2, and we don't expect him to waste any time. The Chargers have plenty working in his favor entering 2026. Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt are healthy along the offensive line. The team also brought in Mike McDaniel as its new offensive coordinator, and few coaches have a better track record of getting the most out of their running backs.
At 6-foot and 220 pounds, he has the size and physicality to be a factor near the goal line, while his ability as a receiver gives the Chargers another weapon to deploy in the red zone.
Hampton flashed plenty of upside as a rookie despite being limited by an ankle injury. He finished the season with 545 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns while adding 32 receptions for 192 yards and another score. Even more encouraging, after Najee Harris suffered his season-ending Achilles injury, Hampton averaged an 80% snap share over his three healthy games and found the end zone in each one.
The 23-year-old has yet to record a multi-touchdown game in his NFL career, but Week 1 sets up as an excellent spot to change that. Backup Keaton Mitchell is dealing with a hamstring injury, potentially leaving Hampton with an even larger workload. The Chargers are also the biggest favorites on the Week 1 slate (-10.5), which should give them plenty of opportunities to finish drives in the end zone. The matchup is hard to ignore. Arizona allowed the fourth-most rushing yards and second-most touchdowns (rushing + receiving) to opposing running backs in 2025.
Everything is lining up: the talent, the workload, the offensive environment and the matchup. Bank on Hampton today.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NFL best bets for Week 1: Our experts give their top predictions, player props
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