With the 2025 NFL season kicking off tonight, it’s time to bring back my Hart’s Picks
series. For the 2024 NFL regular season, I had 190 correct picks with 82 incorrect picks achieving 70-percent accuracy. I’d consider that pretty good. The purposes of these weekly posts are just for fun. I’m excited to see how I do compared to last year. And I’ll just say this—by no means would this ever be gambling advice.Hart’s Week 1 NFL Picks
Thursday Night Football — Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles
Winner: Eagles
The 2025 NFL
regular season begins with an NFC East rivalry matchup. I don’t see the Eagles, the reigning Super Bowl Champions dropping this game at home. Especially since the Cowboys traded away their best player (Micah Parsons) prior to the season.
Friday Night Football — Los Angeles Chargers at Kansas City Chiefs
Winner: Chiefs
On Friday night, a bigtime AFC West rivalry game is in store for football fans across the globe taking place in Brazil. The Chargers definitely got better this offseason, but they haven’t beat the Chiefs in a long time. I’m taking Kansas City.
Sunday Football (Early Game) — Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Atlanta Falcons
Winner: Buccaneers
Another game, another rivalry matchup. This NFC South battle should be fun to watch. I’m excited to see how Michael Penix Jr. does in his first full season as a starter, but think the Buccaneers take care of business on the road.
Sunday Football (Early Game) — Cincinnati Bengals at Cleveland Browns
Winner: Bengals
The Bengals started off their ’24 campaign dropping their first three games. That was crushing to their playoff aspirations, but I don’t see them losing to the Browns on the road in this AFC North rivalry matchup. I’ll take Burrow’s boys for the win.
Sunday Football (Early Game) — Miami Dolphins at Indianapolis Colts
Winner: Dolphins
Tua Tagovailoa and the Dolphins head to Indianapolis to take on Daniel Jones and the Colts. I think this will be a relatively close game, but once again I’ll take the road team to secure a victory.
Sunday Football (Early Game) — Carolina Panthers at Jacksonville Jaguars
Winner: Jaguars
Both the Panthers and Jaguars struggled last season. Is Bryce Young poised to make a big jump at quarterback? I’m not so sure about that. I think Trevor Lawrence, Brian Thomas Jr., and Travis Hunter help lead the Jaguars to a victory at home.
Sunday Football (Early Game) — Las Vegas Raiders at New England Patriots
Winner: Raiders
Pete Carroll and the Raiders travel to New England to take on the Patriots. They have revamped their defense and added budding star running back Ashton Jeanty into the mix on offense. Las Vegas hasn’t done too good on the road over the past two seasons, but I’ll pick them as a surprise winner for this game.
Sunday Football (Early Game) — Arizona Cardinals at New Orleans Saints
Winner: Cardinals
I’m not trying to make it a trend to pick most road teams to win this week, but the Saints quarterback situation doesn’t give me much faith they are going to have a good season. I’ll take the Kyler Murray led Cardinals in this matchup.
Sunday Football (Early Game) — Pittsburgh Steelers at New York Jets
Winner: Steelers
Aaron Rodgers and Justin Fields have swapped teams. Both the Steelers and Jets have pretty good defenses, so I expect this to be quite the struggle. At the end of the day, I think Pittsburgh does just enough to squeak out a victory.
Sunday Football (Early Game) — New York Giants at Washington Commanders
Winner: Commanders
Another NFC East rivlary game. Can Russell Wilson help lead the Giants to victory or will Jayden Daniels and the Commanders take flight? I’ve got a good feeling Washington gets the job done at home.
Sunday Football (Late Game) — Tennessee Titans at Denver Broncos
Winner: Broncos
I’m excited to see how Cam Ward’s career turns out. In fact, I think he will be quite good. But rookie quarterbacks are historically bad on the road in their debuts and the Broncos’ defense should be one of the best in the league. I’m taking Denver.
Sunday Football (Late Game) — San Francisco 49ers at Seattle Seahawks
Winner: 49ers
This NFC West matchup should be a really good game. I’m interested to see how Sam Darnold performs with his new squad. Though I feel comfortable with Brock Purdy and the 49ers taking care of their division rival in this one. I think their defense will cause Darnold and the Seahawks’ offense a lot of problems.
Sunday Football (Late Game) — Detroit Lions at Green Bay Packers
Winner: Lions
This might be the best matchup of Week 1. Two longtime NFC North foes going head-to-head at Lambeau Field will be a treat for all football fans. I’ll give a slight edge to the Lions in this one, who have been able to come out of Green Bay the past three seasons with a road victory.
Sunday Football (Late Game) — Houston Texans at Los Angeles Rams
Winner: Texans
There are some concerns about Matthew Stafford’s health. The early reports are he will play, but if he is limited in any capacity, I think DeMeco Ryans and the aggressive Texans’ defense will be able to find a way to win. Another game, another road victor prediction.
Sunday Night Football — Baltimore Ravens at Buffalo Bills
Winner: Bills
This game is a rematch of last year’s AFC Divisional Round matchup. Both of these teams could wind up being Super Bowl contenders, but someone has to win Week 1. I’ve taken a lot of road teams this week in my predictions, though I’ll take Josh Allen and the Bills at home in this one.
Monday Night Football — Minnesota Vikings at Chicago Bears
Winner: Vikings
I definitely didn’t envision the Vikings having the season they did in ‘24 with Sam Darnold at quarterback. Now it’s J.J. McCarthy’s time to show their fans why he was their top pick in the ‘24 NFL Draft. Can he go head-to-head with Caleb Williams and the Bears who have a lot of offensive firepower? I believe so. I’ll give Minnesota the edge in this NFC North rivalry game.
