The 2025 NFL season will kick off tonight when the Dallas Cowboys travel to the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday Night Football. Rams fans will have to wait another three days for their Sunday afternoon matchup against the Houston Texans. I wanted to bring a new weekly thread to TurfShowTimes; predicting each NFL game (most importantly the Rams) across the 18 week season…and you can too!
Week 1 Matchups
(Thursday) Dallas Cowboys @ Philadelphia Eagles, 8:20 PM EST
The Cowboys
offseason centered on the Micah Parsons saga. This last week, they traded their star pass rusher for two first round picks and Kenny Clark. This will be the first year under head coach Brian Schottenheimer who has typically operated with a pretty vanilla offense. The Philadelphia Eagles return the majority of their offense and boast a young defense guided by defensive guru Vic Fangio. It’s hard to see the defending champions losing on opening night.
Pick: Eagles win 34-13
(Friday) Kansas City Chiefs @ Los Angeles Chargers, 8:00 PM EST (located in Sao Paulo, Brazil)
The Chiefs weren’t able to complete their three-peat and may carry a chip on their shoulder entering the 2025 season. However, they have a number of question marks. Is the Patrick Mahomes-Travis Kelce connection still lethal? Does Mahomes have enough of a supporting cast? Will the offensive line be able to protect Patrick Mahomes? It does seem like a number of AFC teams have caught up to the Chiefs…and maybe even surpassed them…
Pick: Chargers win 26-20 (OT)
Arizona Cardinals @ New Orleans Saints, 1:00 PM EST
The Arizona Cardinals will enter year three with Jonathan Gannon and appeared to look stronger as the 2024 season came to an end, even giving the Rams a tough game at SoFi Stadium in Week 17. The Saints meanwhile are still figuring out their quarterback situation. Saints fans will still make the environment tough on Arizona’s offense but I think the Cardinals have more balance on both sides of the ball.
Pick: Cardinals win 27-10
Miami Dolphins @ Indianapolis Colts, 1:00 PM EST
The Miami Dolphins enter a critical year with Mike McDaniel at the helm. Rumors continue to spread that he has lost the locker room there. For this game though, I think the Dolphins speed on offense with Hill and Waddle makes life too difficult for the Colts on their home turf.
Pick: Dolphins win 30-20
Las Vegas Raiders @ New England Patriots, 1:00 PM EST
Two “new” head coaches that are not so new. Pete Carroll and Mike Vrabel have been tabbed to lead their franchises from the bottom back to relevancy. Only one is winning this one and I’m going with New England who has more potential with Drake Maye and rookie running back Tre’Veyon Henderson.
Pick: Patriots win 23-14
Pittsburgh Steelers @ New York Jets, 1:00 PM EST
Aaron Rodgers returns to MetLife Stadium where he spent the past two seasons. The Steelers will have a lot of veteran presence on their team with players like Aaron Rodgers, DK Metcalf, Cam Heyward, TJ Watt, and Jalen Ramsey. The Jets will now turn to another new face at quarterback; handing the job to Justin Fields.
Pick: Steelers win 24-9
New York Giants @ Washington Commanders, 1:00 PM EST
The New York Giants have a lot of young talent on defense but the cupboard is bare on the offensive side aside from Malik Nabers. Meanwhile, Jayden Daniels proved to be a budding star for Washington. Washington needed to upgrade their offensive line so they traded for Laremy Tunsil. Will that be enough against a hungry Giants defense?
Pick: Commanders win 23-16
Carolina Panthers @ Jacksonville Jaguars, 1:00 PM EST
Carolina and Jacksonville features two quarterbacks desperately needing to find their way in the NFL. Both Bryce Young and Trevor Lawrence have underwhelmed so far and time could be running out. I’ll go with the team with more talent on paper…
Pick: Jaguars win 28-21
Cincinnati Bengals @ Cleveland Browns, 1:00 PM EST
Joe Burrow and the Bengals are hoping to come out the gate firing on all cylinders. They elected to play in the preseason in order to do so. Joe Flacco will be the starter for Cleveland which says a lot for a team that 3-14 last year.
Pick: Bengals win 37-6
Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Atlanta Falcons, 1:00 PM EST
An NFC South clash that carries a lot of weight because of divisional tiebreakers. Baker Mayfield and the Bucs are favorites but Michael Penix Jr could be ready to make a leap in his second season. I think the loss of Liam Coen (departing for the Jaguars HC job) could hinder Tampa Bay early on.
Pick: Falcons win 24-20
San Francisco 49ers @ Seattle Seahawks, 4:05 PM EST
The NFC West will be the most competitive division in football. The 49ers-Seahawks will be a physical matchup but San Francisco lost a lot of pieces in the offseason. Mike McDaniel has a strong reputation for building strong defenses and Seattle’s is shaping up that way.
Pick: Seahawks win 17-13
Tennessee Titans @ Denver Broncos, 4:05 PM EST
The Tennessee Titans had the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft and selected Cam Ward. Season openers have not been kind to rookie quarterbacks, especially those taken first overall. Sean Payton and the Broncos have been considered a dark horse contender for the Super Bowl and arguably have the most loaded secondary in the NFL to combat modern passing attacks.
Pick: Broncos win 30-0
Detroit Lions @ Green Bay Packers, 4:25 PM EST
The Lions saw both of their coordinators leave for head coaching jobs (Ben Johnson to CHI & Aaron Glenn to NYJ). Jared Goff will have to prove that he can lead the offense without the label of being a system quarterback. The Packers just made a big splash; trading for Micah Parsons. However, I think Detroit will have just enough up their sleeve to neutralize or avoid Parsons in their offensive gameplan. This game also favors Goff and Detroit; playing at Lambeau in September rather than in the winter with Goff’s small hands.
Pick: Lions win 28-21
Houston Texans @ Los Angeles Rams, 4:25 PM EST
Finally! The Rams enter Week 1 with positive news surrounding Matthew Stafford and Alaric Jackson. Both are expected to start which is significant for their offensive continuity. Houston will be without Joe Mixon who is on the NFI; recovering from an ankle injury. The Rams new offensive toy (Davante Adams) could be the difference maker; preventing teams from keying on one playmaker. I think this one is close for awhile, until Matthew Stafford delivers yet again.
Pick: Rams win 27-24
(Sunday Night Football) Baltimore Ravens @ Buffalo Bills, 8:20 PM EST
The NFL gave fans a heavyweight matchup for Sunday Night Football. Lamar Jackson and the Ravens versus Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills. A rematch of the 2024 divisional round. Buffalo’s defense could be exposed by Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry in the run game. I expect Baltimore to keep the ball out of Josh Allen’s hands via time of possession.
Pick: Ravens win 31-27
(Monday Night Football) Minnesota Vikings @ Chicago Bears, 8:15 PM EST
JJ McCarthy takes over for Sam Darnold and will be asked to replicate a successful offense from 2024. Meanwhile Caleb Williams has been given offensive guru Ben Johnson. The Bears fortified their offensive line to give Williams every opportunity to succeed.
Pick: Bears win 20-14
Make your picks in the comments below! Welcome back for another NFL season!
