We preview Week 1 of the 2026 NFL Season, running through the opening week's schedule, latest Super Bowl Odds & tips for Week 1.
NFL Week 1See All Odds
The wait is finally over. The 2026 NFL regular season gets underway this week with 16 games spread across Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday and Monday, including a Super Bowl rematch and the league's first-ever regular-season game in Australia.
Defending champions Seattle Seahawks raise the curtain against the New England Patriots, just seven months after beating them 29-13 in Super Bowl LX. Attention then turns to Melbourne, where NFC West rivals the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers meet at the MCG.
Sunday brings the bulk of the Week 1 action, with Buffalo Bills vs Houston Texans, Green Bay Packers vs Minnesota Vikings and Washington Commanders vs Philadelphia Eagles among the standout matchups before Dallas Cowboys face the New York Giants in Sunday Night Football.
The opening week concludes at Arrowhead Stadium on Monday night as Patrick Mahomes returns from the serious knee injury suffered last season when the Kansas City Chiefs host AFC West rivals Denver Broncos.
Below, we run through the complete NFL Week 1 schedule, our predictions and best bets before taking a look at the latest Super Bowl LXI odds.
NFL Week 1 Games
Week 1 is particularly competitive from a betting perspective. Twelve of the 16 opening games currently have spreads of 3.5 points or fewer, while the Los Angeles Chargers are the biggest favorites on the board at around -10 against the Arizona Cardinals.
NFL Week 1 Betting Tips & Predictions
We have picked out three Anytime Touchdown Scorer selections for the opening week of the 2026 NFL season, combining Cameron Skattebo, Puka Nacua and Dallas Goedert for a 13/1 treble.
Tip 1: Cameron Skattebo vs Dallas Cowboys
Cameron Skattebo's rookie campaign was cruelly cut short by an ankle injury, but the Giants running back had already demonstrated a serious nose for the end zone.
Skattebo produced seven touchdowns across only eight appearances, rushing for five and catching another two. More importantly for this market, all seven of those touchdowns came from inside the opposition's 20-yard line. He scored five times from 23 carries inside the red zone, while two of his three receptions in that area also resulted in touchdowns.
There is also some encouraging history against Sunday's opponent. Skattebo scored a rushing touchdown in his only previous meeting with Dallas, finishing with 45 yards from 11 carries when the Giants faced the Cowboys last September.
The matchup strengthens the case. Dallas allowed an NFL-worst 30.1 points per game in 2025 and the third-most total yards per game, albeit before making significant defensive changes during the offseason. Skattebo has now completed his recovery and is back with the Giants ahead of Week 1, making him our first touchdown scorer selection.
Tip 2: Puka Nacua vs San Francisco 49ers
Puka Nacua established himself among the NFL's elite receivers last season and his numbers make him difficult to ignore for the Rams' historic meeting with San Francisco in Melbourne.
Nacua led the NFL with 129 receptions from 166 targets, turning those opportunities into 1,715 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns. He also added another score on the ground, giving him 11 total touchdowns across 16 regular-season appearances.
His record against San Francisco is particularly appealing. Nacua scored in both meetings with the 49ers last season, recording 10 catches for 85 yards and a touchdown in the first before adding five catches, 64 yards and another touchdown when the teams met again in November.
There are vulnerabilities in this San Francisco secondary too. The 49ers conceded 33 passing touchdowns during the 2025 regular season and allowed opponents to complete 69.3% of their passes. Half of Nacua's 10 receiving touchdowns last year came from inside the opposition 20, while the other five arrived from further out, underlining that he does not need a traditional goal-line opportunity to score.
Sean McVay has also confirmed that the Rams expect Nacua to play in the opener. After scoring against San Francisco twice last season, he looks a strong candidate to extend that run in Australia.
Tip 3: Dallas Goedert vs Washington Commanders
Dallas Goedert completes the treble after becoming one of Jalen Hurts' most reliable weapons around the goal line last season.
The Eagles tight end caught only 60 passes during the regular season but turned them into an impressive 11 touchdowns, finishing level with Trey McBride for the most receiving scores by a tight end. That represented a huge jump from his previous career high of five touchdowns.
Goedert's red-zone efficiency was particularly striking. He made 13 receptions from inside the opposition 20 and 10 of them went for touchdowns, meaning all but one of his receiving scores came in the red zone. Six of his 11 touchdowns also came at Lincoln Financial Field, where Philadelphia begin their campaign on Sunday.
Washington should also hold few fears. Goedert caught three passes for 32 yards and a touchdown when Philadelphia beat the Commanders 29-18 in Week 16 last season.
The Eagles are around five-point favourites for the Week 1 meeting, so they should have opportunities to get into scoring territory. With Goedert's role becoming increasingly touchdown-focused in 2025, he makes plenty of sense as the final leg of our 13/1 Anytime Touchdown Scorer treble.
Super Bowl Odds
The Los Angeles Rams head into the start of the new campaign as the clear favorites to win Super Bowl LXI following an aggressive offseason.
Los Angeles are currently a best price of 11/2 through Oddschecker, having strengthened an already impressive roster with the addition of Myles Garrett before Aaron Donald sensationally came out of retirement to return to the franchise.
The Buffalo Bills are their nearest challengers at 10/1, while defending champions Seattle can be backed at 12/1 despite their dominant run to last season's Lombardi Trophy.
Baltimore Ravens are also firmly among the leading AFC contenders at a best price of 13/1, with Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Chargers, Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers making up the next group in the betting.
