Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
CBS Sports
Week 1 NFL picks, predictions, best bets by Vegas expert: This 3-team football parlay would pay nearly 6-1
By CBS Sports Staff,
20 hours ago
USATSI
A rematch from Wildcard Weekend is set for Week 1 when the Detroit Lions host the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday Night Football as part of the Week 1 NFL schedule. Jared Goff and Lions missed out on covering the 3-point spread in that game, but they held on for an exciting 24-23 victory to advance to the Divisional round for the first time since 1991. The Lions are expected to be one of the NFC's most competitive teams in 2024 and are a 3.5-point favorite at home against Matthew Stafford and the Rams in the latest NFL odds.
Detroit covered the spread in their season-opener last season when they rallied to beat the Kansas City Chiefs by one point. They were also 12-5 ATS overall last season and came through often for anyone backing them in the NFL spreads. Before you make any Week 1 NFL picks or NFL parlays, be sure to see what SportsLine senior analyst Larry Hartstein has to say .
A former lead writer for Covers and The Linemakers, Hartstein combines a vast network of Vegas sources with an analytical approach he honed working for Pro Football Focus. He tied for 52nd place (out of 1,598 entries) in the 2022 Westgate Las Vegas SuperContest, going 53-34-3 ATS. Hartstein's weekly Vegas contest selections form the basis of his NFL best bets column, which is 79-48-2 (62.2%, +25.95 units) since its inception in 2022. Anyone who has followed him is way up.
We can tell you Hartstein loves the Browns (-2.5) to cover against the Cowboys . Cleveland went 8-1 ATS at home last season including a 6-0 run as the home favorite, while Dallas only covered four times on the road during the regular season. The Cowboys also failed to cover as the road favorite in their lone playoff appearance in 2023, a 48-32 loss to the Green Bay Packers in the Wildcard round.
Cleveland's league-leading defense allowed just 164.7 passing yards per game last season and was especially stingy against the pass. That could spell trouble for the Cowboys offense, as quarterback Dak Prescott could be distracted by his ongoing contract negotiations. Dallas' defense can only do so much to mitigate the damage, as it ranked fifth overall against the pass last season but 16th against the rush. See which other NFL parlay picks to make here .
Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency:
Our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. As a platform hosting over 100,000 pieces of content published daily, we cannot pre-vet content, but we strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation.
Comments / 0