Week 1 NFL odds: Seahawks favored over Patriots, Rams over 49ers

It's been more than 200 days since the Super Bowl and we are ready for NFL kickoff. Even better news: The league expanding its international footprint to Melbourne with its first-ever game in Australia means there are not one, but two standalone primetime games to open the season. It all starts with the Seattle Seahawks hosting the New England Patriots in a Super Bowl rematch on Wednesday before the action goes Down Under, where this season's Super Bowl favorite Los Angeles Rams will take on NFC West rival San Francisco 49ers on Thursday. The Seahawks and Rams are both 3.5-point favorites at FanDuel, with Seattle a heavily juiced -3 at DraftKings as of writing. Advertisement There are short point spreads up and down the board for Sunday's 13-game marathon with nine games listed at 3.5 or fewer points, the tightest of which are close to a pick'em: The Buffalo Bills (-1.5) at Houston Texans, Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings (-1.5) and New York Jets at Tennessee Titans (-1.5). Jets-Titans also has the lowest listed total of the week at 39.5 points. Only three games have spreads of a touchdown or more: The New Orleans Saints at Detroit Lions (-7), Cleveland Browns at Jacksonville Jaguars (-8.5) and Arizona Cardinals at Los Angeles Chargers (-9.5). According to Evan Abrams at the Action Network, that 10-point spread makes the Charges the first double-digit Week 1 favorite since 2019 — part of why Justin Herbert and Co. made the cut for The Athletic's Week 1 survivor picks. Finally, the Cincinnati Bengals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers claim the highest game total of the week at 50.5 points with Joe Burrow healthy and Baker Mayfield coming off another solid campaign (albeit complicated by injuries to his supporting cast down the stretch). These lines will become more varied as bettors and sportsbooks alike learn more about these teams, but for now, let's run down the full board of games starting with Wednesday's opener. Wednesday Thursday in Melbourne, Australia Sunday Night Football Monday Night Football Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle