NFL Week 1 bold predictions: Micah Parsons dominant for Packers, Cam Ward pulls shocker, Chiefs fall

The 2025 NFL season is here! The Dallas Cowboys gave the Super Bowl LIX champion Philadelphia Eagles all they could handle, but the Eagles were able to escape with a 24-20 victory in the end. 

It was certainly surprising though that the Cowboys were able to limit 2024 NFL Offensive Player of the Year running back Saquon Barkley to just 60 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries, a mere 3.3 yards per carry. Equally as surprising was Dallas All-Pro wide receiver CeeDee Lamb racking up a career-high four drops against an inexperienced Philadelphia secondary. What other stunning events could occur in Week 1? Well, here are five bold predictions for your enjoyment. 

New Green Bay Packers Micah Parsons will likely make his debut at Lambeau Field on Sunday against the Detroit Lions. The word likely is in the prior sentence is because Parsons was limited in practice on both Wednesday and Thursday with a back injury. According to an ESPN report, Parsons has a joint sprain in his back that may necessitate an epidural injection in order to play this week.   

Parsons will also be facing off against one of the better offensive lines in football headlined by two-time first team All-Pro right tackle Penei Sewell. How great is Sewell? According to CBS Sports Research, Sewell is the only offensive tackle to start every game and allow one or fewer sacks across each of the last two seasons. He’s allowed just two sacks, one each year, on 1,242 pass-blocking snaps. 

So how will Parsons overcome a nagging back injury and arguably the NFL’s best offensive tackle to have multiple sacks in his Packers debut? Well, Parsons is the NFL’s second player, along with Hall of Famer Reggie White, since sacks became an individual statistic in 1982 to have 12 or more sacks in each of his first four seasons in the league. Parsons’ 330 quarterback pressures since being drafted 12th overall in 2021 are also tied for the most in the league with Maxx Crosby of the Las Vegas Raiders, according to TruMedia. The All-Pro additionally paces the NFL with a 20.3% quarterback pressure rate (minimum 1,000 pass rushes) since 2021.   

He’s also generated two sacks and 10 quarterback pressures in just two games against Detroit, and Parsons doesn’t just line up in one spot along the defensive line. 

The Kansas City Chiefs have owned the AFC West, winning nine consecutive division titles. That stretch, of course, includes dominance over their divisional peers like their Week 1 opponent: the Los Angeles Chargers. The Chiefs are currently on a seven-game winning streak against the Chargers.

However, Los Angeles will upset Kansas City to end the streak. Why? Well, here are a few reasons. Six of the seven most recent meetings, all Kansas City wins, have been one-score games. The last Chiefs victory involved Kansas City kicker Matthew Wright bouncing his game-winning field goal attempt off the upright and in for a 19-17 win in Week 14 last season. 

The Chiefs can’t possibly keep escaping with one-score wins can they? Yes, their 17-game winning streak in one score games, including the playoffs, is the longest such streak in NFL history. Eleven of those wins came in the 2024 regular season, tied for the most one score wins in any regular season ever with the 2022 Minnesota Vikings. Statistically speaking, the Chiefs are due for regression in one score games. 

Los Angeles also returns much of its core that produced the NFL’s No. 1 scoring defense (17.7 points per game allowed in 2024) last season. Quarterback Justin Herbert is also fresh off a career year in 2024 in terms of wins (11), yards per pass attempt (7.7), touchdown-to-interception ratio (23-3) and passer rating (101.7). In Week 1, the Chargers will finally land a punch against their longtime bully. 

PPG allowed

17.7

1st

3rd down pct allowed

35.7%

5th

Red zone TD pct allowed

45%

1st

Turnover differential

+12

T-3rd

Tennessee Titans 2025 first overall pick quarterback Cameron Ward led college football with 39 passing touchdowns in 2024, and he’s getting set to face the Denver Broncos in Week 1 — the NFL’s No. 3 scoring defense  (18.3 points per game allowed) from last season.

Shockingly, the last 16 quarterbacks chosen first overall are 1-14-1 in their first career start with the sole victory in this stretch being Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams last season. Ward will join Williams with a victory over Denver on Sunday. Why? He’s got a reliable running back in Tony Pollard, who is one of three players with 1,000 yards rushing in each of the last three seasons along with Derrick Henry and Najee Harris. Ward also has a legit No. 1 wide receiver in Calvin Ridley: his 15.9 yards per catch last season were the fifth-best in the league and a new career-high. 

Sure, Denver led the NFL in sacks last season with 63, and they do have 2024 NFL Defensive Player of the Year cornerback Pat Surtain II, who had more interceptions (four) than 20-yd completions allowed (two) last year. Ward will overcome both the Broncos’ vaunted pass rush and Surtain to show why Tennessee invested the first overall pick in him this year. 

Odds: Titans +7.5 | (via DraftKings Sportsbook, where new users get $300 in bonus bets and over $200 off NFL Sunday Ticket. Click here to get started🙂

Panthers allow under 150 rushing yards at Jaguars

The Carolina Panthers fielded one of the worst defenses in recent memory last season, finishing dead last in scoring defense (30.4 points per game), total defense (404.5 total yards per game allowed) and rushing defense (179.8, the worst by any team since the 1987 Atlanta Falcons). They also enter 2025 allowing at least 30 points in four consecutive games.

However, Carolina will allow under 150 yards rushing to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. Getting Pro Bowl defensive tackle Derrick Brown back from a Week 1 meniscus tear will be a big reason why. Another is Jacksonville

Jacksonville was also one of the NFL’s worst rushing offenses a year ago, averaging 101.7 rushing yards per game — the seventh-worst in the NFL. New head coach Liam Coen should be able to get the passing game going to Pro Bowl rookie receiver Brian Thomas Jr. and 2025 second overall pick Travis Hunter early, but getting the run game in synch will take more time. 

Giants become first team in 21st century to be outscored by 20-plus points in three straight season openers

The New York Giants have been rough the last couple of years: their offense ranks 31st out of 32 teams in scoring offenses (15.4 points per game since 2023. They have lost season openers by wide margins, as a result, across the last two seasons: 40-0 against the Dallas Cowboys in 2023 and 28-6 against the Minnesota Vikings in 2024. 

No team has done so in three consecutive season openers in the 21st century, but the Giants will become the first. Why? Russell Wilson is their starting quarterback. The 36-year-old version is no longer good enough to lead an NFL team to victory on a consistent basis anymore. He crumbled down the stretch with the Pittsburgh Steelers last season, who had a top 10 scoring defense (20.4 points per game allowed, eighth-fewest in the NFL). Pittsburgh lost his last five starts, including the postseason, and he averaged under 200 passing yards a game (193.6) while barely producing more touchdowns (seven) than turnovers (four). 

The decline is understandable when factoring the beating his body has absorbed. Wilson’s 560 sacks taken in his 13-season career are the most in NFL history through a player’s first 13 seasons, and the next closest player through their first 13 seasons, Ben Roethlisberger, absorbed over 100 sacks fewer, 456. 

Yes, New York has one of the most talented defensive lines in football with 2025 third overall pick Abdul Carter, Pro Bowl defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence, Pro Bowl edge rusher Brian Burns and former top five pick edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux. 

However, they’re facing the 2024 NFC runner up Washington Commanders led by 2024 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year quarterback Jayden Daniels. His mobility plus two new starting offensive tackles, five-time Pro Bowler Laremy Tunsil at left tackle and first-round pick Josh Conerly Jr. at right tackle should help mitigate New York’s greatest strength. That all adds up to the Giants losing by 20-plus points in Week 1 for the third year in a row.