{"id":886020,"date":"2026-09-09T19:26:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T19:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/886020\/"},"modified":"2026-09-09T19:26:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T19:26:12","slug":"nfl-week-1-picks-upset-and-score-predictions-matchup-breakdowns-for-every-game-latest-nfl-news-analysis-updates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/886020\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Week 1 picks: Upset and score predictions, matchup breakdowns for every game | Latest NFL News, Analysis & Updates"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why Dan picked the Bears: I\u2019ve already planted my flag with the Bears<\/a>, particularly Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson<\/a> heading into their follow-up to an exhilarating first year together. I\u2019m not going to back down now that Week 1 is finally here.<\/p>\n

My pick is largely tied to belief in Johnson\u2019s offense and my continued skepticism about a Bryce Young<\/a>-led attack being able to score enough to consistently win. Yes, there\u2019s been a lot of hand-wringing about whether the Bears truly have upgraded their defense, which allowed the fourth-most yards in the league last season and made taking the ball away its signature — a risky way of doing business from year to year. I\u2019m not sure the Panthers are prepared to fully take advantage of Chicago\u2019s weakness, with questions of their own at offensive tackle.<\/p>\n

Now, Carolina spent big on defense this offseason with the signings of LB Devin Lloyd<\/a> and OLB Jaelan Phillips<\/a>. If Ejiro Evero\u2019s crew comes out guns blazing and never lets Williams settle in, things could easily swing in the home team’s favor. Unfortunately, the Panthers will be without the player who was supposed to be Phillips\u2019 top running mate off the edge, as Carolina\u2019s sacks co-leader from last season,\u00a0Nic Scourton<\/a>, is out for the season with an ACL tear.<\/p>\n

If the game does turn into a shootout — a distinct possibility I\u2019m leaning toward — I like the Bears\u2019 chances a bit better.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Why Dan picked the Bears: I\u2019ve already planted my flag with the Bears, particularly Caleb Williams and Ben…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":886021,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[13449,1258,1276,64,63,631,1261,1257,1248,1252,1238,1234,1256,3055,455721,1243,1255,1246,1237,1240,1250,3052,1263,1233,1239,1231,1249,1242,1235,593,19976,1260,1241,1262,1254,85,1247,1253,1272],"class_list":["post-886020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-analysis","tag-arizona-cardinals","tag-atlanta-falcons","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-baltimore-ravens","tag-buffalo-bills","tag-carolina-panthers","tag-chicago-bears","tag-cincinnati-bengals","tag-cleveland-browns","tag-dallas-cowboys","tag-denver-broncos","tag-detroit-lions","tag-game-picks","tag-green-bay-packers","tag-houston-texans","tag-indianapolis-colts","tag-jacksonville-jaguars","tag-kansas-city-chiefs","tag-las-vegas-raiders","tag-los-angeles-chargers","tag-los-angeles-rams","tag-miami-dolphins","tag-minnesota-vikings","tag-new-england-patriots","tag-new-orleans-saints","tag-new-york-giants","tag-new-york-jets","tag-nfl","tag-no-minute","tag-philadelphia-eagles","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-san-francisco-49ers","tag-seattle-seahawks","tag-sports","tag-tampa-bay-buccaneers","tag-tennessee-titans","tag-washington-commanders"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=886020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886020\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/886021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=886020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=886020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=886020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}