Early NFL Betting Predictions for the 2019 Season

Early NFL Betting Predictions for the 2019 Season

We’re about ten weeks away from the first games in the 2019 National Football League regular season, and already there is plenty of speculation surrounding which teams will advance to next year’s Super Bowl. Can anyone in the AFC stop New England? Will Kansas City regress? Will Cleveland live up to the hype? Will Carson Wentz play a full season for the Eagles? Can the Rams avoid playoff hangover? Will the Saints get redemption after that shocking loss in the NFC Championship? We have some early NFL betting predictions to help you plan your futures wagering.

Early NFL Betting Predictions for the 2019 Season

Dallas will not return to the postseason

Yes, the Cowboys won the NFC East last year. Yes, they return Amari Cooper and Ezekiel Elliott alongside Dak Prescott. Yes, Jason Witten is back to play tight end. Yes, the defense still has some stout personnel. But the new offensive coordinator is former backup quarterback Kellen Moore, and Dallas has six games against playoff teams from a year ago. They face the Patriots on the road and also play the Rams and the Saints. Washington will be better thanks to their upgrade at quarterback, and Philadelphia should have Carson Wentz back. Those events, taken together, will leave the Cowboys at home at the end of Week 17.

Green Bay will win the NFC North

The Packers come in with a new head coach and a quarterback in Aaron Rodgers who is looking for redemption after a disappointing two-season run without a playoff appearance. They will catch Chicago, which has a much tougher schedule this season, and Minnesota, who is regretting their decision to give Kirk Cousins so much money. Detroit is still in the middle of rebuilding mode under second-year head coach Matt Patricia, so this is the year for the Packers to return to the top of the division.

New Orleans will win the NFC

They play the Rams in Week 2, out in Los Angeles, a game that should feature a great deal of frustration removal by the Saints. They have the better quarterback, and they have the better offense, at least on paper. There is no other team in the conference that can keep up with their offense, without resorting to pass interference (as we saw in the playoffs last year) and I predict that they roll through a fairly tame NFC South and through the postseason bracket to the Super Bowl.

Arizona might become the third 0-16 team

Two teams have gone winless since the NFL went to a 16-game regular season schedule, and Arizona might become the third to roll through without a single victory. They traded quarterback Josh Rosen to Miami — and ended up getting fleeced in the process. They drafted Kyler Murray from Oklahoma, despite concerns about his size, but they don’t have an offensive line that can protect him. Tailback David Johnson could take some of the heat off Rosen, but he hasn’t been consistent in two seasons. Then there’s the Swiss-cheese defense that Arizona now has. These factors combine to make Arizona hard to pick in any of their regular season matchups.

Seattle will win the NFC West

The Rams will come out of the gate struggling, thanks to the combination of Super Bowl hangover and a five-game stretch that is daunting, starting with a Week 1 trip to Carolina, the franchise’s first opener in the Eastern time zone in seven seasons. Seattle plays five prime-time games and has won 26 of the 32 prime-time games they have played under Pete Carroll. Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson has plenty of gas left in the tank, and the Seahawks’ defense can control the flow of action, especially at home. Yes, they looked beaten early in their wild card playoff loss in Dallas, but a division title would give them a home postseason game, and anything can happen after that.