The NFL Season is finally here and there’s a lot to be excited about from rookie quarterbacks to seeing veterans in new uniforms like Aaron Rodgers in green & white We’re going to be breaking down the outcomes for each game in week 1 and how some of those debuts will go.
Detroit Lions at Kansas City Chiefs
The first NFL game of the season and the Chiefs are going to be in unfamiliar territory with Travis Kelce hurt and Chris Jones out with the contract hold. Despite that, the Chiefs still have the better roster after coming off a Super Bowl victory. You also don’t bet against Patrick Mahomes in week 1 matchups and the Chiefs win this one in a game much closer than they’d like it to be.
Winner: Kansas City Chiefs
Carolina Panthers at Atlanta Falcons
With Brady out of the picture, the NFC South is up for grabs from any of the teams. It’s not going to be a pretty fight to be division champs, but it all starts week 1 with a game that should have a big impact on the division winner in the Carolina Panthers visiting the Atlanta Falcons. Both teams are on the younger side with a lot of new faces in the mix. This game will have a lot of learning curves for the young quarterbacks, but we’re giving the nod to the Atlanta Falcons who have a little bit more experience with one another together.
Winner: Atlanta Falcons
Cincinnati Bengals at Cleveland Browns
Joe Burrow gets over his kryptonite in the Cleveland Browns. Burrow is 1-4 against them and helps the Bengals prove they’re the boss in the AFC North.
Winner: Cincinnati Bengals
Jacksonville Jaguars at Indianapolis Colts
The 2022-2023 AFC South Champions should repeat that feat this year and getting a week 1 win against a division rival helps them out off the bat. The Jaguars are the better team all around and with Jonathan Taylor out, the Colts offense should struggle.
Winner: Jacksonville Jaguars
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Minnesota Vikings
The NFL enters a new era as Tom Brady is retired and the Buccaneers replacement for Brady is Baker Mayfield. The Buccaneers and Vikings both have talented rosters, veteran running backs who are no longer in the picture in Dalvin Cook & Leonard Fournette. But when we look at this matchup from a quarterback battle, we’re taking Kirk Cousins any day.
Winner: Minnesota Vikings
Tennessee Titans at New Orleans Saints
The Titans travel to the Superdome and get to be the lucky guests to play against Derek Carr in his Saints debut. Derek Carr has two healthy weapons in Chris Olave & Michael Thomas that will make his debut a little smoother. The Saints pass-rushing was one of the better units last year and will make Ryan Tannehill’s job pretty difficult despite the addition of DeAndre Hopkins. Derek Carr gets a big victory in his first game in New Orleans.
Winner: New Orleans Saints
San Francisco 49ers at Pittsburgh Steelers
Just in time for week 1, the San Francisco 49ers and Nick Bosa came to an agreement making him the highest paid defensive player in NFL history. Bosa is coming off a defensive player of the year award and the 49ers definitely could use him on the front. Bosa puts on a good showing on why he’s the highest paid defensive player and shuts down the Steelers offense.
Winner: San Francisco 49ers
Arizona Cardinals at Washington Commanders
The Washington Commanders are not a great team, but they are going to look like one of the best teams in the league as they should have an easy path to victory on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals. We don’t even know who will be playing at quarterback for the Cardinals, if it will be Tune or Dobbs, regardless of who it is, the Commanders defense should have a field day against them.
Winner: Washington Commanders
Houston Texans at Baltimore Ravens
The Houston Texans are undergoing a long rebuild with the abundance of draft picks that they have acquired. They hopefully got their quarterback of the future in CJ Stroud who will be getting the starting nod. Unfortunately for him, it’s against one of the toughest defenses in the league in Baltimore. Baltimore is going to make Stroud wish he was back in college.
Winner: Baltimore Ravens
Green Bay Packers at Chicago Bears
This matchup feels weird without Aaron Rodgers playing. The new look NFC North rivalry matchup will feature two young quarterbacks in Justin Fields & Jordan Love. We think the Packers will end up having the better season, but with injury trouble to their receiving corps to start the year, Justin Fields finally gets past the Packers and brings hope to Bears fans.
Winner: Chicago Bears
Las Vegas Raiders at Denver Broncos
Sean Payton is back to coaching in the NFL again after a brief retirement. The Broncos lured him out of retirement with a big payday to help the Broncos get out of the unexpected slump they were in last year. Last year, both the Raiders & Broncos were poorly coached teams. The Broncos decision to move on was the right one and Payton gets a win in his first game coaching again.
Winner: Denver Broncos
Philadelphia Eagles at New England Patriots
The Eagles are coming off a frustrating Super Bowl loss. The Patriots are coming off their 2nd losing season in 3 years in the Post-Brady era. Both teams are going to come to this game hungry to get a week 1 win and gain that momentum to get things going. The Eagles want it more to get back to the Super Bowl and Hurts starts off the season with a multi-touchdown game.
Winner: Philadelphia Eagles
Miami Dolphins at Los Angeles Chargers
This matchup is the battle of the 2020 draft class quarterbacks in Tua & Herbert. Herbert has been the superior of the two and when these teams have faced, Tua has struggled against the Chargers. Herbert will continue to shine and once again will prove to the Dolphins that they made a very costly mistake in drafting Tua over Herbert.
Winner: Los Angeles Chargers
Los Angeles Rams at Seattle Seahawks
One of the biggest surprises in the NFL last season was the sudden collapse of the Rams & the surge of the Seahawks. The Seahawks thought they were in some trouble with Russell Wilson gone, but that was not the case at all. Geno Smith turned his career around and the Seahawks offense was soaring. The Seahawks will keep on rolling to start off this year with a commanding win over the Rams.
Winner: Seattle Seahawks
Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants
The first Sunday Night football game of the year will be a showdown to the end. The Cowboys & Giants square off against one another in a rivalry full of hatred. The Cowboys are the more talented team, but the Giants are the better coached team. In this one, talent triumphs coaching as this game comes down to the wire.
Winner: Dallas Cowboys
Buffalo Bills at New York Jets
Jets fans finally have something to be excited about before entering the season. They had the defensive rookie of the year, Aaron Rodgers is in town and he brought friends, and they were able to keep veteran players on the defense. The Bills are looking to spoil the debut of Aaron Rodgers, but it’s going to be a tough one. We expect this to be one of the best matchups of the season and forecasting how the playoffs situation in the AFC might look. We’re giving the edge to the Jets as Sauce Gardner and company should make Josh Allen’s job finding open receivers difficult.
HeatCheck Sports 
0 comments on “2023 NFL Week 1 Predictions”