Kick off ’24

The “Ink” reboot enters its second football season! I plan to lean in even more to offering analysis of point spreads, picks, and the Eagles, as another football season gets started. The NFL season kicks off Thursday night in Kansas City with a rematch of last season’s AFC Championship game as the Chiefs host the Baltimore Ravens. The Eagles get their season started Friday night in Brazil – yes, South America – against the Green Bay Packers.

People in the Philadelphia area can actually see both games on NBC as the hometown Birds are involved in the Friday night game. I believe that game is only on the Peacock streaming service for most of the country. The NFL still allows the public to watch the opener on Thursday without paying for streaming. My first prediction of the day is that football fans shouldn’t get used to such generosity – fans will be paying more and more in the coming years just to watch the game they love.

In the meantime, I have a few predictions about the on-field action for this season. Remember, “predictions” are not “picks.” (I generally don’t bet predictions, nor count them in my win-loss record.)

Eagles Over/Under Win Total Prediction. Let’s go to the video for this one.

NFC East Champions Prediction. According to the sportsbooks, the NFC East is a race between the Eagles and the Dallas Cowboys. Here are the odds to win the division that I saw on Saturday:

Eagles -115

Dallas +160

Washington +850

Giants +1300

As I’ve said previously, I don’t like season-long bets unless there’s a big potential payout – or I love the bet enough to bet it big. Dallas is the only team I would even consider betting here, but I think it’s a toss-up between the Cowboys and Philadelphia. As I said above in the video, I think the Eagles might face some pitfalls this season. My prediction is Dallas wins the division.

Super Bowl Prediction. Last year, I predicted the Kansas City Chiefs would beat the Eagles to win the Super Bowl. Not a terrible prediction as it turned out, but probably a bit too aggressive including the matchup in the selection. (KC beat San Francisco.) This year, I’ll keep it to predicting only the winner of the Super Bowl.

Here are the odds for most of the serious contenders to win the 2024/2025 Super Bowl that I saw shortly after preseason:

Kansas City Chiefs +550

San Francisco 49ers +625

Baltimore Ravens +1000

Detroit Lions​ +1200

Cincinnati Bengals +1400

Eagles +1400

Houston Texans +1600

Buffalo Bills +1600

Green Bay Packers +1800

New York Jets +2000

Dallas Cowboys +2000

Miami Dolphins +2500

With Brandon Aiyuk staying in San Francisco after a contract dispute, I like the 49ers to meet the Chiefs in the big game for a rematch of last year. The Cowboys would be my “long shot” to be the NFC representative in the game. (I don’t think I can dub them a “sleeper.”)

Call me boring all you want, but I think Kansas City wins the Super Bowl . . . again. Who’s stopping KC quarterback Patrick Mahomes? You tell me. I don’t think it’s happening this year.

To be clear, my official prediction is that the Chiefs win the Super Bowl this season. I’m not predicting their opponent in the game. With KC at +550 to win another title, I’m tempted to make it a pick later in the week. Stay tuned. For now, it’s just a prediction.