Ranking the 10 most intriguing matchups and point spreads of the 2023 NFL season
There are plenty of games on the NFL schedule to look forward to. Here are 10 of the most intriguing matchups and their point spreads.
The start of the NFL season is, finally, just two weeks away.
You’re probably in the final preparations for your fantasy drafts. Maybe you’re analyzing the betting markets to make a wager on some futures for the season — like the Eagles getting back to the Super Bowl, or Jalen Hurts to win the MVP.
Futures markets not your thing? Thankfully, DraftKings has individual markets open for nearly every game on the entire 18-week NFL calendar.
Here’s a look at 10 of the most intriguing point spreads for games during the 2023-24 NFL regular season.
10. Lions at Chiefs (-6.5) — Week 1, Sept. 7
Nothing says intrigue like the first game of the NFL season, the reigning champion Chiefs hosting everyone’s new favorite underdog, the Detroit Lions.
The Chiefs being favored by 6½ points isn’t much of a shocker, but it’s an interesting number for bettors. Will Detroit keep it tight on opening night? Will the Chiefs have a Week 1 Super Bowl hangover? Or will Patrick Mahomes and Co. show a national television audience that they’re the favorites again for a reason?
9. Jets (-1) at Broncos — Week 5, Oct. 8
The Jets, with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback, have plenty of intriguing matchups on their schedule, but this one has some side plots. New York’s offensive coordinator, Nathaniel Hackett, is back with Rodgers — they worked together in Green Bay — and will want to try to run it up against the Broncos, who fired him after one season as head coach.
Especially after new Broncos coach Sean Payton had some negative things to say about the Broncos of last season.
8. Bills at Jets (-1.5) — Week 1, Sept. 11
We mentioned the Jets having some more intriguing matchups than Denver on their schedule. How about this one for a start? The class of the AFC East comes to visit on Monday Night Football. On a Sept. 11 anniversary. Rodgers vs. Josh Allen. Joe Buck and Troy Aikman.
The Bills might be AFC East favorites (+125 at BetMGM), but the Jets are slight Week 1 favorites in a game that feels like a coin flip.
Buffalo lost at MetLife Stadium last season in one of the worst games of Allen’s young career.
7. Cowboys at 49ers (-2.5) — Week 5, Oct. 8
The Eagles are NFC favorites (+250 at DraftKings), but the two teams behind them? The 49ers (+400) and Cowboys (+600).
San Francisco is a small favorite for this Week 5 matchup. The Eagles will probably know a lot more about their quest to win the NFC East when this one is over.
The 49ers have eliminated the Cowboys from the playoffs in two straight seasons.
6. Cowboys at Eagles (-3) — Week 9, Nov. 5
The first of two Eagles-Cowboys matchups doesn’t have the tightest point spread (Dallas is a one-point favorite for the Dec. 10 game), but the first battle between two divisional opponents feels a bit bigger in terms of how it impacts the standings.
The teams split the season series last season, each team winning their home game, though both starting quarterbacks — Hurts and Dak Prescott — missed one game apiece.
Also, Week 9 is full of intrigue in general. Of the 13 games on the board at DraftKings, 12 of them have point spreads of four points or less. More on that below.
5. Dolphins vs. Chiefs (-4) — Week 9, Nov. 5, Germany
A big game Sunday starts early on the East Coast with a 9:30 a.m. kickoff from Frankfurt, Germany.
Are the Dolphins for real? We’ll likely know the answer in the eight weeks leading up to this game, but even more after it.
Unsurprisingly, tickets sold out in 15 minutes when they went on sale in late June. This season marks the second time the NFL will play regular season games in Germany.
4. Bills at Bengals (-1) — Week 9, Nov. 5
The showdowns on Nov. 5 continue on Sunday Night Football with two of the best teams in the AFC, and two potential MVP candidates in Allen and Joe Burrow tangling in Ohio.
The teams met last season in a regular season game that was cut short after Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest on the field. They then met in the playoffs in Orchard Park, N.Y., in the snow, and the Bengals rolled to a 27-10 victory.
Oddsmakers made the Bengals a slight home favorite for the rematch in a true pick’em kind of game.
3. Bills at Eagles (-2.5) — Week 12, Nov. 26
What a way to end Thanksgiving weekend — with a potential Super Bowl preview.
The Eagles host the Bills for the first time since 2015, and Allen faces Hurts for the first time in their careers. It’s the CBS game of the week, so expect Jim Nantz, Tony Romo, and Tracy Wolfson to be at Lincoln Financial Field to finish off the holiday weekend.
The teams last met in 2019, with Carson Wentz leading the Eagles to a convincing 31-13 win in New York.
2. 49ers at Eagles (-2.5) — Week 13, Dec. 3
Mark the date on your calendar. It’s when we can finally stop seeing headlines or video/audio clips of 49ers players saying they would have won the NFC Championship if not for (insert excuse du jour here).
It marks two consecutive tough home games for the Eagles, against teams with Super Bowl aspirations. Oddly enough, oddsmakers gave the Eagles a 2½-point advantage in each of them.
1. Eagles at Chiefs (-3) — Week 11, Nov. 20
Does anything really need to be said here? It’s a Super Bowl rematch. The result of the title game in February: a three-point Chiefs win. So the point spread here makes sense.
And that two-game home stand mentioned above? It comes after the Eagles travel to Kansas City for a Monday Night Football game.
Talk about a tough stretch of football games.