Let\u2019s break down the first four matchups of the season.<\/p>\n
New Orleans Saints @ Green Bay Packers<\/h3>\n
Thursday, September 8, 8:30 p.m. ET For all the talk of the Super Bowl hangover, I wonder if the defending champion Packers will actually be fresher to start 2011 than they were when they beat Pittsburgh in the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n Aaron Rodgers is several more months removed from his last concussion; tight end Jermichael Finley, who was Rodgers\u2019 favorite target before his early-season injury, returns; Nick Barnett is also back on the defensive side.<\/p>\n If anything, I think the 2009 champion New Orleans Saints might be more likely to struggle out of the gate.<\/p>\n Drew Brees and Marques Colston both battled knee injuries throughout last season and might still be working out the kinks. New Orleans also has to incorporate running back Mark Ingram into its offense.<\/p>\n Against a deep, ferocious and improving Packer defense on the road, the Saints may struggle. I like the 2010 champs. NFL Week 1 Pick: Packers -5<\/strong><\/p>\n Sunday, September 11, 1:00 p.m. ET One of the NFL\u2019s best, toughest rivalries resumes right away as the Steelers and Ravens butt heads in Week 1. Both teams are legit Super Bowl contenders and will want to make a statement, so we can expect a playoff-like atmosphere for this one. <\/p>\n Love him or hate him, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger usually finds a way to beat the Ravens.<\/p>\n He and the Steelers\u2019 offense may also start quicker this year, as he missed the first four games of 2010. I like Pittsburgh to spoil Baltimore\u2019s party yet again in week 1. NFL Week 1 Pick: Steelers +3<\/strong><\/p>\n Sunday, September 11, 1:00 p.m. ET The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were the NFC\u2019s surprise team of 2010. Will Detroit play that role in 2011? It\u2019s possible. Adding Nick Fairley to play with Ndamukong Suh will give the Lions\u2019 front seven that much more bite. But what about Detroit\u2019s quarterbacking? Do we know for sure that Matthew Stafford is healthy enough to lead this offense? [soliloquy id=”82219″]<\/p>\n Detroit should improve again in 2011 but I think the Lions will open their season 0-1.<\/p>\n Tampa should just keep getting better, with Josh Freeman leading a young offense under center and the Bucs\u2019 defense really taking shape after the draft. NFL Week 1 Pick: Buccaneers -3<\/strong> <\/p>\n Sunday, September 11, 1:00 p.m. ET Despite the Bears\u2019 reputation as a defensive team, could we see an aerial show when Atlanta visits Chicago in Week 1? The Falcons are anxious to show that they\u2019re a top Super Bowl contender and Matt Ryan might try to involve rookie Julio Jones in the passing game right away. I know rookie receivers rarely dominate but, if the Falcons traded up to draft him s sixth overall, you can bet they have big plans for them.<\/p>\n On the Bears side, Jay Cutler will look to air it out and silence the critics who slammed him for sitting out the second half of the NFC Championship with a knee injury last winter. Considering that the Falcons struggled at times against the pass last season, maybe they\u2019ll be vulnerable?<\/p>\n I like the Bears to ride the home crowd to a (somewhat surprising) victory. NFL Week 1 Pick: Bears<\/strong><\/p>\n This is installment #1 in the season long series of\u00a0free NFL Pick<\/strong><\/a> articles by our experts here at CappersPicks.com. Check back with us all\u00a0NFL Betting<\/strong><\/a> season long, and keep on winning those NFL Bets folks!<\/p>\n Shea Matthews weighs in with his Free NFL Week 1 Point spread analysis and an indepth look at top matchups and their NFL gambling odds, plus gives some free NFL picks out…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":195,"featured_media":40374,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[50404,463,41240,827,870,50402,15702,31650,31647,50403,6446,31581,14826],"class_list":["post-40350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl","tag-falcons-vs-bears","tag-free-nfl-picks","tag-lions-vs-buccaneers","tag-nfl-gambling","tag-nfl-spreads","tag-nfl-week-1-free-picks","tag-nfl-week-1-matchups","tag-nfl-week-1-picks","tag-nfl-week-1-predictions","tag-saints-vs-packers","tag-steelers-vs-ravens","tag-week-1-free-nfl-picks","tag-week-1-nfl-point-spreads"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/195"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40350"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40350\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40378,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40350\/revisions\/40378"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nNFL gambling favorite: Packers -5<\/strong><\/p>\nPittsburgh Steelers @ Baltimore Ravens<\/h3>\n
\nNFL gambling favorite: Ravens -3<\/strong> ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/NFL-Week-1-Point-Spreads-e1310479506133.jpg\" "\\"NFL")
Detroit Lions @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers<\/h3>\n
\nNFL gambling favorite: Buccaneers -3<\/strong><\/p>\nAtlanta Falcons @ Chicago Bears<\/h3>\n
\nNFL gambling favorite: PICK \u2019EM<\/strong><\/p>\nLooking for Sports Picks for all today’s Gambling Matchups? CLICK HERE!<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"