© Photo by Nic Antaya/Getty Images

Week 1 got underway on Thursday when the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Rams kicked off the start of the 2022 season, but for NFL fans far and wide, this was hardly an appetizer for the main course: a very full slate of football on Sunday for the first time in what feels like a very long time.

But hey, hitting my first parlay of the season on Thursday got me off to a hot start, and there’s no slowing this train down as it barrels full steam ahead into the desk Scott Hanson definitely pees under when he’s hosting “NFL Red Zone” for seven straight hours of commercial-free football. It’s always important to build yourself a little bankroll before you get too far into the weeds and you’re hedging your parlay with the Bears +6.5 just to break even on your first week back in the saddle.

Let’s take a look at the best bets you have available to you from DraftKings, the official sportsbook sponsor of SB Nation.

What’s the best bet for Lions-Eagles?

There’s plenty to bet on in an NFL game, but you probably know that since you’ve definitely caved to either a commercial or a referral code to get you betting of sports from the comfort of wherever you’ve set up shop. For our purposes, I want to pass along a couple of sturdy bets you can get under in this week’s game between the Detroit Lions and the Philadelphia Eagles.*

*As “sturdy” as anything can be considering the first week of the NFL is sure to continue dropping hellfire and rain after the Bills mollywhopped the defending Super Bowl Champion Rams.

First, let’s go ahead and get this one out of the way: it’s going to be a day for A.J. Brown against the Lions secondary. Right now, over 64.5 receiving yards for Brown is -115 and it feels like the closest to a sure thing, especially after our conversation previewing the matchups with the famed Brandon Lee Gowton of Bleeding Green Nation.

If you’re looking for something to sink your teeth into with some longer odds, I think you can look to the special game parlays DraftKings has posted. For this game, I think you can count on the Lions to come out with more energy than Dan Campbell will be able to conceal along the sideline. There needs to be a coach prop floating around in some illegal international waters of “Dan Campbell pops a blood vessel in his head (must be visible)” at like +950 for “Yes.”

But I like the first half spread/total of Lions +3.5 and UNDER 24.5 at +230. I’m reminded of the Lions first drive of the preseason where they marched down the field on their own pace and schedule: 10 plays, 79 yards and over five minutes of possession. Both these teams want to control the ball and black and blue the other one into submission, and establishing yourself as the more physical team is something these teams will be going back and forth on early.

But if Frank Ragnow isn’t suited up for the Lions, toss that last one out the window. Go take a lap, look yourself in the mirror and tell yourself, “You cannot bet on an offensive line you were promised to be one of the NFL’s best only to have it inexplicably lose two starters a week before the game.”

Go Lions.