The 2025 NFL season is finally here with a banner night in Philadelphia as the Eagles host the Dallas Cowboys.
The Eagles will attempt to become the 10th team to repeat as Super Bowl champs. However, let’s not ignore that no one has repeated as NFC East champs since the 2001-04 Eagles.
Meanwhile, Dallas comes into the game under major scrutiny following last week’s blockbuster trade of Micah Parsons to Green Bay for Kenny Clark and a couple of 1st-round picks.
Let’s look at our favorite Thursday night football picks, including player props.
Thursday Night Football Odds
The Eagles opened as a 7-point favorite, but with the Parsons trade and negative feelings coming out of Dallas, many sportsbooks like Bovada (visit our Bovada Review) have moved the line to 8 points, if not 9 points in favor of the Eagles.
But never discredit how a division game can be tougher. Since 2002, in Week 1 division games with a 7-point underdog, the underdog is 16-9 ATS (64%), including an 11-8 record for the road team (Dallas).
The total is set to 47.5 points. Since 2021, Eagles coach Nick Sirianni has the 3rd-highest over rate (23-15, 60.5%) in home games. We’ll examine that line in better detail next.
Thursday Night Football Picks
Expect Solid Scoring from Both Teams
Division games are always tougher to judge, and let’s not discount that Dak Prescott is 4-1 with 16 touchdowns to 1 interception against the Eagles in the Nick Sirianni era. He also has his best WR2 (George Pickens) in years.
Meanwhile, the Eagles scored 95 points in the NFC Championship Game (55) and Super Bowl (40), tied for the most in any 2-game playoff span ever. They look hungry to repeat and have brought back much of their talented offensive core.
The Eagles alone could put up a fair share towards hitting the over, but let’s not fade Dak in this spot. This is only his 4th meeting against Hurts, and they’ve combined for 62, 51, and 46 points in their previous meetings.
It wouldn’t be surprising to see a 34-24 game here.
Expert Pick: Cowboys/Eagles Over 47.5 Points (-115) at Bovada
Thursday Night Football Prop Bets
Trust in A.J. Brown
A.J. Brown is one of the best and most impactful wide receivers in the NFL. He’s helped transform Jalen Hurts in this offense since coming over from Tennessee in 2022, and he’s still producing at a high level as he enters his 7th season.
Brown has scored a touchdown in 3-of-6 career games against the Cowboys. Meanwhile, the Cowboys allowed the 6th-most touchdowns to wide receivers (19) in 2024.
Including the playoffs, Brown caught a touchdown in 9-of-17 games last season, but he didn’t have any games with multiple touchdowns.
However, in a new season where the expectations should be for more passing from the Eagles and slightly less success on the ground with Saquon Barkley, Brown is a good value pick to score this week against an outmatched defense without Parsons providing pass rush.
Expert Pick: A.J. Brown Anytime Touchdown Scorer (+137) at Bovada
Bet on Thursday Night Football Week 1
Thursday night football picks are a great opportunity to sign up for top-rated sportsbooks and take advantage of their welcome offers to help with bonus bets to use on games like Cowboys vs. Eagles, Ravens vs. Bills, and Vikings vs. Bears.
More Picks from Our Experts
Don’t miss Donnie RightSide’s insight into this game below. And be sure to visit our YouTube channel for more daily betting advice!
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.
