Best NFL Picks and Predictions Today (How to Bet Cowboys vs. Eagles on Thursday Night Football in NFL Week 1)

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The 2025 NFL season kicks off on Thursday night with the Philadelphia Eagles beginning their title defense against Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys.

In an eventful offseason, Dallas remains without a bellcow running back, no longer has Micah Parsons (traded to Green Bay) and is relying heavily on Dak and the offense to get back into the playoff picture in the NFC.

The Eagles lost a few players from last season’s title run, but they still are extremely dangerous and are one of the favorites to win the Super Bowl. Jalen Hurts has a ton of weapons at his disposal, including Saquon Barkley, A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert.

That makes for some interesting prop targets, and plenty of touchdown props to consider.

So, here at SI Betting, we’re here to give you a little bit of everything in our best picks and predictions for this Week 1 matchup.

Best NFL Picks and Predictions for Cowboys vs. Eagles

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

Cowboys-Eagles UNDER 47.5 (-110) – Iain MacMillan
A.J. Brown OVER 72.5 Receiving Yards (-110) – Peter Dewey
Saquon Barkley Anytime TD (-190) – Peter Dewey
Dak Prescott OVER 36.5 Pass Attempts (-124) – Peter Dewey

Cowboys-Eagles UNDER 47.5 (-110) – Iain MacMillan

This week, SI’s NFL betting insider Iain MacMillan shared in his Road to 272 column – where he picks every game, every week – why the UNDER is his favorite bet in this season opener:

I think the spread is set at the exact right number at 7.5 in favor of the defending champions, so I'm going to look at the total instead and trust the best unit on the field in this game, the Philadelphia Eagles' defense. This is a defense that allowed the fewest yards per play in the NFL last season at 4.8, while also ranking first in opponent success rate and third in opponent EPA per play.

I'm not ready to believe in the Cowboys' offense either. Despite adding George Pickens in the offseason, people forget that Dak Prescott was having his worst season as a pro before going down with an injury last year. Through eight starts, he completed just 64.7% of passes and threw for only 11 touchdowns with eight interceptions.

I think this total is a couple of points too high for a game involving a team with an elite defense and a run-first mentality on offense.

A.J. Brown OVER 72.5 Receiving Yards (-110) – Peter Dewey

One of my favorite props of the night is for Brown, who I wrote about in our best prop picks for this matchup:

Something about Week 1 and A.J. Brown just goes together.

In his six Week 1 games, Brown has cleared 100 yards three times, and he’s cleared this total in all of his season-opening games since coming to Philly:

2024: 5 catches, 119 yards, TD
2023: 7 catches, 79 yards
2022: 10 catches, 155 yards

Dallas has some solid players in the secondary, including Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland, but Brown is a matchup nightmare for just about any team with his size on the outside. The Eagles star has 73 or more receiving yards in eight of his 13 games in 2024.

Saquon Barkley Anytime TD (-190) – Peter Dewey

Earlier this week, I shared in our best touchdown scorer picks story why Barkley is worth a look against this Dallas defense:

During the 2024 season, Barkley found the end zone 15 times, but he didn’t score in either matchup against Dallas.

I think that changes, especially since Saquon ran for 167 yards on 31 carries in the second meeting of the season. The Eagles running back should be able to run wild against a Parsons-less Dallas defense.

Last season, Dallas allowed the fourth-most yards per carry in the NFL and 25 touchdowns – the most in the league.

While Jalen Hurts is always a threat to steal a score on the goal line, I think Barkley is worth a look since he’s going to get plenty of touches in Week 1.

Dak Prescott OVER 36.5 Pass Attempts (-124) – Peter Dewey

If this game doesn’t go in Dallas’ favor, Prescott could be forced to throw the ball a ton, something that I noted in our prop picks earlier this week:

The Cowboys were blown out by the Eagles twice last season, and if that happens in this game, we could see a few extra pass attempts from Prescott.

The Dallas offense isn’t built to be a run-first scheme, as Javonte Williams (we’ll get to him later) and Jaydon Blue figure to be the team’s top two backs.

Dak threw 44 and 39 passes against the Eagles in 2023, but he missed both games against Philly last season. Overall in the 2024 season, Prescott threw the ball 37 or more times in four of his eight games.

Philly allowed the fewest passing yards in the NFL last season, but the game script could force Dallas to throw a ton. Even though Philly was an elite pass defense, opposing quarterbacks attempted a good amount of passes against them (20th in the league).

I am expecting Dak to be called upon a lot this season and in Week 1.

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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