NFL football pool, pick’em, office pool, confidence picks: Back the Minnesota Vikings in Week 1, 2023

A marquee matchup on the Week 1 NFL schedule will unfold on Sunday when Tua Tagovailoa and the Miami Dolphins visit Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers. Tagovailoa and Herbert were taken No. 5 and No. 6 overall in the 2020 NFL Draft, and both quarterbacks led their team to the playoffs last season. An even matchup on paper like this may affect your Week 1 NFL office pool picks, but which team has the edge? Which way should you go with your NFL confidence pool picks and NFL football pool picks in Week 1? Before you make your NFL predictions, you need to see the Week 1 NFL football pool picks from SportsLine’s proven computer model.

The model, which simulates every NFL game 10,000 times, is up over $7,000 for $100 players on top-rated NFL picks since its inception. The model enters the 2023 NFL season on an incredible 163-113 run on top-rated NFL picks that dates back to the 2017 season. It is also on a 17-6 roll on top-rated NFL picks since Week 7 of last season.

The model also ranked in the top 10 on NFLPickWatch four of the past six years on straight-up NFL picks and beat more than 94% of CBS Sports Football Pick’em players four times during that span. Anyone who has followed it is way up. 

Now, the model has simulated the entire Week 1 NFL schedule 10,000 times and generated its optimal NFL pick’em plays. Head to SportsLine to see them now.

Top Week 1 NFL office pool predictions

One of the top Week 1 NFL predictions from the model: The Minnesota Vikings (-6) comfortably beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at home. The Vikings featured one of the most potent passing attacks last season, averaging 263.8 passing yards per game. 

The Vikings have a plethora of playmakers for quarterback Kirk Cousins to target, including wide receiver Justin Jefferson. The former LSU standout led the league with 1,809 receiving yards last season. Minnesota’s addition of rookie wideout Jordan Addison is designed to make their offense even tougher for defenses to cover, which doesn’t bode well for the Buccaneers. Tampa Bay’s offense averaged just 18.4 points per game a season ago, a unit that featured Tom Brady at quarterback. Brady has since retired and Baker Mayfield will start under center for Tampa Bay against Minnesota. 

The model projects Cousins will throw for more than 270 yards on Sunday, a big reason the Vikings are forecasted to win in over 60% of simulations. See the rest of the model’s Week 1 NFL pool picks here.

How to make Week 1 NFL office pool picks

The model also made the call on every other Week 1 NFL game and has strong picks for potentially close matchups like Packers vs. Bears and Bills vs. Jets. It’s also calling for several favorites to struggle more than they are expected to. You can only see all of the model’s NFL pool picks here.

So who should you pick in every Week 1 NFL game, and which favorites should you avoid? Visit SportsLine now to get optimal NFL office pool picks, all from a proven computer model that has returned over $7,000 since its inception, and find out.