A NFL bold prediction should be bold — “bold” is the operative word, after all — but there’s a point where boldness becomes silly.
For instance, predictions for Thursday night's NFL Opening Night game like, "Saquon Barkley will rush for over 250 yards” or “Dak Prescott will lead the Cowboys to a 66-3 victory” are a bit over the top.
But the PrizePicks Playbook team is, if nothing else, is a rational bunch; and our bold takes are reasonable... sort of. So here’s a quartet of semi-reasonable, but still bold, predictions for tonight’s Eagles vs. Cowboys opener at 8:30 p.m. ET on NBC tonight.
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NFL Opening Night Bold Predictions for Eagles vs. Cowboys
Here are four bold predictions for tonight's NFL season opener for top players like CeeDee Lamb, Saquon Barkley, and more, including projections to target in PrizePicks real money NFL game.
Pick your players, predict More or Less on their stats, and win real money when you're right all season long on PrizePicks. Find more NFL DFS picks and predictions for Cowboys vs. Eagles on Thursday Night Football here.
1) Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb Outshines Eagles WR A.J. Brown
The Cowboys get props for bringing former Steelers WR George Pickens into their receivers room, as Prescott has badly needed a legitimate secondary target to take the pressure off of Lamb for years.
Thing is — being that Prescott and Pickens don’t have any regular season game action together yet, Dak may opt to lean on his all-world WR1. Plus, with Pickens in the fold, it could soften some coverages for Lamb in the defense, though that's yet to be seen.
On the other side of the field, Eagles QB Jalen Hurts has developed a mind-meld with both WR1 A.J. Brown and WR2 DeVonta Smith. That's led to him spreading the ball on a team that already threw the ball at the lowest rate in the NFL in 2024 (43.71%).
Meanwhile, the Cowboys threw at the sixth-highest rate (61.14%) last year, and may have gotten worse in the run game, currently starting Javonte Williams at RB.
PrizePicks Week 1 Projections: CeeDee Lamb – 6.5 Receptions, A.J. Brown – 5 Receptions
2) By the Second Half, Javonte Williams Won't Lead Cowboys' Backfield
As a fantasy football player, I don’t like Javonte Williams, even if he is the Cowboys RB1 on the depth chart. As a fantasy player, you probably don’t like Javonte Williams either.
And in tonight’s opener, after what will likely be a blah first half, Dallas head coach Brian Schottenheimer also won’t like Javonte Williams.
The Dallas running back room is kind of a mess, so it’s fair to assume that Schottenheimer will ride the hot hand, as well he should. If it's not Williams — who hasn't had a rush over 21 yards since 2020, it could be RB2 Miles Sanders, or even rookie RB Jaydon Blue.
Blue has the most big-play potential on the depth chart — and if he shows his burst in the first half, look for him to get more of the offensive snaps in the second half.
PrizePicks Week 1 Projection: Javonte Williams – 35.5 Rush Yards
3) The Eagles' Tush Push will be in Full Effect
Aside from NFC East fans, most every NFL viewer loves watching Philly’s largest players shove one of their smallest players into the end zone.
Some owners and coaches, not so much — the famous tush push was almost banned this offseason. Alas, it will survive and surely be a major part of the Eagles short-yardage offense once again.
Last year, the Eagles converted on 39-of-48 of tush push plays, per CBS.
Much to Cowboys’ fans dismay, Hurts should get plenty of opportunities to find repeated success with their infamous QB sneak in this matchup. Hurts rushed 7 times for 56 yards and 2 TDs last year vs. the Cowboys.
PrizePicks Week 1 Projection: Jalen Hurts – 9.5 Rush Attempts
4) Saquon Barkley will be Mortal
Barkley’s 2025 season was one for the ages, as he took home the NFL Offensive Player of the Year award and rushed for over 2,000 yards. But in his age 28 season, don’t be shocked if Barkley takes a step back, five years removed from a repaired ACL injury, followed by three seasons averaging 296 carries per season.
This isn’t to say that Barkley won’t again be one of the best RBs in the NFL — he's on the cover of Madden for a reason (Madden Curse, anyone?).
But we likely won’t see too many 200-plus total yard outings from the Penn State product; single-season rushing-yards record-holder Eric Dickerson shouldn’t lose any sleep.
PrizePicks Week 1 Projection: Saquon Barkley – 113 Rush+Rec Yards
Make Your NFL Predictions on PrizePicks
There's no shortage of stars to watch as the NFL kicks off tonight with Cowboys vs. Eagles.
Our bold predictions might or might not get bolder as the year progresses, but they’ll be fun regardless — so keep your eye on PrizePicks Playbook the entire 2025 NFL season for the latest news, projections, picks, and boldness.
And littler is bolder than making your NFL predictions on PrizePicks. Just pick More or Less for at least two NFL player stat projections and you'll win real cash-money if you're right.
