Editor's note: only the marquee game carries a line here. Uristocrat does not post gut picks. Every game below links to its tile on watch.uristocrat.com, where you can see start times, channels, and where to stream.
The NFL season starts on a Wednesday, which almost never happens. The league moved opening night off Thursday to make room for the Rams and 49ers playing in Melbourne on the 10th, so New England at Seattle gets the whole country to itself. Under it sits a 15-game MLB slate in the second week of September, when the standings stop being trivia and start being math.
Marquee: New England at Seattle, Super Bowl LX rematch (8:20 PM ET, NBC)
Seattle beat New England 29-13 in Super Bowl LX, and the Seahawks raise the banner before kickoff. That is the story: the Patriots have to stand there and watch it. Drake Maye brings New England back to the building where the season ended, and Lumen Field in a season opener is about as hostile a first assignment as the schedule can hand a quarterback. Both teams are 0-0 and neither has played a snap that counts, so the market is pricing last season plus home field, nothing more. Jim Nantz and Cris Collinsworth have the call on NBC, with the game also on Peacock and Telemundo. Full broadcast details are at Seahawks.com.
Vegas line: Seattle -3, total 44.5, Seahawks -170 / Patriots +142 (DraftKings, via ESPN).
Also tonight
- Chicago Cubs at Milwaukee Brewers (7:40 PM ET). Milwaukee is 90-56 and nine games clear of Chicago in the NL Central, and the Brewers have taken the first two of this series. The Cubs have lost three straight but still hold a wild card spot. This is less a division race than a playoff seeding argument.
- Tampa Bay Rays at Atlanta Braves (7:15 PM ET). The best record on the board tonight, 86-58, against an 85-60 Atlanta team a game behind them. It is on MLB Network, which is the league telling you where to look.
- Houston Astros at Philadelphia Phillies (6:40 PM ET). Philadelphia is 81-64 and Houston is 74-71 and still alive in the AL. Two clubs that have spent September in this position before, meeting in the loudest park in the National League.
- Cincinnati Reds at Los Angeles Dodgers (10:10 PM ET). The nightcap. Los Angeles is 88-57 and playing for seeding. Cincinnati is 69-76 and playing for next year, which in September usually means you get a look at somebody you have not seen yet.
- Colorado Rockies at New York Yankees (7:05 PM ET). The Yankees are 82-62 and cannot afford a soft night against a 55-89 Colorado club. These are the games that decide whether a team hosts a wild card series or travels for one.
- Cleveland Guardians at Baltimore Orioles (6:35 PM ET). Cleveland is 74-72 and hanging around the edge of the AL picture. Baltimore is 70-76 and out of it. Every Guardians game from here is a one-game swing they can't get back.
The through line tonight is teams finding out where they actually stand. The NFL gets a clean slate and a banner ceremony. Baseball gets the opposite: 15 games where nearly everybody already knows what they are, and the only question left is seeding.
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