NFL Football Betting - Week 1 Odds - 09-03-08

September 3 - The wait is almost over as the 2008 NFL season opens on Thursday with the Super Bowl champion New York Giants hosting NFC East division rival Washington Redskins (Kick off - 7 pm ET on NBC. ).

Most sports betting sites like betED.com have the Giants as a 3-and-a-half-point favorite and the over/under total at 41.

New York have suffered a major setback and will be will be missing a key player on defense. Pro Bowl defensive end Osi Umenyiora is out for the entire season after undergoing surgery for knee cartilage damage suffered during a preseason game against the New York Jets.

Umenyiora's 13 sacks last season helped the Giants lead the NFL in that category with 53, and his four huge tackles aided their surprising Super Bowl win over the heavily favored New England Patriots.

Umenyiora's injury compounds the loss of the legendary Michael Strahan, the all-time NFL sack leader, to retirement.

Washington was 9-7 SU and 7-7-2 ATS last season and New York was 10-6 SU and 10-6 ATS. More details can be found in ourNew York Giants Team Preview andWashington Redskins Team Preview.

Week 1 continues with a full roster of games on on Sunday, including theNew York Jets and theMiami Dolphins battling at Dolphin Stadium. The Brett Favre lead Jets are a 3-point favorite at Bookmaker.com and the over/under total is 36.

New York went 4-12 SU and 6-9-1 ATS last season while Miami was a league-worst 1-15 SU and 5-9-2 ATS.

Sunday night sees a big game when theChicago Bears visit theIndianapolis Colts in a rematch of Super Bowl XLI in 2007 (8:15 pm ET, NBC). The Colts are 9-and-a-half-point favorites at Bodog and the total is 44.

Chicago was 7-9 SU and ATS last season and Indianapolis was 13-3 SU and 9-7 ATS.

Visit our NFL betting guide for live odds, team previews and more.