2024 NFL Picks, score predictions for Week 1

New York Jets @ San Francisco 49ers

Monday, September 9, 8:20 PM ET

It’s going to be a long wait for New York Jets fans to get to their Monday night matchup against the San Francisco 49ers. The return of Aaron Rodgers is one of the most anticipated moments of the 2024 NFL season, especially with all of the offseason hype and praise that has been heaped upon the New York Jets.

The Jets have been labeled as having one of the best rosters in the NFL. They’ve been labeled as a top-5 team by a lot of national outlets.

Still, some – like myself – remain with a healthy level of skepticism for this Jets team. There is no guarantee that the Aaron Rodgers they are getting – even if he’s healthy this season – is the Aaron Rodgers they seem to think they are getting. Rodgers last played a full regular season for the Green Bay Packers in 2022, and things didn’t go well for him or them. They missed the playoffs completely.

Then Rodgers missed all of last season due to an Achilles injury, one of the worst you can suffer as an NFL player, much less a 40-year old NFL player.

Rodgers has an uphill battle ahead of him, but he does have a good supporting cast. And the Jets are going on the road to face off against a familiar foe for head coach Robert Saleh, who was the 49ers’ defensive coordinator before he became head coach of the Jets.

So who will it be in this one – the master (Kyle Shanahan) or the pupil (Saleh)?

The 49ers got a deal done (finally) with Brandon Aiyuk and have a full complement of offensive weapons. Their defense might be a little more suspect than we’re accustomed to seeing on paper, but this is still one of the NFL’s elite teams. The oddsmakers like the 49ers (-3.5) but are expecting a low-scoring game with an over/under of 43.5.

I’m taking the reigning NFC champions at home.

Prediction: 49ers win 24-20