For the first time since 2004, the NFLs Week 1 Thursday nightkickoff game will not involve the previous seasons Super Bowl champion. Instead, the leagues longest rivalry will take center stage when the Bears host the Packers. The betting markets are split to how to handle this game, so the experts from BetQL are here to break down the odds, stats, and trends you need to know.T

Thursdays game features a 46.5-point total, and the Bears are listed as three-point favorites. Check out!

Week 1 DFS Lineups:| | | | |

Last year's meetings

These teams split last years series. The Packers erased a 20-3 fourth quarter deficit to win 24-23 in Week 1. In Week 15, the Bears sacked Aaron Rodgers five times and forced him into a season-low quarterback rating of 68.9 en route to a 24-17 victory.

Green Bays 2018 and what comes next

The Packers finished last season with a 6-9-1 record, mi sing the playoffs for the second consecutive season. Mike McCarthys tenure also came to an end in Week 13 Jared Walsh Jersey when the team suffered an embarra sing lo s to the Cardinals. The Packers finished the season (seventh on offense, 29th on defense, 29th on special teams).

Second-year Packers GM Brian Gutekunst broke organizational tradition in the offseason and secured his defense immediate help in the free agent market with the signings of safety Adrian Amos and OLBs ZaDarius Smith and Preston Smith. First time head coach Matt LaFleur, a disciple of offensive gurus Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan, was brought in to compete for the division title and return Rodgers to the playoffs.

LaFleur is a highly regarded offensive mind with a track record of succe s, but we honestly dont know with any certainty what this offense will look like, as Rodgers didnt take a preseason snap. The Packers will be a fascinating watch this season, as LaFleur came in with the mandate to give structure to an offense led by an all-time great quarterback whos been at his best in the absence of structure while making second-reaction plays.

While pairing an offensive wunderkind with Blake Wood Jersey a magician under center should work, it could absolutely be a rocky road to succe s if the two butt heads while trying to find the right balance of structure and improvisation.

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Chicagos 2018 and what comes next

The Bears finished last season 12-4, falling to the Eagles by one point in the first round of the playoffs. Chicago finished the season fifth in DVOA (first on defense, 20th in offense, 26th on special teams).

Second-year head coach Matt Nagy has his eyes firmly set on the NFC title as he returns most of 2018s best defense (except defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, who landed his first head coaching gig with the Broncos). Mitchell Trubisky is also expected to take a Kole Calhoun Jersey leap forward in the Andy Reid-derived offensive system. Trubisky has plenty of weapons to work with, as the Bears return a receiving corps of Allen Robinson, Taylor Gabriel, Anthony Miller and tight end Trey Burton. Rookie David Montgomery and veteran Mike Davis will share the running back duties with pa s-catching savant Tarik Cohen.

Week 1 Non-PPR Fantasy Rankings: | | | | |

When Green Bay has the ball

The Packers had the seventh-best offense in the NFL last season according to DVOA with a counter-intuitive split for an Aaron Rodgers team (the 12th best pa sing offense and third best rushing offense). Green Bay can be expected to find some succe s running Aaron Jones against last seasons second-best rushing defense. Jones is a naturally explosive back (31 percent Luis Valbuena Jersey of his 2018 carries resulted in a first down or touchdown, the highest rate in the NFL) running behind one of the leagues best offensive lines, .

When taking to the air, Rodgers will lean heavily on Davante Adams, who established himself as an elite wide receiver last year by catching 111 balls for 1,386 yards and 13 touchdowns while drawing the focus of every defensive coordinator. Tight end Jimmy Graham and second-year receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling will be Rodgers other top targets.

Khalil Mack will once again be in contention for theDefensive Player of the Year trophy, and none of the other individual talents on the Chicago defense are expected to see a significant drop-off. However, it's unlikely the Bears will again be the NFLs top unit. Defenses have a fair amount of year-to-year variance, and being DVOAs top Justin Upton Jersey pa sing defense and second-best rushing defense in consecutive seasons is a tough ask no matter how good the players are. There may also be a period of adjustment with new DC Chuck Pagano calling the coverages.

WEEK 1 FANTASY PPR RANKINGS: | |

When Chicago has the ball

Trubiskys play on Thursday night will inform the national television audience whetherto take the Bears seriously. Trubisky made strides acro s the board in his first season under Nagy (his completion percentage leapt from 59.4 to 66.6, throwing for 3,223 yards and 24 touchdowns on 434 attempts), but that only led to the NFLs 20th-best offensive output according to DVOA (up from 28th in 2017). If the offense can jump another eight rungs this season, Chicago will be legitimate Super Bowl contenders.

Robinson has earned a reputation of being an upper-tier receiverdespite a career spent catching balls from Blake Bortles and an improving Trubisky. He should draw shadow coverage from Packers top corner Kevin King, who, at 6-3, has the size to give Robinson fits. Robinson caught 7-of-14 targets for 115 yards acro s two matchups with Green Bay last season.

Green Bays improvements to their linebacking and safety corps will be immediately tested by Trey Burton and Tarik Cohen. Thoseunits provided atrocious coverage last season, ranking 27th against pa ses to the tight end and 32nd against pa ses to running backs, according to DVOA.

Iowa State rookie David Montgomery has drawn a lot of training camp buzz as he looks to have cemented himself as the Bears top rushing option, but hes not a terribly explosive back, rushing for 2,925 yardson just 4.7 yards per attempt in college. You'd expect thatlevel of efficiency to drop facing the bigger, stronger, faster defenses of the NFL.

Despite jettisoning McCarthy, Green Bay retained defensive coordinator Mike Pettine for a second year. Pettine has six years of experience coordinating defenses at the NFL level and should be expected to produce at least a modest improvement in a unit that was 28th against the pa s and 23rd against the run in 2018.

Fred Lynn Jersey Bottom line

BetQL data shows the betting markets arent sure what to do with this game, as 53 percent of the wagers were on the Packers with